'Deutsche Grammophon' is a
German classical
record label. The company has long been known for its high standards of
audio fidelity.
The ''Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft'' was founded in
1898 by German-born
United States citizen
Emile Berliner as the German branch of his
Berliner Gramophone Company. Based in the city of
Hanover, the company had links with the U.S.
Victor Talking Machine Company and the
British HMV, but those links were severed at the onset of
World War I.
In
1941 Deutsche Grammophon was purchased by the
Siemens & Halske electronics company.
In
1945 as part of Germany's surrender terms ending
World War II, Deutsche Grammophon forfeited its rights to the ''His Master's Voice'' trademark to
EMI. The dog and gramophone were replaced by the "crown of tulips", designed by Siemens advertising consultant Hans Domizlaff.
In
1962 Siemens formed a joint venture with
Netherlands based
Philips to create the DGG/PPI Record Group, which was to include the
PolyGram label.
Deutsche Grammophon were owners of
the Beatles' first record label,
Polydor Records.
Deutsche Grammophon pioneered the introduction of the
compact disc to the mass market, debuting
classical music performed by
Herbert von Karajan and the
Berlin Philharmonic for sale in the new medium in
1983, the first recording being Richard Strauss' ''
Eine Alpensinfonie''.
In
1987 Siemens sold off its interest in Deutsche Grammophon, and Philips became the majority shareholder. In
1998 Seagram Company Ltd of
Canada purchased Deutsche Grammophon and Polygram. Since then Deutsche Grammophon has been merged into the
Universal Music Group, a division of
Vivendi.
Deutsche Grammophon has a huge back catalogue of notable recordings. The company currently is reissuing a portion of it with the indication ''Originals''. ''Originals''
compact disc releases are noted for their
vinyl record stylized design. They are also releasing some of American
Decca Records' albums from the 1940's and '50's, such as those that
Leonard Bernstein made for Decca in 1953, and the classic
Christmas album which features
Ronald Colman starring in ''
A Christmas Carol'' and
Charles Laughton narrating ''Mr. Pickwick's Christmas''. Along with the American Decca Records classical music catalogue, Deutsche Grammophon also manages the classical music catalogue of
ABC Records including
Westminster Records.
See also
★
List of record labels
External link
★
Official site
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