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His Master's Voice (British record label)

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This article is about the defunct British record label. For the Indian record label that used to trade as "His Master's Voice", see Saregama. For the Australian record label that used to trade as "His Master's Voice", see EMI Music Australia. For other former "His Master's Voice" labels, see His Master's Voice (disambiguation).
His Master's Voice
Parent company
  • Gramophone Company (1909–1973)
  • EMI Records (1973–1993)
Founded1909; 116 years ago (1909)
Defunct1993; 32 years ago (1993)
StatusReplaced by EMI Classics, and brand divested to HMV
Country of originUnited Kingdom

His Master's Voice was a British record label from 1909 to 1993. Whilst mainly releasing in the United Kingdom, the label also released for select European and African territories. Sister labels were also created, such as an Indian version that lasted until 2003.[1]

It was originally a recording label of the Gramophone Company (later part of EMI) releasing classical music. From 1952 to 1967 it also released pop music and signed American talent for British distribution. In 1973, it became a sub-label of EMI Records as a result of a corporate restructuring.

From 1990, the His Master's Voice label began being phased out in favour for the newly-established EMI Classics label. The final His Master's Voice release was Morrissey's live album, Beethoven Was Deaf, in May 1993.

In 2003, EMI divested the "His Master's Voice" intellectual property to HMV, the retail business it had previously spun-off in 1998.

History

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His Master's Voice was founded as a classical label.[2] From December 1899, the predecessor to EMI, the Gramophone Company, had purchased the His Master's Voice painting from Francis Barraud, and, from 1909, began using the phrase "His Master's Voice" and likeness of Nipper on its releases. In 1921, the Gramophone Company established His Master's Voice as a music retail chain.[3] In 1931, the Gramophone Company merged with Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI, with Gramophone Company continuing as a label, and His Master's Voice continuing as a sub-label, under EMI.[4]

In 1952, the label entered the pop music genre, and used a POP number prefix.[citation needed] It also signed American talent such as Elvis Presley for British distribution. This continued until 1967, when its domestic pop artists moved to either Columbia Graphophone or Parlophone, and American performers were moved to Stateside Records, reserving His Master's Voice for classical recordings.[2]

In July 1973, the Gramophone Company became EMI Records, with His Master's Voice continuing as a sub-label.[5] From 1990, His Master's Voice began to be phased out as a record label, and gradually replaced for EMI Classics. The final His Master's Voice release was Morrissey's Beethoven Was Deaf, a live album released in May 1993.[6]

In 1998, EMI spun off its HMV retail business, becoming its own entity, and in 2003, divested the "His Master's Voice" intellectual property to the retail business.[7]

His Master's Voice POP artist list (1952 to 1967)

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References

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  1. ^ "Tracing a century of HMV, the label which laid the foundation of Indian music industry". Firstpost. 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  2. ^ a b "EMI Revamps Three Labels". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1967-11-11. p. 51.
  3. ^ "EMI: A brief history". BBC. 24 January 2000. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  4. ^ "Gramophone Company Discography". EMI Archive Trust. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
  5. ^ "The Beatles U.K. LP Stereo/Parlo#2". Yokono.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
  6. ^ "EMI Records: The Story of EMI Music Publishing". Musicgateway.com. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
  7. ^ Lara (2024-03-27). "Nipper and His Master's Voice". Huguenotmuseum.org. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
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