Labels of Canned Classical Music

Speaker: Marc

Why Canned Music?

• Though not live, but real enough

• One-time cost

• Easy to access

• Long-term preservation

Universal Classics Group

• Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft• Philips• Decca Records

Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft

• Founded in Hanover • Since December 1898• Long been known for its high standards of

audio fidelity • Nowadays Pillars of the label

– Bryn Terfel– Lang Lang– Yundi Li– Hilary Hahn

Philips Classics

• Started in the eighties

• Record label of Dutch electronics giant Philips

• The label is was merged by parent Universal Music into Decca Records

• Nowadays Pillars of the label– Valery Gergiev– Alfred Brendel

Decca Records

• Became major classical label in the 40’s.

• A leading label for both classical music and Broadway scores

• Now making comparatively few major classical recordings

• The Solti Ring was voted best recording of all time by readers of the influential magazine The Gramophone

Warner Classics

• Erato Records– founded in 1953 to promote French classical

music – became part of Warner in 1992

• Teldec

• Apex– offer outstanding value of money

Sony BMG Music Entertainment

• Sony Classical Records

• BMG Classics– RCA– Arte Nova– Melodiya

Sony Classical

• Started in 1927 as Masterworks Records

• Acquired by Sony in 1990 and renamed

• Nowadays Pillars of the label– Yo-Yo Ma– John Williams– Joshua Bell

BMG Classics

• RCA– the best-known classical label in the early yea

rs of the 20th century

• Arte Nova– makes classical music available at bargain pri

ces

• Melodiya– the Russian label

EMI Classics

• Formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases

• Celebrated its Centenary in 1997

• Nowadays Pillars of the label– Maxim Vengerov– Simon Rattle

Independent Labels

• BIS

• Brilliant Classics

• Chandos

• Harmonia Mundi

• Hyperion

• Supraphon

• Telarc