Atlantic Records

From Free net encyclopedia

Atlantic Records
Image:Atlanticlogo2006.gif
Parent company	Warner Music Group
Founded	1947
Founder(s)	Ahmet Ertegun Herb Abramson
Distributing label	Atlantic Records (US) WEA (Outside the US)
Genre(s)	Various
Country	US
Web address	http://atlanticrecords.com/

Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label, and a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

[edit]

History

Founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Upon its creation, Atlantic was principally a jazz and R&B label. In the early fifties Ahmet was joined by Jerry Wexler and then Nesuhi Ertegun. From 1955 Nesuhi headed the company's jazz division and was responsible for major signings such as Charles Mingus and John Coltrane; later Joel Dorn filled this position. Athough it began as an independent record company, it became a major player in the music business in the 1960s, with mainstream pop signings like Sonny and Cher.

Image:Atlanticrecords.jpg The engineer, and later producer, Tom Dowd headed Atlantic's engineering department. Several sub-labels have been created or acquired since then. Atco Records was started in 1955 by Herb Abramson. Spark Records (the record label of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller) was purchased in November 1955. Others including Lava Records, and 143 Records became part of the Atlantic group. Atlantic was acquired by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1967. It is currently part of the Warner Music Group, a former division of media conglomerate Time Warner that was sold to a group of investors in 2004.

In the early '90s, Atlantic owned 50% of Interscope Records, and distributed notable gangsta rap releases, including Doggystyle, through its subsidiary Eastwest Records. However, pressure from activist groups opposed to gangsta rap led to parent company Warner Music Group's decision to sell Atlantic's stake in the label, and Interscope was forced to find other distributors for future gangsta rap releases including Dogg Food and All Eyez on Me. (see also: Death Row Records)

The label has also a number of labels deals with independents such as Must Destroy (which brought Goldie Lookin' Chain and The Darkness into the label) and VP Records in Jamaica, home to reggae artists such as Sean Paul.

[edit]