Epic Records

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Epic Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony BMG.

History

Epic was launched originally as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 by CBS. Its bright-yellow, black and blue logo became a familiar trademark for many jazz and classical releases. This has included such notables as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Juilliard String Quartet, Antal Doráti conducting the Hague Philharmonic and George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra.

Ten years later, Epic earned its first gold records and developed into a formidable hit-making force in rock and roll, R&B and country music. Among its many acts, it included Bobby Vinton, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies, Tammy Wynette, Donovan, The Yardbirds, Lulu, and Jeff Beck. Several of the British artists on the Epic roster in the 1960s were the result of Epic's distribution deal with EMI in which Epic recordings were issued by EMI on the Columbia label before the contract with EMI expired at which point CBS Records formed a British Epic Records branch to market Epic label material.

Epic has a long history of many successful acts. During the 1970s, its success extended to include The Clash, Sly & the Family Stone, Boston, ABBA (in the UK), REO Speedwagon, Johnny Nash, Heart (on sister label Portrait Records), The Isley Brothers, Edgar Winter and Charlie Rich.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Epic made stars out of the likes of Meat Loaf, The Jacksons, Michael Jackson, Culture Club, Electric Light Orchestra, Ozzy Osbourne, Sade, Luther Vandross, Gloria Estefan, George Michael, and Cyndi Lauper (through the Portrait label.) Other successful acts included Jessica Simpson, Shakira, Fiona Apple, Jennifer Lopez (from the WORK label) and Mandy Moore.

Other artists signed to Epic include Anastacia,Alexz Johnson,The Fray, Incubus, Modest Mouse, Good Charlotte, Live, AC/DC, KISS, Duran Duran, Rage Against the Machine, Chevelle, Editors, Prong, Pearl Jam, Suicidal Tendencies, Macy Gray, B*Witched (via Glowworm Records), Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (via Ruthless Records), Tori Amos, Nicole Bennett, FireHouse, and multiplatinum selling artist Céline Dion (on the 550 imprint).

Epic is part of the Sony BMG Music Entertainment company. Sony Corporation bought all of CBS's labels in 1988. A joint venture between its music division and BMG happened in 2004.

Legacy Recordings continues to reissue the label's classic and historical albums.

Imprint labels

Past and present imprint labels of Epic Records include:

550 Music (defunct)
MJJ Music (defunct)
Epic Street – Formed for hip-hop artists.
Daylight Records
Beluga Heights - Established By Big Time Producer Jonathan "J.R." Rotem
DC Flag Records
Glowworm Records
Hidden Beach Records – Specializing in R&B and Soul
Okeh Records - For reissues of Okeh label material.
Portrait Records (defunct)
Ruthless Records (defunct) – Hip-hop label formed in 1987 by Eazy-E and Jerry Heller
Work Records (defunct) – also known as '"WORK" and "The WORK Group". Formerly operated as Chaos Recordings.

Epic Records artists

Epic Records Executives

Charlie Walk - Epic Record's President
Nick Raphael - Epic UK Managing Director
Jo Charrington - Epic UK Head of A&R

External links