1. Industrie Toulouse: Elvis Duran

Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), also known as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French: [ɑ̃ʁi də tuluz lotʁɛk]), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the late 19th century allowed him to. The personal information and data collected via this form will be processed electronically in order to respond to your requests for information about our services. Press question mark to see available shortcut keys.

. Self-distributed. (In the ). (Outside the US). (Re-issues) Genre Various Country of origin Location, U.S.

Official website Warner Bros. Is an American major owned by and headquartered in. It was founded in 1958 as the recorded music division of the American, and was one of a group of labels owned and operated by larger parent corporations for much of its existence. The sequence of companies that controlled Warner Bros. And its allied labels evolved through a convoluted series of corporate mergers and acquisitions from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. Over this period, Warner Bros. Records grew from a struggling minor player in the music industry to one of the top record labels in the world.

In 2004, these music assets were divested by their then owner and purchased by a private equity group. This independent company traded as the Warner Music Group and was the world's last publicly traded major music company before being bought and privatized by in 2011. WMG is the smallest of the three major international music conglomerates, and Max Lousada oversees recorded music operations of the company. Artists signed to Warner Bros. Records have included,.

Contents. History Founding At the end of the period, Warner Bros.

Pictures decided to expand into and so that it could access low-cost music content for its films. In 1928, the studio acquired several smaller music publishing firms which included, Harms Inc., and a partial interest in New World Music Corp., and merged them to form the Music Publishers Holding Company. This new group controlled valuable copyrights on by and and and the new division was soon earning solid profits of up to US$2 million every year. In 1930, MPHC paid US$28 million to acquire (which included ), whose roster included, and, and soon after the sale to Warner Bros., the label signed rising radio and recording stars,. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the dual impact of the and the introduction of greatly harmed the recording industry—sales crashed, dropping by around 90% from more than 100 million records in 1927 to fewer than 10 million by 1932 and major companies were forced to halve the price of records from 75c to 35c. In December 1931, Warner Bros. Offloaded Brunswick to the (ARC) for a fraction of its former value, in a lease arrangement which did not include Brunswick's pressing plants.

Technically, Warner maintained actual ownership of Brunswick, which with the sale of ARC to in 1939 and their decision to discontinue Brunswick in favor of reviving the label, reverted to Warner Bros. Sold Brunswick a second time (along with Brunswick's back catalog up to 1931), this time along with the old Brunswick pressing plants Warner owned, to (which formed its American operations in 1934) in exchange for a financial interest in Decca. The studio stayed out of the record business for more than 25 years, and during this period it licensed its film music to other companies for release as soundtrack albums.

1958–1963: formation and early years. The grey, black, white and yellow label design used for Warner Bros. Mono albums from 1958 to 1964 when it switched to the same gold label as the stereo version. Returned to the record business in 1958 with the establishment of its own recording division, Warner Bros. By this time, the established studios were reeling from multiple challenges to their former dominance—the most notable being the introduction of television in the late 1940s. Legal changes also had a major impact on their business—lawsuits brought by major stars had effectively overthrown the old studio contract system by the late 1940s; Warner Bros. Pictures sold off much of its movie library in 1948 (although, ironically, Time Warner's 1996 takeover of returned most of the Warner archive to the company) and, beginning in 1949, anti-trust suits brought by the US government forced the five major studios to divest their cinema chains.

In 1956, and sold their interest in the studio and the board was joined by new members who favoured a renewed expansion into the music business—Charles Allen of the investment bank Charles Allen & Company, of the and investor David Baird. Semenenko in particular had a strong professional interest in the entertainment business and he began to push Jack Warner on the issue of setting up an 'in-house' record label. With the record business booming - sales had topped US$500 million by 1958 - Semnenko argued that it was foolish for Warner Bros. To make deals with other companies to release its soundtracks when, for less than the cost of one motion picture, they could establish their own label, creating a new income stream that could continue indefinitely and provide an additional means of exploiting and promoting its contract actors. Another impetus for the label's creation was the brief music career of Warner Bros. Although Hunter was signed to an exclusive acting contract with the studio, it did not prevent him from signing a recording contract, which he did with, owned at the time. Hunter scored several hits for Dot, including the US #1, ' (1957), and to Warner Bros.'

Chagrin, reporters were primarily asking about the hit record, rather than Hunter's latest Warner movie. In 1958, the studio signed Hunter as its first artist to its newly formed record division, although his subsequent recordings for the label failed to duplicate his success with Dot. Agreed to buy in 1956 and, although the deal fell apart, it marked the breaking of a psychological barrier: 'If the company was willing to buy another label, why not start its own?' To establish the label, the company hired former president James B.

Conkling; its founding directors of were Harris Ashburn,. Conkling was an able administrator with extensive experience in the industry—he had been instrumental in launching the LP format at Columbia and had played a key role in establishing the the previous year. However, Conkling had decidedly middle-of-the-road musical tastes (he was married to Donna King of vocal trio the ) and was thus rather out of step with emerging trends in the industry, especially the fast-growing market for music. Records opened for business on March 19, 1958; its original office was located above the film studio's machine shop at 3701 Warner Boulevard in Burbank, California. Its early album releases (1958–1960) were aimed at the upscale end of the mainstream audience, and Warner Bros. Took an early (though largely unsuccessful) lead in recording stereo LPs that targeted the new ' market.

The catalogue in this period included:. / albums by Warner contract players such as, and. / albums by artists such as and.

and collections of film and TV themes. 'middle of the road' instrumental albums by artists including, and 'Ira Ironstrings' (a pseudonym for guitarist, Conkling's brother-in-law, who was in fact under contract to at the time). Some albums featured jokey or self-deprecating titles such as:. Music for People with $3.98 (Plus Tax If Any),. Terribly Sophisticated Songs: A Collection of Unpopular Songs for Popular People,. Songs the Kids Brought Home from Camp.

Don't Put Your Empties on the Piano and. But You've Never Heard Gershwin With Bongos. Almost all were commercial failures; and the only charting album in Warner Bros.' First two years was 'soundtrack' album for the studio's hit series, which reached #3 in 1959.

Tab Hunter's ' (WB 5008), which reached #62, was Warner Bros. Only charting single during its first year. Early Warner Bros. Singles had distinctive red labels, with the WB logo to the side and a number of different-colored arrows surrounding and pointing at the center hole. The first hit was the novelty record ', with words and music by Irving Taylor, which reached #4 on the.

It was nominally performed by Warner contract actor, who played the wisecracking character Gerald Lloyd 'Kookie' Kookson III on Warner's TV detective series. The story behind the recording illustrates the sharp practices often employed by major recording companies.

Actress and singer (who appeared in the Warner TV series ) sang the song's chorus, but although her record contract entitled her to a 5 percent royalty rate, the label arbitrarily defined her contribution to be a favour to Byrnes and assigned her just 1% royalty on the song, despite the fact that, as she soon discovered, her name was being prominently displayed on the single's label. Also charged her for a share of the recording costs, which was to be recouped from her drastically reduced royalty. When Stevens scored her own hit single with ' in 1960, Warner Bros. Refused to allow her to perform it on Hawaiian Eye because it was not published by MPHC, and they also prevented her from singing it on, thereby robbing her of nationwide promotion (and a $5000 appearance fee). With only two hits to its credit in two years, the label was in serious financial trouble by 1960, having lost at least US$3 million and music historian reports that the only reason it was not closed down was because the Warner board was reluctant to write off the additional $2 million the label was owed in outstanding receivables and inventory. After a restructure, Conkling was obliged to report to Herman Starr; he rejected a buyout offer by Conkling and a group of other record company employees but agreed to keep the label running in exchange for heavy cost-cutting—the staff was reduced from 100 to 30 and Conkling voluntarily cut his own pay from $1000 to $500. Now turned to acts in hopes of advancing its sales but their first signing, was by then past his prime and failed to score any hits.

The label was more fortunate with its next signing, whom Warner Bros. Secured after the end of their previous contract with. Herman Starr effectively gambled the future of the company by approving what was reputed to be the first million-dollar contract in music history, which guaranteed the Everly Brothers $525,000 against an escalating royalty rate of up to 7 percent, well above the industry standard of the day.

Luckily, the Everlys' first Warner Bros. Single, ' was a smash hit, going to #1 in the US and selling more than eight million copies, and their debut Warner Bros. Album reached #9 on the album chart. In 1959, Warner Bros. Had signed rising standup comedian, marking the beginning of the label's continuing involvement with comedy.

Newhart provided the label's next major commercial breakthrough—in May 1960, three months after the success of 'Cathy's Clown', Newhart's debut album went straight to #1 in the US, staying at the top for fourteen weeks, charting for more than two years and selling more than 600,000 copies. Capping this commercial success, Newhart scored historic wins in three major categories at the —he won for Button-Down Mind, his quickly released follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back (1960) won the category and Newhart himself won —the first time in Grammy history that a comedy album had won 'Album of the Year', and the only time a comedian has won 'Best New Artist'. New staff joined the label in late 1961. Jim Conkling retired in the fall of that year, selecting as his successor Mike Maitland, a former executive, with Joe Smith appointed as head of promotions. Made another prescient signing in group.

The trio had been on the verge of signing with, but before the deal could be completed they were poached by Warner Bros. Artie Mogull (who worked for one of Warner Bros.'

Publishing companies, Witmark Music) had introduced their manager to Herman Starr, and as a result the group signed a recording and publishing deal with Warner Bros. Grossman's deal for the group broke new ground for recording artists—it included a substantial advance of $30,000 and, most significantly, it set a new benchmark for recording contracts by stipulating that the trio would have complete creative control over the recording and packaging of their music. Soon after, Grossman and Mogull signed a publishing deal that gave Witmark one of its most lucrative clients -.

Grossman bought out Dylan's previous contract with Leeds Music and signed the then unknown singer-songwriter to Witmark for an advance of $5000. Two years later in 1963, Peter, Paul & Mary scored two consecutive Top 10 hits with Dylan songs, launching Dylan's career, and this was followed by many more hits by artists covering Dylan's songs, alongside the growing commercial success of Dylan himself. Grossman benefited enormously from both deals, because he took a 25% commission as Dylan's manager, and he structured Dylan's publishing deal so that he received 50% of Witmark's share of Dylan's publishing income —a tactic that was later emulated by other leading artist managers such as. Meanwhile, the label enjoyed further success with comedy recordings.

's LP, which satirised the folk boom, became a huge hit, selling over a million copies. Broke through soon after and he continued the label's dream run with comedy into the late 1960s, releasing a string of highly successful albums on Warner Bros. Over the next six years, alongside his groundbreaking career as a TV actor. The label's fortunes had finally turned around by 1962 thanks to the, folk stars, jazz and pop crossover hit and comedian, and Warner Bros. Records ended the financial year 1961–62 in the black for the first time since its foundation.

Warner/Reprise 1963–1967 In August 1963, Warner Bros. Made a 'rescue takeover' of 's ailing as part of a deal to acquire Sinatra's services as a recording artist and as an actor for Warner Bros. The total deal was valued at around US$10 million and it gave Sinatra a one-third share in the combined record company and a seat on the Warner-Reprise board; Warner Bros. Records head Mike Maitland became the president of the new combine and Mo Ostin was retained as manager of the Reprise label. Reprise was heavily in debt at the time of the takeover, and the Warner Records management team was reportedly dismayed at their balance sheet being pushed back into the red by the acquisition, but they were given no choice in the matter. Ben Kalmenson, a Warner Bros. Company director and close aide to Jack Warner, summoned the label's directors to a meeting in New York and explicitly told them that both he and Warner wanted the deal and that they expected them to vote in favor of it.

Despite these misgivings, the purchase ultimately proved very beneficial to the Warner group. Reprise flourished in the late 1960s thanks to Sinatra's famous 'comeback' and the hits by Sinatra and his daughter, and the label also secured the US distribution rights to the recordings of. Most importantly for the future of the company, the merger brought Reprise manager into the Warner fold and 'his ultimate value to Warner Bros. Would dwarf Sinatra's'. Ostin's business and musical instincts and his rapport with artists were to prove crucial to the success of the Warner labels over the next two decades. In 1964, Warner Bros. Started which was meant to focus on acts.

The label, run by former promotion man, would release over 100 singles and five albums, but saw only limited success and was wound down in 1968. An important addition to the Warner Bros. Staff in this period was who moved from in 1964 to become Warner-Reprise head art director. Among his design credits for the Warner family of labels were 's, 's, the 's, ', 's and 's, which started a trend for musicians to create the art for their own records. In 1973, when Frank Sinatra emerged from retirement with his comeback album, Thrasher shot candid photographs for the cover and also devised the album title, which was widely used to promote Sinatra's return to recording and touring.

Besides his work on album covers, Thrasher art-directed many of Warner Bros.' Ads and posters from 1964 to 1979. 'Cream Puff War' (1967), the first single by the. The orange label with chevron border was used on Warner Bros.' American 45s for much of the 1960s.

In 1964, Warner Bros. Successfully negotiated with French label and Warner Bros.' British distributor for the rights to distribute 's recordings in the US (said rights were previously held by ). Clark soon scored a #1 US hit with ' and she enjoyed consistent chart success in the US over the next four years with hits such as ', ', ', ' and '. Warner also released other Pye artists in the US market such as.

Another significant development in the label's history came in 1966 when Ostin hired young independent producer as an A&R manager, beginning a strong and enduring mentor/protege relationship between the two. Waronker, the son of founder, had previously worked as an assistant to Liberty producer. Later he worked with the small label, founded by disc jockeys, and (who would soon become famous as a musician under his stage name, Sly Stone). Waronker had been hired as a freelance producer for some of Autumn's acts including The Tikis (who later became ), and and for these recording sessions he brought in several musician friends who were then becoming established on the L.A. Music scene - composer/musicians (a childhood friend),. Together they became the foundation of the creative 'salon' that centred on Waronker at Warner Bros.

And which, with Ostin's continuing support, became the catalyst for Warner Records' subsequent success as a rock music label. Initially, Waronker looked after the acts that Warner Bros. Took over when they bought Autumn Records for $10,000, but during the year he also avidly pursued rising Los Angeles band. Although (much to his and Ostin's chagrin) the band was ultimately signed by, they eventually became part of the Warner Bros.

Catalogue after Atlantic was purchased by Warner Bros. In 1967, Warner Bros. Took over, which added hit-making harmony pop group to the Warner roster. This acquisition proved to be another huge money-spinner for Warner Bros. The Association scored a string of major hits in the late 1960s, and their 1967 hit ' went on to become the second most-played song on American radio and TV in the 20th century.

During the year, the label also took its first tentative step into the burgeoning rock market when they signed leading San Francisco psychedelic rock group the. Threw the band a release party at the in San Francisco's. During the concert, Warner manager Joe Smith took the stage and announced 'I just want to say what an honor it is to be able to introduce the Grateful Dead and its music to the world', which prompted a cynical to quip in reply: 'I just want to say what an honor it is for the Grateful Dead to introduce Warner Bros. Records to the world.' Also in 1967, Warner/Reprise established its Canadian operation Warner Reprise Canada Ltd replacing its distribution deal with the.

This was the origin of Warner Music Canada. 1967–1969: Warner-Seven Arts In November 1966 the entire Warner group was taken over by and merged with, a New York-based company owned. Seven Arts specialized in syndicating old movies and cartoons to TV and had independently produced a number of significant feature films for other studios, including 's, as well as forging a successful production partnership with noted British studio. Hyman's purchase of 's controlling share of the Warner group for US$32 million stunned the film world—Warner Records executive Joe Smith later quipped that it was “.

As if the bought. As ludicrous as that.' ” The newly merged group was renamed (often referred to in the trade press by the abbreviation it adopted for its new logo, 'W7'). Although Warner Bros. Pictures was faltering, the purchase coincided with a period of tremendous growth in the music industry and Warner-Reprise was now on its way to becoming a major player in the industry.

Hyman's investment banker Alan Hirshfeld, of Charles Allen and Company, urged him to expand the company's record holdings and arranged a meeting with and and, co-owners of leading independent label, which eventually resulted in the purchase of Atlantic in 1968. Beginning in 1968, Warner LP and single label designs became identical.

From 1968 to 1970, the label was called Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records. The basic design and colour scheme of the W7 label were retained after the company name reverted to Warner Bros. Records and the 'WB' shield in 1970 and remained in use until 1973. In June 1967, Mo Ostin attended the historic, where The Association performed the opening set. Ostin had already acquired the US rights to the recordings, sight unseen, but he was reportedly unimpressed by Hendrix's now-famous performance.

During his visit he met, who had come to Monterey as an assistant to festival promoter. Wickham had worked as a commercial artist in, followed by a stint with 's before moving to Los Angeles to work for Adler's label. Ostin initially hired Wickham as Warner's 'house hippie' on a generous retainer of $200 per week. Hanging out around, Wickham scouted for new talent and established a rapport with the young musicians WBR was seeking to sign. Like Lenny Waronker, Wickham's youth, intelligence and hip attitude allowed him to bridge the 'generation gap between these young performers and the older Warner 'establishment'. He played a major role in signing, and and (who signed to Reprise), whom Wickham successfully recommended to Ostin in his first week with the company. Over the next thirty years, Wickham became one of WBR's most influential A&R managers, signing such notable acts as, and pop trio.

During this formative period, WBR made several other notable new signings including. Newman would not make his commercial breakthrough until the mid-1970s but he achieved a high profile in the industry thanks to songs he wrote that were covered by other acts like.

Although Warner Bros. Spent large sums on albums that sold poorly, and there were some missteps in its promotion strategy, the presence of unorthodox acts like the Grateful Dead and critically acclaimed 'cult' performers like Newman and Parks, combined with the artistic freedom that the label afforded them, proved significant in building Warner Bros.' Reputation and credibility., who briefly headed Warner Bros.' Short-lived 'black' label later commented that the Grateful Dead '.

Were really the springboard. People said 'Wow, if they'll sign the Dead, they must be going in the right direction.' ' Although not widely known to the general public at that time, Van Dyke Parks was a figure of high repute on the L.A. Music scene thanks to his work as a session musician and songwriter (notably with and ) and especially because of his renowned collaboration with on the legendary unreleased album. In 1967, Lenny Waronker produced Parks' Warner debut album, which reportedly cost more than $35,000 to record, making it one of the most expensive 'pop' albums ever made up to that time.

It sold very poorly despite rave critical reviews, so publicist (who had helped the label to sign the Grateful Dead) wrote an infamous tongue-in-cheek advertisement to promote it. The ad cheekily declared that the label had 'lost $35,509 on 'the album of the year' (dammit)', suggested that those who had purchased the album had probably worn their copies out by playing it over and over, and made the offer that listeners could send these supposedly worn-out copies back to Warner Bros., who would exchange it for two new copies, including one 'to educate a friend with'. Incensed by the tactic, Parks accused Cornyn of trying to kill his career. Cornyn encountered similar problems with Joni Mitchell—he penned an advertisement that was meant to convey the message that Mitchell was yet to achieve significant market penetration, but the tag-line - 'Joni Mitchell is 90% Virgin'—reportedly reduced Mitchell to tears and Cornyn had to withdraw it from publication.

Also struggled with their flagship rock act, who, like, had negotiated complete artistic control over the recording and packaging of their music. Their debut album had been recorded in just four days, and although it was not a major hit, it cracked the US Top 50 album chart and sold steadily, eventually going gold in 1971. For their second album, the Grateful Dead took a far more experimental approach, embarking on a marathon series of recording sessions lasting seven months, from September 1967 to March 1968. They started the album with, who had produced their first album, but he quit the project in frustration in December 1967 while they were recording in New York City (although he is co-credited with band on the album). The group and their concert sound engineer then took over production of the album themselves, taking the unusual step of intermixing studio material with multitrack recordings of their concerts. Proved to be the least successful of the Grateful Dead's 1960s albums—it sold poorly, the extended sessions put the band more than $100,000 in debt to the label, and Warner Bros. Executive Joe Smith later described it as 'the most unreasonable project with which we have ever involved ourselves'.

The Grateful Dead's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was stretched even further by the making of their third album (1969), which also took around seven months to record and cost $180,000, almost twice as much as its predecessor. It sold poorly and took almost thirty years to be accredited with Gold Record status. There were further difficulties in 1971 when the band presented Warner Bros. With a planned that they wanted to call Skull Fuck, but Ostin handled the matter diplomatically. Rather than refusing point-blank to release it, he reminded the Grateful Dead that they were heavily in debt to WBR and would not see any royalties until this had been repaid; he also pointed out that the provocative title would inevitably hurt sales because major retailers like would refuse to stock it. Realizing that this would reduce their income, the band voluntarily changed the title to Grateful Dead, known generally as.

Some of Warner Bros.' Biggest commercial successes during this period were with ' acts. Scored a #13 Billboard hit in April 1967 with their version of 's ' and a month later, scored a US #1 with ' and they reached #8 on the album chart with their first WBR album. Their next single ' also topped the charts in autumn 1967 (#2, #1 ) and now ranks as one of the most successful of all Warner Bros. Recordings—it became a radio staple and is now accredited by as the second most-played song on US radio in the, surpassing both ' by and '. The group's 1968 was also a major hit, reaching #4 on the US album chart.

Industrie Toulouse: Elvis Duran

In 1968, ' instrumental composition ' reached #2 on the Billboard chart, selling more than a million copies, and Williams won three that year. Another notable Warner release from this period was, the second solo album by (his first was on ), who signed with the label in 1968. Although it sold relatively poorly on its first release (and did not reach gold record status until 2001) it has been widely acclaimed by musicians and critics worldwide, has featured prominently on many 'Best Albums of All Time' lists and has remained in release almost continuously since 1968. During 1968, using the profits from Warner/Reprise, W7 purchased for $17.5 million, including the label's valuable archive, its growing roster of new artists and the services of its three renowned executives,.

However, the purchase again caused rancour among the Warner/Reprise management, who were upset that their hard-won profits had been co-opted to buy Atlantic, and that Atlantic's executives were made large shareholders in Warner-Seven Arts—the deal gave the Ertegun brothers and Wexler between them 66,000 shares of Warner Bros.' Common stock. On June 1, 1968, announced that WBR's star comedy performer had turned down a five-year, US$3.5 million contract renewal offer and would leave the label in August that year to record for his own label.

Just over one month later (July 13) reported on a major re-organization of the entire Warner-Seven Arts music division. Mike Maitland was promoted to Executive Vice-President of both the recorded music and publishing operations, and George Lee took over from Victor Blau as operational head of the recording division. The restructure also reversed the reporting arrangement put in place in 1960 and from this point the Warner publishing arm reported to the record division under Maitland. The Billboard article also noted the enormous growth and vital significance of W7's music operations, which were by then providing most of Warner-Seven Arts' revenue—during the first nine months of that fiscal year, the recording and publishing divisions generated 74% of the corporation's total profit, with the publishing division alone accounting for over US$2 million of 's collections from music users. 1969–1972: Kinney takeover In 1969, Warner-Seven Arts was taken over by the, headed by businessman, who would successfully lead the Warner group of companies until his death in 1992. The US$400 million deal created a new conglomerate that combined the Warner film, recording and music publishing divisions with Kinney's multi-faceted holdings.

Ross had started the company in the late 1950s while working in his family's funeral business—seeing the opportunity to use the company's cars, which were idle at night, he founded a successful hire car operation, which he later merged with the Kinney parking garage company. Ross took the company public in 1962 and from this base it expanded rapidly between 1966 and 1968, merging with National Cleaning Services in 1966 to form the Kinney National Company, and then acquiring a string of companies that would prove of enormous value to the Warner group in the years ahead - (which included and ), the talent agency. In the summer of 1969, Atlantic Records agreed to assist Warner Bros.

Records in establishing overseas divisions but when Warner executive Phil Rose arrived in Australia to begin setting up an Australian subsidiary, he discovered that just one week earlier Atlantic had signed a new four-year production and distribution deal with local label, without informing WBR. During 1969, the rivalry between Mike Maitland and Ahmet Ertegun quickly escalated into an all-out executive battle, but Steve Ross favoured Ertegun and the conflict culminated in Maitland being dismissed from his position on January 25, 1970. He declined an offer of a job with Warner Bros.

Pictures and left the company, subsequently becoming president of. Mo Ostin was appointed as president of Warner Bros. Records with Joe Smith as executive vice-president. In 1970, the 'Seven Arts' name was dropped and the WB shield became the Warner Bros. Records logo again.

1970–1979: The Ostin era Beginning back in 1967 with the signing of the Grateful Dead, Warner Bros. Records and its affiliate labels steadily built up a diverse and prestigious lineup of rock and pop artists through the 1970s, and earning a strong reputation as an 'artists first' record company. Under the guidance of Edward West, Vice-President of Warner Bros. Records Inc in 1973 and its executives, A&R managers and staff producers, including Mo Ostin, David Geffen, Joe Smith, Stan Cornyn, Lenny Waronker, Andy Wickham, and ex-Warner Bros. Recording artist (with Harpers Bizarre), sales grew steadily throughout the decade and by the end of the 1970s Warner Bros. And its sister labels had become one of the world's leading recording groups, with a star-studded roster that included,. This was augmented by the group's valuable back-catalogue, and lucrative licensing deals with American and international labels including, and (1975–1982) that gave WBR the American distribution rights for leading British and European rock acts including,.

Aided by the growth of and the format, LPs became the primary vehicle of Warner Bros. Sales successes throughout the 1970s, although artists such as the Doobie Brothers and America also scored many major US and international. One of the first Warner Bros. Albums to achieve both critical and commercial success in the early 1970s was Van Morrison's third solo LP (January 1970) which consolidated his distinctive blend of rock, jazz and R&B, earned glowing critical praise and sold well—it made the Top 40 album chart in both the US and the UK, the single ' was a (#39, ) and the title track became a radio perennial. British group were signed to ' progressive subsidiary in their native country., who recorded for 's and labels in England, were originally signed in the US to the independent, which was distributed by Warner Bros., who acquired the label after it folded in 1970. Black Sabbath's eponymous (recorded in just two days) reached #8 on the, and #23 on the, where it remained for over a year, selling strongly despite some negative reviews.

It has since been in the US by the (RIAA) and in the UK by (BPI). Sabbath's second album was to have been called War Pigs, but Warner Bros. Records changed the title to fearing a backlash by consumers. It was a Top 10 hit on the US album chart in 1971, and went on to sell four million copies in the US alone with virtually no radio airplay. By 1970, 'Seven Arts' was dropped from the company name and the WB shield became the Warner Bros. Records logo again. During 1971, a financial scandal in its parking operations forced Kinney National to spin off its non-entertainment assets, and the Warner recording, publishing and film divisions then became part of a new umbrella company,.

In July 1970, the Warner recording group acquired another prestige asset with the purchase of Jac Holzman's for US$10 million. Like Atlantic, the new acquisition came with a very valuable back-catalogue, which included, and, but Elektra soon began producing more major hits under the Warner umbrella. Recent signing scored two successive Top 20 singles in 1971 with ' and ', and her first two albums both made the Billboard Top 50, but the following year she topped the single and album charts with her international smash hit ' and the album, which both went to #1 in the US Jac Holzman ran the label until 1972, when he was succeeded by and Elektra was merged with Geffen's label. Geffen was forced to step down in 1975 for health reasons and Joe Smith was appointed president in his place, although the label's fortunes subsequently waned considerably, with Elektra-Asylum reportedly losing some $27 million during the last two years of Smith's tenure. With three co-owned record companies, the next step was the formation of the group's in-house distribution arm, initially called Kinney Records Distributing Corporation, to better control distribution of product and make sure records by breaking new acts were available. In 1971, UK-based trio were signed to the recently established British division of Warner Bros. Their, released late in the year, at first enjoyed only moderate success, but in early 1972 their single ' became a major international hit, reaching #1 in the US.

Warner hastily reissued the album with the song included and it too became a huge hit, reaching #1 on the US album chart and eventually earning a platinum record award. Although criticised for their similarity to (indeed, rumours circulated around Hollywood that Young had cut the track anonymously ), America scored five more US Top 10 singles over the next three years, including a second US #1 with ' in 1975. Their albums performed very strongly in the charts—each of their first seven LPs were US Top 40 albums, five of these made the Top 10 and all but one (, 1973) achieved either gold or platinum status. Their 1975 album became a perennial seller and is now accredited at 4x platinum. In 1972, was signed to Warner Bros. Records after leaving in what was the biggest contract at the time for a female recording artist, although her five years at Warner Bros.

Were relatively unsuccessful in comparison to her spectacular hit-making tenure at Scepter. After a slow start, proved to be one of Warner Bros.'

Most successful signings. Their debut album made little impact but their second album (1972) reached #21 and spawned two singles, ' and ', inaugurating a string of hit albums and singles over the next five years. Their third album was even more successful, reaching #7 in the US and producing two more hit singles, ' (#15) and ' (#8); it became a consistent seller and is now accredited 2x Platinum by the.

(1974) reached #4 and produced two more hits including their first US #1 single ' (1975). Also reached #4, and produced another hit single with the cover ' (US #11). Records' reputation for nurturing new artists was demonstrated by the career of (originally the name of the band, but later taken over as the stage name / persona of singer and main songwriter Vince Furnier). The recorded two unsuccessful albums for 's Warner-distributed label before teaming with producer, who became a longtime collaborator. Their third LP (originally released on Straight and later reissued on Warner Bros.) reached #35 on the Billboard album chart and produced the hit single ', which reached #21. Following the runaway success of their 1971 European tour Warner Bros.

Records offered the band a multi-album contract; their first Warner Bros. Album sold well, with the single ' making the Top 10 in the Netherlands, but it was their next album (1972) that really put them on the map. The title song was a Top 10 hit in the US, reached #1 in the UK and became a radio staple, and the album went to #2 in the US and sold more than a million copies.

(1973) became their biggest success, going to #1 in both the US and the UK. The follow-up (1973) was less successful, although the single ' was a Top 20 hit in the UK. Furnier split from the band in 1974 and signed to Warner Bros.' Sister label, Atlantic as a solo artist, scoring further success with his solo albums and singles.

In 1973, and manager closed the Straight and Bizarre labels and established a new imprint, retaining their distribution deal with Warner Bros. Zappa's next album (1973) became the biggest commercial success of his career, reaching #10 on the Billboard album chart, and the single ' was a minor hit and (at the time) his only single to make the Hot 100 chart. Zappa also enjoyed moderate commercial success with the live double LP (1974) and his next studio LP (1975), both of which reached the Top 30 on the Billboard album chart. February 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-20.

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^ Goodman, 1997, pp.88-90. Goodman, 1997, p.48. 'It's Official - Warner Bros. Buys Reprise', Billboard, August 13, 1963.

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Goodman, 1997, pp.76-78. ^ Goodman, 1997, p.75. ^ Goodman, 1997, p.79. Jake Woodward, et al, The Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip (Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003) p.83. May 13, 1997. Archived from on September 24, 2015. Retrieved 2011-02-20.

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British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2009-04-23. Retrieved 2009-02-22. Dannen, Frederic, Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money in the Music Business, Vintage Books, 1990 ( ), p.46. Seay, 1996, p.40. Goodman, 1997, p.238. Warner Bros.

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Sheila Rule (January 29, 1993). The New York Times. Mark Landler (September 28, 1995). The New York Times. Chuck Philiips (July 13, 1994).

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^ Lawrence Zuckerman (August 15, 1995). The New York Times. Hajari, Nisid (July 14, 1995). Retrieved 2011-02-20. The New York Times.

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United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 2016-12-30. Jeff Leeds (September 19, 2006). The New York Times. April 25, 2013. December 18, 2013.

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References. Goodman, Fred (1997). The Mansion on the Hill: Dylan, Young, Geffen, Springsteen and the Head-on Collision of Rock and Commerce.

London: Jonathon Cape. External links. – includes links to comprehensive Warner Bros.

Album discographies, 1958–1983. on.