Intercord

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Intercord
Parent company Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group (1966–1994); EMI Group (since 1994)
Active years since 1966
Seat Stuttgart (until 2000)
Cologne (since 2000)
Label code LC 01109
Sub-label fried egg
distribution Intercord Record Service (IRS)
Genre (s) Classical, singer-songwriter, dance

Intercord Tonträger GmbH was a German music label based in Stuttgart . It was founded on May 10, 1966 by the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group . According to its own image brochure Intercord-Story , the company was "one of the most creative centers on the international music market".

history

Intercord was initially on classical music - in this area the company presented itself from the beginning with a high quality catalog and songwriter ; the first contract artist was Reinhard Mey . Increasingly, however, sales and reputation benefited from international publications, most of which were released under license for the German-speaking area, but some were also marketed as imports.

In the 1970s, Intercord expanded the repertoire . With the label Spiegelei they founded a platform for Krautrock and signed bands like Hoelderlin , Kraan and Anyone's Daughter . The first license agreements were also signed with foreign repertoire providers, for example the jazz label Freedom , which is now part of Arista Records, and the Scandinavian company Sonet Records , and their recordings were released on the German market.

The most important foreign partner, however, was the label Mute Records , which represented Intercord for the German-speaking area from 1981 and whose artists Depeche Mode , Yazoo , Erasure , Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Moby brought the company millions in sales and important market shares.

In the 1990s, Intercord was part of projects such as B. E-Rotic , which are mostly published on their own label Blow Up and except in Germany z. B. were very successful in the Asian markets, including the market leaders in the euro Dance range and established one with series like Dance Mission successful compilation Department.

In 1993, Intercord, with around 150 employees, made more than 55% sales with national productions (12.0 million records in total) and, according to the annual statistics of the Federal Association of the Phonographic Industry (German section of the IFPI ), was at the top of the market with a market share of over five percent not to find multi-nationally organized recording companies.

In 1994, at the height of the company's success, the owner, the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group , sold Intercord to the EMI Group in order to generate additional capital for investments in private television etc. , which wanted to secure further market shares. In 2000, the company's headquarters in Stuttgart were closed and the Intercord label was incorporated into the EMI branch in Cologne.

From the import service (IIS) that was initially operated as a sideline. B. sells the releases of Adrian Sherwood's legendary On-U Sound label, in 1986 a specialized, largely independently operating "Company in the Company", the Intercord Record Service (IRS), which concluded distribution agreements with many foreign and domestic record labels and marketed their phonograms in German-speaking countries. Some important partners were Roadrunner Records , Music for Nations , GRP Records and Rhino Records , artists including Frank Zappa and The Residents . The IRS has long represented CBS Records in the import sector. As the first relevant German record company, Intercord also founded its own department for alternative music styles, Alternation, the signings of which were largely distributed via the IRS.

Colored vinyl

As a special incentive to buy, Intercord released many records, especially the first editions of their singles and maxi singles, from the beginning to the end of the 80s instead of the usual black in colored vinyl. There were hardly any limits to the imagination: monochrome, multi-colored, speckled and / or transparent. Many of these publications are sought-after collector's items today.

Artist

Well-known artists who published on Intercord, partly under license from the original labels, were:

Numerous artists started their careers with publications at Intercord, u. a. Herbert Grönemeyer, Reinhard Mey , Pur, Niños Con Bombas , André Heller , Hanns Dieter Hüsch , Joy Fleming , Julia Neigel , Stephan Sulke , Pe Werner and Fools Garden .

Associated labels

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IfM company history of Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH with mention of the sale of Intercord . Retrieved December 4, 2009.
  2. ↑ EMI decides to end Intercord. mediabiz.de of November 3, 1999, accessed on April 16, 2018