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Virgin Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs
Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...
, Simon Draper,
Nik Powell Nik Powell (4 November 1950 – 7 November 2019) was a British businessman and one of the co-founders of Virgin Records with Richard Branson. After operating a mail-order company, a small record shop, and a recording studio, the partners estab ...
, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers
Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...
,
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
,
Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...
, Tangerine Dream,
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
,
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
, OMD, the Human League,
Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...
,
Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...
,
Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...
, the
Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
, and Mike Oldfield among others, meaning that by the time it was sold, it was regarded as a major label, alongside other large international independents such as A&M and
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
. Virgin Records was sold to Thorn EMI in 1992. EMI was in turn taken over by Universal Music Group (UMG) in 2012 with UMG creating the Virgin EMI Records division. The Virgin Records name continues to be used by UMG in certain markets such as Germany and Japan.


Virgin Records America

Virgin Records America, Inc. was the company's North American operations founded in 1986. They are still active and headquartered in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
, California, and operate under the
Capitol Music Group Capitol Music Group (CMG) is an American front line umbrella label distributed by Universal Music Group which oversees handling of record labels assigned to UMG's Capitol Records division. It was inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog ( ...
imprint, now also owned by UMG, since 2012. The US operations have also taken on the name Virgin Records. A minor number of artists remain on Virgin Records America's roster, which is currently mostly occupied with European artists such as Bastille,
Barbara Pravi Barbara Piévic (born 10 April 1993), known professionally as Barbara Pravi, is a French singer, songwriter and actress. After signing with Capitol Music France in 2015, she released five extended plays with the label: ''Barbara Pravi'' (2018), ...
,
Circa Waves Circa Waves are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2013. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Kieran Shudall, guitarist Joe Falconer, bassist Sam Rourke, and drummer Colin Jones. History Early years (2013) Shudall met ...
, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ella Eyre,
Grizfolk Grizfolk is a Swedish-American alternative rock band consisting of Adam Roth (lead vocals, guitar), Sebastian Fritze (synthesizer, backing vocals), Fredrik Eriksson (guitar) and Bill Delia (drums). Based in Los Angeles with roots in Sweden, Griz ...
,
Walking on Cars Walking on Cars was a four-piece Irish rock band, whose 2020 line-up consisted of Pa Sheehy (singer/lyricist), Sorcha Durham (pianist), Paul Flannery (bass guitarist) and Evan Hadnett (drummer). Their debut single "Catch Me If You Can", release ...
,
Seinabo Sey Seinabo Sey (born 7 October 1990) is a Swedish singer and songwriter best known for her international hit song " Younger". Early life Seinabo Sey was born in Södermalm, Stockholm, on 7 October 1990. She is of both Swedish and Gambian ancestry. ...
, and
Prides Prides are a Scottish indie band formed in Glasgow in 2013 and made up of Stewart Brock (lead vocals, keys) and Callum Wiseman (guitar, keys, backing vocals). They released their debut album ''The Way Back Up'' on 10 July 2015. Career The ...
; American artists include Knox Hamilton, L'Tric, Loren Gray, and
Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcor ...
.


Virgin Classics

Virgin Classics was founded in 1988 as part of Virgin Records. Along with EMI Classics, it too was acquired by UMG in 2012 as part of the takeover of the EMI Group. But the terms of the European Commission's approval of the takeover required divestment of the two classical labels. Accordingly, both were sold in February the following year to Warner Music Group, and this transaction was approved by the European Union that May. Warner placed the Virgin Classics artist roster and catalogue in its Erato Records division, and the "Virgin Classics" name, along with "EMI Classics," disappeared.


History

Branson and Powell had initially run a small record shop called ''Virgin Records and Tapes'' on Notting Hill Gate, London, specializing in
krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
imports, and offering bean bags and free vegetarian food for the benefit of customers listening to the music on offer. The first real store was above a shoe shop at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street. After making the shop into a success, they turned their business into a fully fledged record label. The name Virgin, according to Branson (in his autobiography), arose from
Tessa Watts Tessa Watts (born Stephanie Siddons; 25 October 194513 May 2014) was an English music video and music film producer. She worked with artists including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Phil Collins, Beyoncé, INXS, and Geo ...
, a colleague of his, when they were brainstorming business ideas. She suggested Virgin – as they were all new to business – like "virgins". The original Virgin logo (known to fans as the "Gemini" or "Twins" logo) was designed by English artist and illustrator Roger Dean: a young naked woman in mirror image with a large long-tailed lizard and the word "Virgin" in Dean's familiar script. A variation on the logo was used for the spin-off Caroline Records label. The first release on the label was the progressive rock album '' Tubular Bells'' by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, who was discovered by Tom Newman and brought to Simon Draper – who eventually persuaded Richard and Nik to present it as their first release in 1973, produced by Tom Newman, for which the fledgling label garnered unprecedented acclaim. This was soon followed by some notable krautrock releases, including electronic breakthrough album ''
Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * ''Phaedra'' (Alexandre Cabanel), an 1880 painting Film * ''Phaedra'' (film), a 1962 film by ...
'' by Tangerine Dream (which went Top 20), and ''
The Faust Tapes ''The Faust Tapes'' is the third album by the German krautrock group Faust, released in 1973. The album sold well in the United Kingdom (60,000 copies) because of a marketing gimmick by Virgin Records that saw it go on sale for the price of a sin ...
'' and ''
Faust IV ''Faust IV'' is the fourth studio album by the German krautrock group Faust, released in 1973. The album is included in the book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'', where it is referred to as a "krautrock classic". This was the last a ...
'' by Faust. ''The Faust Tapes'' album retailed for 49p (the price of a 7" single) and as a result allowed this relatively unknown band a massive audience as the album sold over 60,000 copies and also reached number 12 in the charts, though it was later redacted its spot on the grounds of the cover price. Other early albums include Gong's '' Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 1)'', which Daevid Allen has been quoted as having never been paid for. The first single release for the label was
Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne (27 January 1944 – 2 December 2004) was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The "anti-star" was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, and died in his adopted home of Nurember ...
's "Marlene" (b/w "Everybody Says"), taken from his album ''
Marjory Razorblade ''Marjory Razorblade'' is a double- LP by English rock singer Kevin Coyne and was one of the earliest releases on Virgin Records, which had launched four months earlier in June 1973. The double album includes the song "Marlene", which was issued ...
'' and released in August 1973. Coyne was the second artist signed to the label after Oldfield.


Rebranding

Although Virgin was initially one of the key labels of English and European progressive rock, the 1977 signing of the
Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
(who had already been signed and then dropped by both EMI and A&M) reinvented the label PM in a new-wave outpost, a move that plunged the record company into the mainstream of the punk rock era. Under the guidance of
Tessa Watts Tessa Watts (born Stephanie Siddons; 25 October 194513 May 2014) was an English music video and music film producer. She worked with artists including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Phil Collins, Beyoncé, INXS, and Geo ...
, Virgin's Head of Publicity (and later, also Director of Production), the Pistols rocketed the label to success. Shortly afterwards, the Nottingham record shop was raided by police for having a window display of the Sex Pistols' album ''
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'' is the only studio album by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols, released on 28 October 1977 by Virgin Records in the UK and on 11 November 1977 by Warner Bros. Records in the US. The album ...
'' in the window. Afterwards they signed other new wave groups: Public Image Ltd,
Boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
,
Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...
,
Fingerprintz The Silencers are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1986 by Jimme O'Neill and Cha Burns, two ex-members of the post-punk outfit Fingerprintz. Their music is characterised by a melodic blend of pop, folk music, folk and tradi ...
, Gillan,
Holly and the Italians Holly Beth Vincent (born Holly Beth Cernuto in 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. In her youth Vincent sang and played drums and guitar in several bands and took part in the Los Angeles punk scen ...
, Human League (whose "
Don't You Want Me "Don't You Want Me" is a song by British synthpop group the Human League (credited on the cover as The Human League 100). It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, '' Dare'' (1981). The band's best ...
" was the label's first chart-topping single, in 1981),
Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
,
Skids __NOTOC__ Skid or Skids may refer to: * Skid, a type of pallet * Skid (aerodynamics), an outward side-slip in an aircraft turn * Skid (automobile), an automobile handling condition where one or more tires are slipping relative to the road * Skid, ...
, the Motors, Penetration, the Ruts,
Shooting Star Shooting star refers to a meteor. Shooting star may also refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Shooting Star'' (2015 film), a 2015 Bulgarian short film * ''Shooting Star'' (2020 film), a 2020 Canadian short film * ''Shooting Stars'' ( ...
,
Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...
, and XTC. After modified versions of the twins label came the red, white and blue design introduced in 1975, which coincided with the height of punk and new wave. The current Virgin logo (known informally as "the scrawl") was created in 1978, commissioned by Simon Draper, then managing director of Virgin Records Limited. Brian Cooke of Cooke Key Associates commissioned a graphic designer to produce a stylised signature. The logo was first used on Mike Oldfield's '' Incantations'' album in 1978 and by the Virgin Records label exclusively until gradually other parts of the Virgin Group adopted it, including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mobile and
Virgin Money Virgin Money is a financial services brand used by two independent brand-licensees worldwide from the Virgin Group. Virgin Money branded services are currently available in Australia and the United Kingdom. The brand formerly operated in South Af ...
.


Purchase by Thorn EMI

Virgin Records was sold by Branson to Thorn EMI in June 1992 for a reported US$1 billion (around £560 million), with a special non-competition clause that would prevent Branson from founding another recording company during the five years following the agreement (see the final paragraph in EU Merger Decision IV/M202 of 27 April 1992). It now faces competition from Branson's new label: V2 Records. Branson sold Virgin Records to fund Virgin Atlantic which at that time was coming under intense anti-competitive pressure from British Airways. (In 1993 BA settled a libel action brought by Branson over BA's " dirty tricks" campaign, giving him £500,000 and a further £110,000 to his airline). After being acquired by Thorn EMI, Virgin launched several subsidiaries like
Realworld Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at ...
,
Innocent Records Innocent Records was a pop record label created to cater to for EMI's Virgin Records more pop oriented acts. Following the success of the Spice Girls, Virgin Records decided to delve into the pop market. In doing so they poached Hugh Goldsmi ...
, blues speciality label
Point Blank Records Point Blank Records is a record label subsidiary of Virgin Records. Point Blank Records was founded in 1988 by John Wooler. Wooler served as Deputy Head of A&R at Virgin Records UK from 1984 to 1994 and Senior Vice President of Virgin Reco ...
, and indie music label
Hut Recordings VC Recordings trading as Hut Records was a British record label brand which was started in 1990 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin Records. Despite being wholly owned by a major label, it was classed as an independent label for the purposes ...
, and continued signing new and established artists like
Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...
,
A Fine Frenzy Alison Sudol (born December 23, 1984) is an American actress, singer, songwriter and music video director. She is known as the singer A Fine Frenzy, and for her role as Queenie Goldstein in ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' (2016), as ...
, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Tina Turner,
Beenie Man Anthony Moses Davis (born 22 August 1973), better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Jamaican Dancehall deejay. Biography Davis was born in the Waterhouse district of Kingston in 1973.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Mus ...
, The Rolling Stones,
Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
, The Smashing Pumpkins, We Are Scientists, The Kooks, dcTalk (mainstream releases, contract ended in 2000), Belinda Carlisle, Meat Loaf, Placebo,
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
(contract ended in 2006),
Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...
(contract ended in 2008),
My Favorite Highway My Favorite Highway was an American pop rock band, originally formed in 2004 by cousins Dave Cook and Will Cook in the city of Fairfax, Virginia. While still unsigned the band recorded and released two EPs and one full-length album, selling over 1 ...
,
Does It Offend You, Yeah? Does It Offend You, Yeah? are a British dance-punk band from Reading, Berkshire. They played what was to be their final show on 12 December 2015 at the Electric Ballroom, Camden Town. In September 2021, they announced a new album, titled ''We ...
, The Future Sound of London, The Chemical Brothers,
Brooke Allison Brooke Allison Adams (born September 26, 1986),Brooke Allison
,
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Almost,
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
(contract ended in 2002),
N.E.R.D N.E.R.D. (stylized as N⋆E⋆R⋆D and N.E.R.D, a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley (producer), Ted ...
, Laura Marling, Swami,
RBD RBD is a Mexican Latin pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's telenovela ''Rebelde''. The group achieved international success from 2004 until their separation in 2009 and sold over 15 million records worldwide, making them one of ...
, Thalía and
Priscilla Renea Priscilla Renea Hamilton (born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long"), is an American singer and songwriter. Under her birth name, her solo debut studio album, ''Jukebox'', was released through Capitol R ...
. Because business models increasingly diverged, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerger proposals on 16 August 1996. The resulting media company became the EMI Group. In 1997, Virgin absorbed the remainder of EMI USA, which earlier consolidated EMI America Records and
Manhattan Records Manhattan Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group and operates as a branch of Capitol Music Group. Company history Manhattan Records was formed in 1984 by Bruce Lundvall and was later renamed EMI Manhattan Records af ...
, with
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
acquiring EMI's other American operations, and in 1998, opened a country music division called Virgin Records Nashville, of which record producer
Scott Hendricks Scott Hendricks (born July 26, 1956) is an American record producer who has produced over 30 country music artists. His productions have garnered 121 Top 10s, and 78 Number One hits. Between 1995 and 1997, he was President and Chief Executive Off ...
was president. The label's signees comprised
Julie Reeves Julie Reeves (born June 18, 1974) is an American country music recording artist and radio personality. She has had three hit singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart with two of those singles charting in the Top 40. Reeves was form ...
, Jerry Kilgore,
Roy D. Mercer Roy D. Mercer was a fictional character created by American disc jockeys Brent Douglas and Phil Stone on radio station KMOD-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Douglas, who performed Mercer's voice, used the character as a vehicle for comedy sketches in which ...
, Tom Mabe, Chris Cagle,
Clay Davidson Clay Davidson (born April 4, 1971) is an American country music artist. He signed to Virgin Records' Nashville division in late 1999. Davidson released his debut album '' Unconditional'' on April 11, 2000. Its title track was a top 5 hit for hi ...
, and River Road. In 2001, Virgin Nashville closed and its roster was folded into Capitol Records' Nashville division.


Further mergers

Capitol Records and Virgin Records America merged in 2007 to form
Capitol Music Group Capitol Music Group (CMG) is an American front line umbrella label distributed by Universal Music Group which oversees handling of record labels assigned to UMG's Capitol Records division. It was inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog ( ...
after a massive restructuring of EMI Group Ltd. Stepping down as chief executive of Capitol Records was Andy Slater, with Jason Flom, former executive of Virgin, taking the reins as chairman and CEO of the newly created company. Universal Music Group (UMG) purchased EMI in 2012, thus acquiring Virgin. UMG absorbed Virgin's UK operations to create Virgin EMI Records in March 2013. On 16 June 2020, Universal rebranded Virgin EMI Records as EMI Records and named Rebecca Allen (former president of UMG's Decca label) as the label's president, with Virgin Records now operating as an imprint of latter label. In February 2021, the Universal Music Group announced that it will rebrand the Caroline Music Group as Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, the name change was "inspired and influenced by the spirit and ethos of the iconic Virgin Records label". In September 2022, UMG consolidated Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, Ingrooves Music Group, and the recently acquired mtheory Artist Partnerships as part of the newly launched division Virgin Music Group. UMG also appointed mtheory founders JT Myers and Nat Pastor as Co-CEOs of the new division.


American editions

The Virgin label was distributed in the US by Atlantic from 1973 to 1975. During this period, 14 albums were issued. All had been previously issued in the UK on Virgin, although one album, ''
Marjory Razorblade ''Marjory Razorblade'' is a double- LP by English rock singer Kevin Coyne and was one of the earliest releases on Virgin Records, which had launched four months earlier in June 1973. The double album includes the song "Marlene", which was issued ...
'' by Kevin Coyne, was truncated from a 20-song double album to an 11-song single album. Beginning with Mike Oldfield's ''
Ommadawn ''Ommadawn'' is the third studio album by English musician, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 25 October 1975 on Virgin Records. ''Ommadawn'' peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, No. 74 in Canada, and No. 146 on ...
'' album in 1975, American distribution switched to CBS Records/
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. CBS/Columbia was unwilling to release all Virgin artists, and so many were licensed to other labels:
Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
(the sister company of Columbia): Mike Oldfield (1980s releases),
Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...
(1982's Ice Cream For Crow),
Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...
(1982-1986),
Holly and the Italians Holly Beth Vincent (born Holly Beth Cernuto in 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. In her youth Vincent sang and played drums and guitar in several bands and took part in the Los Angeles punk scen ...
, some XTC (1982's
English Settlement ''English Settlement'' is the fifth studio album and first double album by the English rock band XTC, released 12 February 1982 on Virgin Records. It marked a turn towards the more pastoral pop songs that would dominate later XTC releases, wit ...
) and
Shooting Star Shooting star refers to a meteor. Shooting star may also refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Shooting Star'' (2015 film), a 2015 Bulgarian short film * ''Shooting Star'' (2020 film), a 2020 Canadian short film * ''Shooting Stars'' ( ...
; Atlantic: Julian Lennon,
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
(previously on Charisma Records),
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
; A&M: ( UB40, The Human League,
Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...
, Breathe, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and
The Blue Nile The Blue Nile was a Scottish band which originated in Glasgow. The group's early music was built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured guitar more prominently. Following early champ ...
), Warner Bros.: (
Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
,
Scritti Politti Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, England, by Welsh singer-songwriter Green Gartside. He is the only member of the band to have remained throughout the group's history. Beginning as a punk-inspired collect ...
,
Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...
); Geffen ( XTC - 1983 on);
MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...
: ( Tangerine Dream, Belinda Carlisle); RCA: (the soundtrack of ''
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
'') and
Arista Arista may refer to: Organizations *Arista Networks, a software defined networking company *Arista Records, an American record label, division of Sony Music **Arista Nashville, a record label specializing in country music *Arista (honor society) ...
: ( Heaven 17, Jermaine Stewart). Some of these records had a small Virgin logo added to the regular company design on the label. One of Virgin's and Epic's biggest acts of the 1980s was Culture Club. In 1978, Virgin set up US operations first in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
on Perry Street, with distribution from
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
. Virgin Records soon moved operations to New Jersey along with a short-lived subdivision called Virgin International, handled by independent New Jersey-based distributor Jem Records. Virgin International was used mainly for progressive rock artists and reissues of earlier Virgin / Atlantic albums such as '' Hergest Ridge'' by Mike Oldfield, and '' Fish Rising'' by Steve Hillage, which Columbia chose not to reissue. Virgin International also issued albums by some of Virgin's reggae artists, including Gregory Isaacs. At the same time, Virgin releases distributed by Columbia continued, distribution returning to Atlantic (later WEA) in 1980, at which time Virgin International ceased operations. In 1986, Virgin Records opened up another American division, Virgin Records America. Its first release was the debut album by Cutting Crew which included the hit single "
(I Just) Died in Your Arms "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" is the debut single by the English pop rock band Cutting Crew, released in July 1986 as a single from their debut studio album, ''Broadcast''. The song was written by frontman Nick Van Eede, produced by Terry Brown ...
". Other Virgin America signings included
Camper Van Beethoven Camper Van Beethoven is an American rock band formed in Redlands, California in 1983, later based in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk, alternative country, and world music. The band init ...
, Bob Mould, Warren Zevon,
Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...
, T'pau,
Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were a Jamaican-American reggae family group whose line-up consisted of the children of musicians, Bob Marley and Rita Marley, which includes lead singer Ziggy Marley with Sharon Marley, Cedella Marley, and ...
, Redhead Kingpin & The F.B.I.,
Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk roc ...
,
Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...
, Hindsight and, after her MCA contract ran out in 1991, Belinda Carlisle. Virgin Records America's releases were distributed through
WEA The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...
again by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
until 1992. The label was then acquired by EMI-Capitol Special Markets. In 1996, Virgin Records offered Janet Jackson one of the best and highest deals at the time estimating an $80 million dollar deal. The agreement also required Virgin to allocate about $25 million in video production, marketing and promotion costs – a much larger sum than most deals. Virgin Records America was founded by the executive team of Jordan Harris, Jeff Ayeroff and Phil Quartararo. Another American company called Caroline Records co-existed during this time. Caroline records rarely mentioned a connection with Virgin, and some UK and European Virgin albums that were distributed internationally (instead of being manufactured in each country) named Caroline as their American distributor. Some Caroline records bore the label name Caroline Blue Plate, which was mainly used for reissuing on CD many early progressive rock albums and artists from Virgin and Caroline's UK branches.


Canadian editions

The first Canadian editions were distributed by WEA, and were parallel issues of the same early 14 albums issued in the US by Virgin/Atlantic. In 1975, distribution transferred to Columbia (as it had in the US), but the following year distribution was transferred again to Polydor Records (which changed its name to
PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
by 1980), and issued a different and larger selection of records from what was being issued in the US. Canadian editions of the Dindisc label were issued as Dindisc/Virgin. Virgin's Canadian division arranged to have Canadian artists Martha & the Muffins and Nash the Slash signed to Dindisc in the UK as well; both artists had releases in Canada and the UK on Dindisc. In 1983, an independent Virgin Records Canada Inc. company was created, three years before a similar move occurred in the US. From this time onward, Virgin Canada used unique label designs not seen in other countries: a red label with five horizontal bars across the top and an extra-large "scrawl" logo from 1983 to 1985, followed by a purple label with round logo up to 1992 when Virgin was acquired internationally.


Virgin Music Publishers

Soon after Virgin Records was founded, the label created a music publisher for its artists, who also served as songwriters. Starting in the 1980s, Virgin Music signed songwriters from other record labels. After Virgin was acquired by EMI, the publisher was folded into EMI Music Publishing as EMI Virgin Music. In 2012, a consortium led by Sony/ATV Music Publishing acquired EMI Music Publishing for $2.2 billion. However, the European Union ruled that Sony/ATV would represent over half of all the charting hits in the United Kingdom, and required the company to auction off Virgin Music and
Famous Music Famous Music Corporation was the worldwide music publishing division of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global since 1994. Its copyright holdings span several decades and includes music from such Academy Award-winning motion pictures ...
UK, as well as twelve unrelated authors. In December 2012,
BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...
acquired the Virgin and Famous publishers, and concluded the deal in May 2013. Virgin Music was renamed BMG VM Music, while Famous Music became BMG FM Music. Before its demise, Virgin Music's songwriters included
Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...
, Texas, Ozzy Osbourne,
Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...
, Nirvana, Winger, Wax, Tears for Fears,
The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...
, Goo Goo Dolls, Tool, The Crystal Method,
Terence Trent D'Arby Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard; March 15, 1962), who started his career with the stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer and songwriter who came to fame with his debut studio album, ''Introducing the Hardlin ...
,
Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...
, Ben Harper, Warrant, Mark Ronson,
Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...
,
Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...
, Take That, Bullet for My Valentine, Robbie Williams, Wayne Hector, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and XTC.


Subsidiary labels

*In 1983 Virgin purchased Charisma Records, renaming it Charisma/Virgin, then later Virgin/Charisma, before folding the label in 1986 and transferring its remaining artists to Virgin. In the process they acquired
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
and comedy group
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
. The Charisma label was reactivated in the US in 1990 and enjoyed success with signings such as Maxi Priest,
38 Special 38 Special may refer to: * .38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, cent ...
and Enigma. When this Charisma label was retired in 1992, all of its artists were, as before, transferred to Virgin. *In 1987, Venture Records was created for new age and modern classical artists including Klaus Schulze, who had been associated with Virgin since the early 1970s. (Virgin had distributed UK editions of his German albums since 1974, and he had almost been signed as a Virgin artist in 1976, but the deal was cancelled after a conflict between Virgin and his German label.) *10 Records was sometimes branded as Ten, and was part of AVL (Associated Virgin Labels Limited - a marketing company owned by Virgin Records Ltd). *Siren Records was another 1980s label which became part of AVL. *Circa Records was another 1980s AVL label, though one which became Virgin's 'strategic marketing' division making TV-advertised compilations such as ''The Best...Album in the World...Ever!'' collections under the label name Virgin TV or EMI/Virgin TV. * Immortal Records * Caroline Records was a budget label used from 1973 to 1977. The name and logo were later used for some American editions of Virgin records in the 1980s and 1990s. Caroline was primarily used for independent distribution until the label was reactivated in 2013. Today, Caroline Records acts as an independent label taking the place of EMI Label Services, after Virgin's former parent company EMI was purchased by Universal Music Group. * Front Line Records (or Virgin's Front Line) was a label for issuing Jamaican and English reggae music from 1978 to approximately 1987. It became an actual label name in 1978 when it succeeded a category of Virgin albums and singles marketed as "The Front line Series" which went back to 1976, when a reggae compilation album titled ''The Front Line'' was issued on Virgin. Front Line artists included U-Roy,
U Brown Huford Brown (born 8 June 1956, Kingston, Jamaica), better known by the stage name U Brown, is a reggae deejay who released eleven albums between 1976 and 1984. Biography Brown grew up in Bond Street in Kingston, living two doors away from Duk ...
,
Mighty Diamonds The Mighty Diamonds were a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group was formed in 1969 and were best known for their 1976 debut album, ''Right Time'', produced by Joseph Hoo Kim, and the 1979 ...
, Keith Hudson, Althea & Donna, Jah Lloyd, Johnny Clarke, The Gladiators,
Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 â€“ 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963â ...
, I-Roy, Tapper Zukie,
Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a band called ...
,
Twinkle Brothers The Twinkle Brothers are a Jamaican reggae band formed in 1962, and still active in the 21st century under Norman Grant's lead. History The Twinkle Brothers were formed in 1962 by brothers Norman (vocals, drums) and Ralston Grant (vocals, rhythm ...
,
Prince Far I Prince Far I (23 March 1945 – 15 September 1983) was a Jamaican reggae deejay and producer, and a Rastafarian. He was known for his gruff voice and critical assessment of the Jamaican government. His track "Heavy Manners" used lyrics about ...
,
Big Youth Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica),Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican deejay, mostly known for his ...
, The Abyssinians, Culture, Gregory Isaacs and Linton Kwesi Johnson. *A short-lived associated label, Dindisc, had Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Monochrome Set during its brief existence (1980–1981), after which its recordings became part of Virgin's catalogue. * Noo Trybe Records was a hip hop record label that existed from 1994 to 1999. The label consisted of mostly West Coast hip hop artists such as the
Luniz Luniz (formerly the LuniTunes) is an American hip hop duo from Oakland, California, formed by Yukmouth and Numskull. They were signed to Virgin Records, Noo Trybe Records, and C-Note Records. They were the flagship act for C-Note Records. The g ...
. The label also became the distributor for releases under Rap-A-Lot Records after they switched distribution from Virgin's sister label under EMI, Priority Records in 1994. Noo Trybe also became the home of East Coast rappers AZ and Gang Starr after their respective labels EMI and
Chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
were folded in early 1997. *Delabel was one of the main imprints of the French division of EMI, along with Virgin Music, Hostille, Blue Note France and Labels. Delabel had a publishing company and a record label, it existed until 2012 when EMI broke up, and EMI Music France was sold to Warner Music Group (along with Parlophone and other EMI divisions) and renamed Parlophone Music France. The publishing company of Delabel, is now owned by Sony/ATV Music Publishing (which acquired EMI Music Publishing), meanwhile, the label catalogue now belongs to the new division
Parlophone Music France Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
, from Warner Music Group. It signed with
Mathieu Chedid Matthieu Chedid (born 21 December 1971), better known by his stage name -M-, is a Music of France, French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player. Since 2018, he has been the most awarded artist at the Victoires de la Musique Awards with 13 awa ...
,
Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...
,
Tonton David Ray David Grammont (12 October 1967 in Paris – 16 February 2021 in Nancy, France), better known under his stage name Tonton David was a French Reggae singer born in Réunion. He was renowned for his raggamuffin performances, but used influenc ...
and others, It also distributed
The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...
's releases in France from 1993 to 2006.


Virgin Music international companies

*
EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...
(formerly Virgin EMI Records) is Universal's main label in the United Kingdom after Mercury Records UK has been reduced to a local Universal imprint and its artist moved to the new Virgin EMI label. In 2020, Virgin EMI was rebranded as EMI Records, but the Virgin brand will remain as an imprint of the newly rebranded unit. * Virgin Schallplatten GmbH was the German subsidiary of Virgin Records. It was consolidated into EMI Germany (which is now part of Universal Music Germany). *The Dutch branch of Virgin became independent from (then) parent company Ariola in 1984, although Ariola kept distributing and marketing Virgin's output until it was taken over by EMI in the early 1990s (which also meant the end of Virgin's independent status in the Netherlands). In the late 1990s Virgin launched the Top Notch label which became famous for its Dutch hip hop and rap artists. With Universal's acquisition of EMI in 2012, Virgin became part of the Universal Music Group Netherlands. *Virgin France was founded in 1980 and It was the first international division of Virgin Records, in 2002 it merged with EMI Music France and continued as an imprint, until it was consolidated into EMI France, which has been renamed Parlophone and sold to Warner Music Group, just like the divisions in Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia and Sweden. Universal (who retained Virgin's trademark in France) would later revive Virgin France as an imprint of Mercury Records' French division in 2016; its first artist, Etienne Daho, was one of Virgin France's biggest artists before Warner's acquisition. *Virgin Japan has had three incarnations: **The first was founded in 1987, Virgin Japan, as a wholly owned Virgin subsidiary. In 1989, following the investment by the
Fujisankei Communications Group , abbreviated FCG, is a keiretsu in Japan. In 1991, it was the fourth-largest media company in the world and the largest one in Japan. In the same year, the company's yearly revenue was $5 billion. Many of its affiliates are owned by Fuji Media ...
in Virgin Records, a new Virgin Japan company was established focused on domestic repertoire and run by Pony Canyon, the record company of Fujisankei. After EMI's purchase of Virgin in 1992, this incarnation of Virgin Japan was renamed Media Remoras, and it closed in 1997. ** The second incarnation was part of Toshiba-EMI, and had three sublabels: Virgin Domestic, Virgin Tokyo, and Virgin DCT (exclusive to releases from the band Dreams Come True). All three were folded in 2004 into the label Virgin Music, which was folded into EMI Records Japan in 2013 after its merger with Universal. It should, however, be noted that international Virgin releases were previously handled in Japan by Toshiba-EMI themselves prior to the 1987 establishment of the first incarnation of Virgin Japan. ** The third incarnation, Virgin Music (JPN), was founded as a sublabel alongside EMI Records in 2014 by
Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...
. It was formed after the merger of EMI R, which was renamed Virgin Records, and
Delicious Deli Records was a Japanese record label under Universal Music Japan. Founded by corporate executive and member of management committee and managing director of international, Kimitaka Kato, its headquarters are located in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. In August ...
. * The Brazilian division of Virgin started in 1996 by EMI Music Brasil with artistic direction by
Rick Bonadio Ricardo "Rick" Bonadio (born June 21, 1969) is a Brazilian music producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer, owner of Midas Studio and record companies Arsenal Music and Midas Music. Career He began his career in the 80's as a ...
, with artists like Surto,
Charlie Brown Jr. Charlie Brown Jr. was a Brazilian alternative rock band from Santos, São Paulo. The group was popular with disadvantaged youth because of their relatable commentary about social issues and the frequent use of skate punk and hip hop slang in ...
and Tihuana, and existed from 1996 to 2001, when it was absorbed by EMI, and in 2012 by Universal.


See also

* List of record labels * Virgin Group * Virgin Records artists


References


External links


Official Virgin Music BlogOfficial Virgin Music News Channel
as well as th
international
an
Canadian branches
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1972 1972 establishments in the United Kingdom British record labels Rock record labels Pop record labels New wave record labels Progressive rock record labels IFPI members EMI Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Record labels based in California Companies based in Los Angeles