Parlophone Records

Parlophone began in Germany in 1896, founded by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon, before its British branch opened in London in 1923 as the Parlophone Company Limited. Under manager Oscar Preuss, the British operation built a reputation during the 1920s for jazz records. Columbia Graphophone acquired the business, name, logo and release library in 1926, and its later merger with the Gramophone Company brought Parlophone into the company that became EMI in 1931.

George Martin joined Parlophone in 1950 as Preuss's assistant and became label manager in 1955. His releases reflected an unusually broad brief, from comedian Peter Sellers to pianist Mrs Mills and teen idol Adam Faith. In 1962, Martin signed the Beatles after the Liverpool group had been turned down by Decca Records. The partnership transformed Parlophone's public profile. During the 1960s the label also signed Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer, the Fourmost and the Hollies, while Beatles records including “She Loves You” and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band became landmark UK sellers. Parlophone had seven number-one singles in 1964 and held the top position on the UK Albums Chart for 40 weeks that year.

The label remained part of EMI through subsequent corporate changes, with the former Gramophone Company renamed EMI Records Limited in 1973. In the wake of Universal Music Group's acquisition of EMI, regulators required the EMI Records group to be sold. Parlophone, excluding the Beatles catalogue, was briefly operated within the Parlophone Label Group before Warner Music Group acquired it in 2013. The company was renamed Parlophone Records Limited that May.

Now a German-British label within Warner Music Group, Parlophone carries a catalogue and artist history that stretches from its early jazz identity to major pop and rock recordings. Its associated artists include Brian Eno, David Bowie, Chrissie Hynde, Aidan Doran and NATURE, alongside the artists whose 1960s releases made its name synonymous with British popular music.