History Creator / PhilipsRecords

Formed in UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands in [[TheGayNineties the 1890s]], the Philips corporation has evolved into one of the world's leading electronics firms. The company's employees invented (or helped to invent) the audio cassette, the boombox, the UsefulNotes/LaserDisc, the UsefulNotes/CompactDisc, and the Platform/PhilipsCDi; its other products include everything from televisions to toothbrushes, from shavers to medical equipment. And for several decades, it was one of the major names in the music industry.

In 1998, [=PolyGram=] merged with Creator/{{MCA}} to form the MegaCorp Creator/UniversalMusicGroup. While UMG licensed the Philips UsefulNotes/{{trademark}} from the electronics company (which no longer owned the label) for several years, by 2010 new releases had stopped; however, the Philips name is occasionally used for reissues. Philips' pop catalogue is controlled by Mercury, while its classical catalogue is controlled by Decca Classics.

Formed in UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands in [[TheGayNineties the 1890s]], the Philips corporation has evolved into one of the world's leading electronics firms. The company's employees invented (or helped to invent) the audio cassette, the boombox, the UsefulNotes/LaserDisc, the UsefulNotes/CompactDisc, and the UsefulNotes/PhilipsCDi; its other products include everything from televisions to toothbrushes, from shavers to medical equipment. And for several decades, it was one of the major names in the music industry.

Philips Records began during TheForties. Shortly after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the company expanded significantly through buying the Dutch division of [[Creator/DeccaRecords British Decca]]. Its fortunes improved even further in 1953, when it became the European licensee for Creator/ColumbiaRecords, which had ended its distribution deal with Creator/{{EMI}}; this gave Philips access to top American talent such as Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray.[[note]]Philips also had the rights to US Columbia's subsidiaries [[Creator/EpicRecords Epic]] and [[Creator/OkehRecords Okeh]] for a while, although those rights were transferred to Creator/EMIColumbiaRecords before finally winding up with European CBS in 1968.[[/note]] The label also signed some British singers, such as Music/ShirleyBassey and TeenIdol Marty Wilde. In the middle of the decade, Philips created its own sublabel, Creator/FontanaRecords.

* Music/AndyWilliams

'''Note:''' Many of these acts appeared on other Philips/Phonogram-affiliated labels (Fontana, Mercury, Smash, Vertigo) in various nations. Since the Mercury and Fontana trademarks weren't used in Australia for most of the 1960s, artists who were signed to those labels for the rest of the world (such as Mercury's Music/LesleyGore and Fontana's Music/ThePrettyThings) appeared on Philips in that country. Music/TheRamones and Music/TalkingHeads were part of a licensing deal with Creator/SireRecords, which was distributed by Phonogram in Europe until they switched to [[Creator/WarnerMusicGroup WEA]] in 1978.

* Music/TheRamones

!!Philips performers with Wiki/TVTropes pages

Philips Records began during TheForties. Shortly after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the company expanded significantly through buying the Dutch division of [[Creator/DeccaRecords British Decca]]. Its fortunes improved even further in 1953, when it became the European licensee for Creator/ColumbiaRecords, which had ended its distribution deal with Creator/{{EMI}}; this gave Philips access to top American talent such as Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray.[[note]]Philips also had the rights to US Columbia's subsidiaries [[Creator/EpicRecords Epic]] and [[Creator/OkehRecords Okeh]] for a while, although those rights wound up transferred to Creator/EMIColumbiaRecords before finally winding up with European CBS in 1968.[[/note]] The label also signed some British singers, such as Music/ShirleyBassey and TeenIdol Marty Wilde. In the middle of the decade, Philips created its own sublabel, Creator/FontanaRecords.

'''Note:''' Many of these acts appeared on other Philips/Phonogram-affiliated labels (Fontana, Mercury, Smash, Vertigo) in various nations. Since the Mercury and Fontana trademarks weren't used in Australia for most of the 1960s, artists who were signed to those labels for the rest of the world (such as Mercury's Music/LesleyGore and Fontana's Music/ThePrettyThings) appeared on Philips in that country. Music/{{Ramones}} and Music/TalkingHeads were part of a licensing deal with Creator/SireRecords, which was distributed by Phonogram in Europe until they switched to [[Creator/WarnerMusicGroup WEA]] in 1978.

* Music/{{Ramones}}

'''Note:''' Many of these acts appeared on other Philips/Phonogram-affiliated labels (Fontana, Mercury, Smash, Vertigo) in various nations. Since the Mercury and Fontana trademarks weren't used in Australia for most of the 1960s, artists who were signed to those labels for the rest of the world (such as Mercury's Music/LesleyGore and Fontana's Music/ThePrettyThings) appeared on Philips in that country. Music/{{Ramones}} and Music/TalkingHeads were licensed from Creator/SireRecords, which was distributed by Phonogram in Europe until they switched to [[Creator/WarnerMusicGroup WEA]] in 1978.

Philips Records began during TheForties. Shortly after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the company expanded significantly through buying the Dutch division of [[Creator/DeccaRecords British Decca]]. Its fortunes improved even further in 1953, when it became the European licensee for Creator/ColumbiaRecords (and its subsidiaries [[Creator/EpicRecords Epic]] and [[Creator/OkehRecords Okeh]]), which had ended its distribution deal with Creator/{{EMI}}; this gave Philips access to top American talent such as Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray. The label also signed some British singers, such as Music/ShirleyBassey and TeenIdol Marty Wilde. In the middle of the decade, Philips created its own sublabel, Creator/FontanaRecords.