RCA Records
RCA Records
Today, RCA Records is one of the largest Sony Music Entertainment labels. The letters RCA stand for "Radio Corporation of America", the parent company from 1929 to 1985.RCA consists of three themed music labels: RCA Records for pop, rock and country music; RCA Victor as a competitor to the famous Blue Note blues and jazz label produces blues, world, jazz, musicals and others that don't fit under the pop umbrella. RCA Red Seal is famous for classical music, and its subsidiary RCA Gold Seal is responsible for new editions.
RCA Viktor also operated the RCA Custom record label, which served indie labels as well as its own needs.
In 1929, RCA bought the then largest gramophone manufacturer "The Victor Talking Machine Company" and was renamed "RCA-Victor". In 1931, its British subsidiary "The Gramophone Co." merged with the "Columbia Graphophone Company" to form the well-known EMI. In 1935, RCA sold its share in EMI.
With the beginning of the Second World War, RCA lost its business connections with its partner, the Japan Victor Corporation (JVC). Today, this RCA offshoot still exists as the JVC subsidiary Viktor Entertainment. In 1949, RCA Records launched the 45rpm SP in response to CBS/Columbia's 33 tour LP, which established itself as the standard for pop singles. It also launched the 7-minute-per-side "Extended Play" (EP), as classical songs in particular often exceeded the 4 minutes of the standard 45.
The 1950s were characterized by close competition with Columbia, which produced some innovations, such as the development of stereo recordings from 1953 and the so-called 'Gruv-Gard' records, whose edges and middle section were reinforced for protection.
In 1955, RCA bought Elvis Presley's contract from Sun Records for $35,000. He became RCA's most successful musician. His first golden record, 'Heartbreak Hotel', was released just one year later. In 1957, RCA ended its 55-year record distribution partnership with EMI and signed a new contract with DECCA Records.
At the beginning of the 60s, RCA tried to replace the 45 doubles and singles with 33 compacts, but this failed. Quadraphonic recordings were marketed from 1970.
In 1983, Bertelsmann sold 50 of its Arista shares to RCA. In 1985 they started the RCA/Ariola International joint venture. In 1986, General Electric bought RCA Records and sold its Ariola share to Bertelsmann. The latter renamed it BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group). In the 80s, many well-known musicians such as Eurythmics and Rick Astley were signed to RCA. Today, many well-known artists such as Christina Aguilera, The Strokes and The Foo Fighters are with RCA. The label is also very successful with modern jazz, once the terrain of Blue Note.
