Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label that operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

History

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Founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Upon its creation, Atlantic was principally a jazz and R&B label. In the early fifties Ahmet was joined by Jerry Wexler and then Nesuhi Ertegun. From 1955 Nesuhi headed the company's jazz division and was responsible for major signings such as Charles Mingus and John Coltrane; later Joel Dorn filled this position. Athough it began as an independent record company, it became a major player in the music business in the 1960s, with mainstream pop signings like Sonny and Cher.

The engineer, and later producer, Tom Dowd headed Atlantic's engineering department. Several sub-labels have been created or acquired since then. Atco Records was started in 1955 by Herb Abramson. Spark Records (the record label of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller) was purchased in November 1955. Others including Lava Records, and 143 Records became part of the Atlantic group. In 1960, Atlantic began a distribution relationship with a recording enterprise in Memphis, Tennessee, spearheaded by Jerry Wexler which became Stax Records. The association with Stax ended in 1968. Atlantic was acquired by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1967. It is currently part of the Warner Music Group, a former division of media conglomerate Time Warner that was sold to a group of investors in 2004. From 1968-1973 Led Zeppelin had a deal with Atlantic Records.

In the early 1990s, Atlantic owned 50% of Interscope Records, which released notable gangsta rap titles — many in conjunction with Death Row Records. Pressure from activist groups opposed to gangsta rap, however, later led to parent company Time Warner's decision to sell Atlantic's stake in the label.

The label has also a number of labels deals with independents such as Must Destroy (which brought Goldie Lookin' Chain and The Darkness into the label) and VP Records in Jamaica, home to reggae artists such as Sean Paul.

Craig Kallman is currently Chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records.

References

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