Columbia Graphophone Company - As An EMI Label

As An EMI Label

EMI continued to operate the Columbia record label in the UK until the early 1970s, and everywhere else except for the US, Canada, Mexico, Spain and Japan, until it sold its remaining interest in the Columbia trade mark to Sony Music Entertainment in 1990.

Under EMI, English Columbia's output was mainly licenced recordings from American Columbia until 1951 when American Columbia switched British distribution to Philips Records. English Columbia continued to distribute American Columbia sister labels Okeh and Epic until 1968 when American Columbia's then parent CBS moved distribution of all its labels to the then new CBS Records created from the purchase of Oriole Records (UK) in late 1964. The loss of American Columbia product had forced English Columbia to groom its own talent such as Russ Conway, Acker Bilk, John Barry, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Helen Shapiro, Frank Ifield, Rolf Harris, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Dave Clark Five, Shirley Bassey, Frankie Vaughan, Des O'Connor, Ken Dodd, The Animals, Herman's Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Seekers, Pink Floyd (who have been on both Columbia UK and US), and The Yardbirds. Led by avuncular A&R man Norrie Paramor, the label was arguably the most successful in Britain in the rock era prior to the Beat Boom.

In the mid 1960s, English Columbia added an audiophile imprint called Studio 2 Stereo.

EMI has engaged in litigation with CBS regarding the importing of American records bearing the Columbia imprint into areas where EMI owned the Columbia name.