Koch Entertainment - History

History

The company began in 1975 as part of Koch International originally of Tirol, later of Munich. Founded by Tirolean banker Franz Koch, Koch was an independent Austrian record label, recording studio and music distribution company that specialized in German Folk Music and later popular classical music recordings. For over 20 years, the international arm of the company operated under the name Koch Entertainment, a music, film, and television distribution company that was started in 1986 by Franz's son Michael in New York. In 1988 the parent Austrian company Koch acquired Schwann Records from Schwann Verlag.

By 1991, Koch had become one of the first national independent distributors of domestic labels in the U.S. by offering an alternative to the traditional system of regional independent distribution or national major label distribution. In 1992, Koch was ranked #315 on Inc. Magazine’s list of America’s 500 fastest-growing private companies, and has since grown into an entertainment conglomerate. It acquired the specialist German label Schwann, Koch expanded into the Canadian market in 1995 by forming the Toronto-based Koch Entertainment Canada. In 1996 Koch International took over Discover, a budget label which had been set up by conductor Alexander Rahbari to challenge the dominance in the budget classical sector of Naxos. The new Koch Discover International was to be jointly controlled by Franz Koch and Rahbari. The Austrian parent Koch divested Schwann to Deutsche Grammophone's parent Universal Music GMbH in 2002.

It was announced in 2005 that Koch was acquired by Canadian company Entertainment One (eOne) (initially "Records on Wheels, then "ROW Entertainment Income Fund", next "Entertainment One Income Fund", afterwards eOne, & finally "E1 Entertainment" before returning to eOne) for a purchase price of approximately $80 million. As of January 2009, Koch has been rebranded under the name E1 Entertainment.