Virgin Records
Parent company	EMI
Founded	1972
Founder	Richard Branson
Distributing label	Capitol Music Group (in the U.S.)
Genre	Various
Country of origin	UK
Official website	Official website of Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British recording label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper and Nik Powell in 1972. The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies Capitol Music Group is a major Record label, owned by EMI. It was formed in February 2007 as a merger of Virgin Records and Capitol Records The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950 is an English Business magnate, best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies Nik Powell (born c 1950 in Surrey, England) is one of the co-founders of the Virgin Group with Richard Branson. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It was later sold to Thorn EMI, and then merged with Capitol Records in 2006 to create Capitol Music Group. Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics music defence and retail Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as

Kraut- and Prog-rock origins

Virgin logo designed by Roger Dean for the fledging Virgin Records label

Branson & Powell had initially run a small record shop called Virgin Records and Tapes on Notting Hill Gate, London, specialising particularly in "krautrock" imports, and offering bean bags and free vegetarian food for the benefit of customers listening to the music on offer. Roger Dean (born August 31, 1944, in Ashford Kent) is an English Artist. Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Krautrock is a generic name for the Experimental music scene that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s especially in Britain ^[1]

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 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 serpent and the word "Virgin" in Dean's familiar script. Roger Dean (born August 31, 1944, in Ashford Kent) is an English Artist. A variation on the logo was used for the spin-off Caroline Records label. Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson 's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s

The first release on the label was the progressive rock album Tubular Bells by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield in 1973. Progressive rock (often shortened to " progressive " " prog " or " prog rock " is a form of Rock music that evolved Tubular Bells is a record album, written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English Multi-instrumentalist Musician Events January-February January 9 - Mick Jagger 's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug bust putting an abrupt end This was soon followed by some notable krautrock releases, including electronic breakthrough album Phaedra by Tangerine Dream (which went Top 10), and The Faust Tapes and Faust IV by Faust. Phaedra (1974 is an album by the German Electronic music group Tangerine Dream. Tangerine Dream is a German Electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The Faust Tapes is a 1973 album by the German Krautrock group Faust. Faust IV is a 1974 album by the pioneering German Krautrock group Faust. Faust is a German Krautrock band originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, The Faust Tapes album retailed for 49p (the price of a 7" single) and as a result allowed this relatively unknown band to reach number 12 in the album charts. Other early albums include Gong's The Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. Gong is a progressive / Psychedelic rock band formed by Australian Musician Daevid Allen. 1) (V2002) and the various artists Manor Live (V2004) album.

Post-punk rebranding

Although Virgin was initially one of the key labels of English progressive rock, the 1977 signing of the Sex Pistols, who had already been asked to leave both EMI and A&M, reinvented the label as a new wave outpost. The Sex Pistols are an English Punk rock band that formed in London in 1975 Shortly afterwards, the Notting Hill record shop (above which the label's office was located) was raided by police for having a window display of the Sex Pistols' album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols in the window. Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols is the first and only album recorded by the Sex Pistols, a highly influential and controversial English Afterwards they signed groups like XTC, Human League, Culture Club, Gillan, Simple Minds, and less successful bands like Shooting Star, the Motors, Holly and the Italians and Fingerprintz. XTC was a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005 Culture Club were a Grammy Award -winning British pop group that formed in the early 1980s Gillan was a hard rock band formed in 1978 by Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. Simple Minds are a rock band from Scotland, who had their greatest worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s Shooting Star is a rock band from Kansas City. They were formed in the late seventies The Motors were a British Pub rock / punk band formed in London in 1977 by former Ducks Deluxe members Nick Garvey and Andy McMaster Holly and the Italians were a short-lived American pop-punk band that formed in Los Angeles California in 1978 by Chicago born singer and guitarist Holly The Silencers are a Scottish rock band formed in London in 1986 A short-lived subsidiary label, DinDisc, had Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Monochrome Set during its brief 1980-81 existence. DinDisc was a short-lived subsidiary label of Virgin Records during the beginning of the 1980s Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (often abbreviated to OMD) are a Synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula The Monochrome Set were an English Post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides (whose members had included Similarly, Virgin Front Line became one of the UK's most successful reggae labels in the late '70s and early '80s.

The current Virgin logo (known informally as "The Scrawl") was created in 1982 as a hasty doodle on a cocktail napkin; rather than hiring the graphic designer, Branson simply paid him for the napkin.

The group Genesis recorded various albums for this record company beginning with 1983's self-titled effort (Virgin reissued the group's prior albums, which had originally been released on the Charisma label in the UK). Genesis are an English rock band formed in 1967 With approximately 150 million albums sold worldwide Genesis are among the top 30 highest-selling recording artists

After several false starts licensing its bands to American labels like Epic (Culture Club, Holly and the Italians & Shooting Star), Atlantic (Genesis, Julian Lennon) and A&M (UB40, Human League, Simple Minds, Breathe), Virgin Records opened up its American division, Virgin Records America, in 1987 releasing the debut album by Cutting Crew and the hit single "I Just Died In Your Arms"; other Virgin America signings included Camper Van Beethoven, Bob Mould, Warren Zevon, Paula Abdul and Steve Winwood. Epic Records is an American Record label. It is owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment. Atlantic Records ( Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American Record label best known for its many recordings of Rhythm & blues, Rock John Charles Julian Lennon (born 8 April 1963) known universally as Julian Lennon, or by many fans Jude, is an English A&M Records is an American Record label owned by Universal Music Group which operates through the Interscope-Geffen-A&M division Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Cutting Crew is a Pop rock band formed in England in 1985, best known for their United States #1 hit, " Camper Van Beethoven is an American Alternative rock group An eclectic band even by the standards of '80s underground music Camper Van Beethoven mixed elements of pop Bob Mould (born Robert Arthur Mould, October 16 1961 Malone, New York) is an American Musician, principally known for his work as Warren William Zevon (January 24 1947 &ndash September 7 2003 was a Grammy Award -winning American rock Singer-songwriter and Musician Paula Julie Abdul ( "AB-dool" born June 19, 1962) is a Grammy Award -winning American pop Singer Stephen Lawrence "Steve" or "Stevie" Winwood (born 12 May 1948 in Handsworth, Birmingham) is an English Singer-songwriter Virgin Records America's releases were distributed by WEA until 1992. Warner Music Group (WMG is the third-largest of the "big four" major record labels, the others being Sony BMG, EMI, and Universal Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Prior to the formation of Virgin Records America, its artists were licensed in the United States to labels such as CBS, A&M, Warner Bros. Records, and others. This article is about the record label founded in 2006 For the earlier CBS Records label see Columbia Records. A&M Records is an American Record label owned by Universal Music Group which operates through the Interscope-Geffen-A&M division Warner Bros Records Inc is an American Record label that operates as a wholly owned Subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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) [1][2], 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 E.U. Merger Decission IV/M202 of 27.04.1992). Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics music defence and retail It now faces competition from Branson's new label: V2 Records. V2 redirects here For the rocket see V-2 rocket. For other meanings see V2 (disambiguation. Branson sold Virgin Records to fund Virgin Atlantic Airways which at that time was coming under intense anti-competitive pressure from British Airways. Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd (operating as Virgin Atlantic) is a British airline which is owned by Richard Branson 's Virgin Group (51% and British Airways plc ( is the national Airline and Flag carrier of the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe (In 1993 BA settled a libel action brought by Branson, 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, Innocent Records, blues specialty label Point Blank Records, and Hut Records, and continued signing new and established artists like 30 Seconds to Mars, Tina Turner, Beenie Man, Korn, The Rolling Stones, The Smashing Pumpkins, We Are Scientists, Darren Hayes, The Kooks, Lenny Kravitz, Meat Loaf, Placebo, Janet Jackson (Contract ended in 2006), Daft Punk, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Massive Attack, Blur, The Chemical Brothers, Spice Girls, Gorillaz, Paula Abdul(Contract ended in 1999), Brooke Allison, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Almost, Mariah Carey (Contract ended in 2002), N.E.R.D. and recently RBD, Bizzy Bone, and Swami. Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics music defence and retail Real World Studios is the high-tech recording studio in Box Wiltshire, associated with the Real World Records Ltd Innocent Records is a pop Record label created to cater to Pre-teen and teenage music fans Point Blank Records is a Record label subsidiary of Virgin Records. 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 30 Seconds to Mars (or Thirty Seconds to Mars and often abbreviated to 30STM) is an American rock band from Los Angeles California Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an eight time Grammy Award -winning American Anthony Moses Davis (born August 22 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica) better known by his Stage name Beenie Man, is a popular Reggae Korn, occasionally typeset as KoЯn or KoRn, is an American Nu metal band from Bakersfield California, and is often credited with popularizing The Smashing Pumpkins are an American Alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988 We Are Scientists is an American band, formed in 2000 featuring Keith Murray ( Guitar and lead vocals) Chris Cain Darren Stanley Hayes (born May 8, 1972) is an Australian Singer-songwriter. The Kooks are an Indie band based in the United Kingdom. The band was formed in Brighton, United Kingdom, and currently consists of four members Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American Singer-songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist, Record Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27 1947 better known by his stage name Meat Loaf, is an American rock Musician Placebo are an Alternative rock band formed in London in 1994 currently comprising Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal and Steve Forrest Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16 1966 is an American recording artist and entertainer Daft Punk Does It Offend You Yeah? is a British electro-rock band from Reading Berkshire. Massive Attack are an English Trip hop group founded in 1988 by Robert Del Naja, Grantley Marshall, and Andrew Vowles in Bristol Blur are an English Alternative rock band that formed in London in 1989 The Chemical Brothers are an English Grammy Award winning Electronic music duo of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons (occasionally referred to as Chemical The Spice Girls are a BRIT Award -winning English pop Girl group formed in 1994 Gorillaz is a Virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn of alternative rock band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the Comic Paula Julie Abdul ( "AB-dool" born June 19, 1962) is a Grammy Award -winning American pop Singer Brooke Allison (born September 26 1986) is an Pop singer from Fort Worth, Texas who had a minor hit in 2001 with "The Kiss-Off The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (also known as Red Jumpsuit Apparatus or RJA is an American rock band that formed in 2003 in Jacksonville, The Almost is a alternative band from Clearwater Florida, most notable for being the side project of Underoath drummer/vocalist Aaron Gillespie. NERD (alternatively written as N*E*R*D) is an Alternative rock, Funk, and hip hop band formed in 2001 RBD is a two times Latin Grammy nominated Mexican pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's teenage-oriented Telenovela Rebelde Bryon Anthony McCane II, better known by his Stage name Bizzy Bone, is an American Rapper and is a member of the Cleveland rap Swami are a critically-acclaimed British Indian pop / alt / Bhangra band from Birmingham, England.

Merger

Main article: Capitol Music Group

Capitol Records and Virgin Records were merged in 2006 to create Capitol Music Group after a massive restructuring of the EMI company. Capitol Music Group is a major Record label, owned by EMI. It was formed in February 2007 as a merger of Virgin Records and Capitol Records Capitol Music Group is a major Record label, owned by EMI. It was formed in February 2007 as a merger of Virgin Records and Capitol Records [3] Stepping down as chief executive of Capitol Records was Andy Slater, per the announcement, with Jason Flom, former executive of Virgin, taking the reins as Chairman and CEO of the newly created company.

See also

• List of record labels
• Virgin Schallplatten GmbH
• Virgin Group
• Virgin Records artists

References

External links

• Official website
• virginbrand.com Unofficial blog of the Virgin Group
• Virgin Records - art label design & artists at www.collectable-records.ru