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PolyGram
EntityQ700359· pop 27· linked from 2,779 articles

Also known as PolyGram N.V.

PolyGram N.V. was a Dutch-German multinational major music record label and entertainment company formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a holding for their record companies, and was renamed "PolyGram" in 1972. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records and the Philips interest Phonogram Records. The company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disc gramophone, Emil Berliner.

Key facts

Company.name
PolyGram N.V.
Company.logo
frameless|class=skin-invert
Company.former_name
Grammophon-Philips Group (1962–1972)
Company.type
Subsidiary
Company.traded_as
AEX: PLG (1989–1998) NYSE: PLG (until 1998)
Company.founder
Deutsche GrammophonPhilips Phonografische Industrie
Company.location_city
Baarn
Company.location_country
Netherlands
Company.parent
Philips (75%, 1988–1998)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official website
www.umusic.com
Show 3 more facts
dissolved, abolished or demolished date
1999-00-00
inception
1972-00-00
Commons category
Polygram Records
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~22 min read

Article

11 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Hollandsche Decca Distributie (HDD), 1929–1950
  • Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI), 1950–1962
  • GPG and PolyGram, 1962–1980
  • Reorganization, 1980–1999
  • Sale to Seagram and divestiture (1998–1999)
  • Notable labels
  • See also
  • References
  • Sources
  • External links

PolyGram N.V. was a Dutch-German multinational major music record label and entertainment company formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a holding for their record companies, and was renamed "PolyGram" in 1972. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records and the Philips interest Phonogram Records. The company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disc gramophone, Emil Berliner.

Later on, PolyGram expanded into the largest global entertainment company, creating film and television divisions. In May 1998, it was sold to the alcoholic distiller Seagram which owned film, television and music company Universal Studios. PolyGram's music operations were thereby folded into Universal Music Group, and its film and television operations were folded into Universal Pictures, which had been both Seagram successors of MCA Inc. When the newly formed entertainment division of Seagram faced financial difficulties, it was sold to Vivendi, and MCA became known as Universal Studios, as Seagram ceased to exist. Vivendi remains the majority owner of the Universal Music Group (while the film and television division was sold to NBCUniversal) until 2021. In February 2017, UMG revived the company under the name of PolyGram Entertainment, which currently serves as their film and television division.

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