Warner Bros. Records

infobox record label
name = Warner Bros. Records Inc.


parent = Warner Music Group
founded = March 19,1958
founder = Warner Bros.
distributor = Warner Bros. Records (US)
WEA International Inc.
Atlantic Records (outside US)
genre = Various
callsigns = WBR, WB, WAR, Warner Brothers Records Entertainment
country = United States
location = Burbank, California
New York, New York
Charlotte, North Carolina
url = [http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com/ Official Web site of Warner Bros. Records]

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label that operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. It is also affectionately known as the Bunny, based on the Bugs Bunny cartoons put out by Warner Bros.

History

Warner Bros. Records opened for business on March 19, 1958, above the film studio's machine shop at 3701 Warner Boulevard in Burbank, California. Prompting the labels creation was when Warner Bros. Pictures contract actor Tab Hunter scored a #1 hit in 1957 with "Young Love" for Dot Records. To Warners' chagrin, reporters were primarily asking about the hit record, instead of Hunter's latest Warner movie. The company quickly signed Hunter to the newly formed record division, and while his subsequent recordings for the label failed to duplicate the success that he had had with Dot, the fledgling Warner Bros. Records thrived.

In 1960, the company signed the Everly Brothers (who were previously on Cadence Records) with the first ever million-dollar contract in history. The same year, they also released two albums by Bob Newhart, which both won Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year. In 1963, Warner Bros. Records purchased Frank Sinatra's label, Reprise Records—the acquisition proved very lucrative, as Reprise remains in the WBR fold to this day, and has become its strongest imprint.

In 1964, the label negotiated with Disques Vogue for the right to distribute Petula Clark's recordings in the US, beginning with "Downtown." Eight years later, in 1972, Dionne Warwick was brought to the label after leaving Scepter Records in a deal that was the biggest contract at the time for a female artist. Warwick's five years at Warners would greatly pale in comparison to her tenure at Scepter, both personally and professionally.

In 1967, Warner Bros. (including WBR) was sold for $85 million to Seven Arts Productions and renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. Two years later, the company was sold to Kinney National Company (later renamed Warner Communications) and the label become Warner Bros. Records again, reviving the WB shield as its logo. In 1971, Warner Communications established WEA; the pooling together of Warner Bros. Records, Elektra, and Atlantic, to form a larger umbrella for its music entities under which they could operate. In 1990, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. to form Time Warner. In 1991, WEA was renamed Warner Music. In 2000, Time Warner merged with AOL creating AOL Time Warner. Finally, in March 2004, a group of private investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. bought the Warner Music Group from Time Warner. Today Warner Bros. Records remains one of Warner Music Group's most dominant labels, having exactly 121 artists on the label. However, Time Warner may still have some ownership in the label because the trademark is not licensed from its former parent.

Affiliated labels

Current

* "'Black Wall Street Records (2001-present)"'
* Blacksmith Records (2005-present)
* BME Recordings (2004-present)
* Brute-Beaute Records (2005–present)
* Festival Mushroom Records (since 1998)
* Heiress Records (2004-present; current status unknown)
* Jack Records (2004-present)
* JKiss Records (2004–present)
* Machine Shop Recordings (2002-present)
* Malpaso Records (1995-present; status unknown)
* Maverick Records (1991-present)
* Mike Jones (rapper) (2004-present)
* Nonesuch Records (2004-present)
* PBS Records (1998–present; current status unknown)
* Playmaker Music (2007-present)
* RFC Records (?-present; status unknown)
* Record Collection (?-present)
* Reprise Records (1963-present)
* RuffNation Records (1998-present)
* Sire Records (1978–1995, 2003–present)
* SoBe Records (2005–present)
* Teleprompt Records (2003-present)
* Top Dawg ENT (2006-present)
* Word Records (2002-present)
* "'Serjical Strike Records (2007-present)
* "'Wiz Khalifa (2007-present)
* "'V.I.C. (2006-present)

Former

* 4AD Records (1992–1998) (US only)
* American Recordings (1988-1997 (US), 2005-2007 (worldwide))
* Autumn Records (1963-1965)
* Bearsville Records (1970-1984)
* Capricorn Records (1990–1995)
* Cold Chillin' Records (1987-1993)
* Extasy International Records (2000–2004)
* F-111 Records (1995–2001)
* Geffen Records (1980-1990)
* Giant Records [and its subsidiaries the Medicine Label (1993–1995), Paladin, Revolution] (1990-2001)
* Loma Records (1964-1968 and one boutique release in 2003)
* Luaka Bop Records (1988–2000)
* Metal Blade Records (1988–1992)
* Music for Little People (1990–1995)
* Opal Records (1987-1993)
* Paisley Park Records (1985-1994)
* Premeditated Records (middle 1990s)
* Raybaw Records (2005-2008)
* Qwest Records (1985-2000)
* Slash Records (1982-1996)
* Tommy Boy Records (1985-2002)
* Valiant Records (1960-1966)
* Warner Alliance (?-1998)

Artists

Company logos

ee also

* List of record labels
* List of Warner Bros. Records artists

External links

* [http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com Official site]
* [http://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/warnerstory.html The Warner Bros. Records Story from BSN Pubs.]
*
* [http://www.lomarecords.com/index.htm Discography of Loma Records]