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Columbia Records

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Columbia Records

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Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was originally founded in 1887, evolving from an earlier enterprise called the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, being the second major company to produce recorded records. From 1961 to 1990, Columbia's releases were released outside North America under the CBS Records name to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside RCA Records, Arista Records, and Epic Records.
  • Beginnings (1889–1929) 

  • Columbia Phonograph Company US ownership 1925-1931 

  • Columbia ownership separation (1931–1936) 

  • CBS takes over (1938–1947) 

  • The LP record (1948–1959) 

  • The 1950s 

  • Stereo 

  • CBS Records 

  • Mitch Miller on television 

  • Bob Dylan 

  • Rock and roll 

  • Ascension of Clive Davis 

  • Simon & Garfunkel 

  • Hoyt Axton and Tom Rush 

  • Catalog numbers 

  • Quadraphonics 

  • Yetnikoff becomes president 

  • Dick Asher vs "The Network" 

  • The 1980s and sale to Sony 

  • The 1990s–present 

  • Logos and branding 

  • Subsidiaries 

  • American Recording Company (ARC) 

  • Aware Records 

  • Columbia Nashville 

  • Recording studios 

  • Executives