Columbia

Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded in 1887, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1990, Columbia recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside former longtime rival RCA Records, as well as Arista Records and Epic Records.

Artists who have recorded for Columbia include AC/DC, Adele, Aerosmith, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Beyoncé, Blind Willie Johnson, Blue Öyster Cult, Dave Brubeck, The Byrds, Johnny Cash, Mariah Carey, The Clash, Miles Davis, Rosemary Clooney, Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, Bob Dylan, Earth, Wind & Fire, Duke Ellington, 50 Cent, Erroll Garner, Benny Goodman, Adelaide Hall, Billy Joel, Janis Joplin, John Mayer, George Michael, Billy Murray, New York Philharmonic, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, Bessie Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra McCartney and Wings, Bill Withers, and Joe Zawinul. We can see by the list of artists that it targets a very broad audience, ranging from Billy Joel which is targeted at an older demographic to 50 Cent which is targeted at teenagers who listen to rap.

Columbia Records became a leader in pop music in the 1940s with the popularity of Frank Sinatra. In the 1940s Columbia Records also began experimenting with longer playing, higher fidelity discs to replace 78 rpm records. The first pop LP officially released was a reissue of Frank Sinatra's The Voice Of Frank Sinatra in 1946. The single 10 inch disc replaced four 78 rpm records. In 1948 Columbia Records introduced the standard 33 1/3 rpm LP that would become a music industry standard for nearly 50 years. In 1951 Columbia Records began issuing 45 rpm records. The format had been introduced by RCA two years earlier. It became the standard way to issue recordings of individual hit songs. for decades to come.

Columbia Records began recording music in stereo in 1956, but the first stereo LPs were not introduced until 1958. Most of the early stereo recordings were of classical music. In the summer of 1958, Columbia Records began releasing pop stereo albums. The first few were stereo versions of previously released mono recordings. In September 1958, Columbia Records began released mono and stereo versions of the same albums simultaneously.

In 1988 the CBS Records Group which included Columbia Records was purchased by Sony. The CBS Records Group was officially renamed Columbia Records in 1991. Mariah Carey, Michael Bolton, and Will Smith are among the artists that provided hits for the label during this period.