MGM Records

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Not to be confused with MGM Distribution.

MGM Records
Born Free, owned by Sony Music via Madison Gate Records
).
Distributor(s)Self-distributed
GenreVarious
Country of originUnited States

MGM Records was a record label founded by the

Born Free
(1966).

Background

There was also a short-lived Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Records of 1928, which produced recordings of music featured in MGM movies, not sold to the general public but made to be played in movie theater lobbies. These Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer records were manufactured under contract with the studio by Columbia Records.

History

Soundtrack albums

Their first soundtrack was of Till the Clouds Roll By, a 1946 film based on the life of composer Jerome Kern. It was the first soundtrack album of a live-action film originally issued as a set of four 10-inch 78-rpm records. As in many early MGM soundtrack albums, only eight selections from the film were included on the original version of the album. In order to fit the songs onto the record sides the musical material needed editing and manipulation. This was before tape existed, so the record producer needed to copy segments from the playback discs used on set, then copy and re-copy them from one disc to another, adding transitions and cross-fades until the final master was created. Needless to say, it was several generations removed from the original and the sound quality suffered. Also, the playback recordings were purposely recorded very "dry" (without reverberation) otherwise it would come across as too hollow sounding in large movie theaters. This made these albums sound flat and boxy.

MGM Records called these "original cast albums" in the style of Decca's Broadway show cast albums. They also coined the phrase "recorded directly from the soundtrack". Over the years the term "soundtrack" began to be commonly applied to any recording from a film, whether taken from the actual film soundtrack or re-recorded. The phrase is also sometimes incorrectly used for Broadway cast recordings.

Among MGM's most successful soundtrack albums were those of the films

Two Weeks With Love, became the first soundtrack single to become a national hit, selling a million copies and charting at No. 3.[2]

By 1950, magnetic tape had been perfected for recording use. This markedly improved the sound quality on long play (LP) albums from 1951 forward.

MGM Records also issued albums of film scores, including

2001: A Space Odyssey
. The Ben-Hur and King of Kings albums were studio recreations of the scores, but done with the original orchestrations; the How the West Was Won, Gone With the Wind, 2001, and Doctor Zhivago albums were the genuine soundtracks. MGM Records also released a second soundtrack album of Quo Vadis, this one containing only music from the film.

Beginning in the 1990s, authentic soundtrack albums of the musical scores to Ben-Hur and King of Kings became available. The

Rhino Records
editions of these albums featured literally the entire scores, including outtakes. Rhino also released a full-length two-disc album of the score of Gone with the Wind, recorded from the soundtrack in the original mono.

As in the case of the non-musical films, Rhino Records, which obtained the rights to the MGM soundtracks (owned by Turner Entertainment Co.) in the 1990s, issued longer versions of their movie musical albums, containing virtually all of the songs and music. Rhino's license expired at the end of 2011 and the albums Rhino issued were deleted.[3] Warner Bros. now owns the MGM soundtracks first issued by MGM Records and Warner Bros.' WaterTower Music unit now has the rights to release the MGM soundtracks.[4]

Record manufacturing

MGM operated their own record manufacturing plant at Bloomfield, New Jersey, from 1947 until 1972; pressing not only their own records but a great deal of sub-contract work for other record companies, including

electrical transcriptions used to distribute the shows to local stations. The record manufacturing division was closed when MGM Records was sold to PolyGram
; after which MGM's former competitors began manufacturing records issued by MGM.

As a pop label

In the early 1950s, MGM Records was considered one of the "major" record companies (besides

budget albums), Leo (children's records), Hickory
, MGM South, Pride, CoBurt, L&R, and Lionel.

MGM moved successfully into the rock and roll era with many hit records by

stereophonic sound were issued by Bel Canto Records in June 1958.[7][8]

MGM also distributed

ABKCO
.

Another label distributed by MGM was American International Records, the record label division of American International Pictures, whose film library is now owned by MGM.

Country music

MGM Records' first president Frank Walker discovered and signed

C.W. McCall.[10]

Classical music

MGM Records issued music of a variety of musical genres, but used the same set of catalog numbers. The label also offered a modest catalog of classical recordings beginning in 1951;

Deutsche Grammophon Records.[12] The arrangement lasted until 1969 when Polydor Records established its American office.[13]

Sale to PolyGram and phase out

MGM Records was sold to PolyGram in 1972. As part of the deal, PolyGram received perpetual rights to the "MGM Records" name and a ten-year license to use the MGM trademark and logo.[14] In 1976, MGM Records, including its artists, was absorbed into PolyGram's Polydor Records. However, PolyGram continued releasing MGM soundtrack albums and reissues using the MGM Records imprint until 1982.[15]

With PolyGram's abandonment of the MGM Records trademark, MGM was able to reclaim its rights to that trademark in 1997.[16]

The MGM Records catalog is now split. Although the first three entities remain under the aegis of

musical theater catalog is now released by Decca Broadway, and the country music catalog is managed by Universal Music Group Nashville
with reissues bearing the Mercury Records Nashville imprint.

The soundtracks released by MGM for its films before 1986, however, is managed by

Warner Bros. Entertainment via its WaterTower Music unit[3] and the catalogs of a few other artists also have new owners. Frank Zappa regained control of his MGM/Verve recordings (including those with his group the Mothers of Invention) in mid 1977 after two years of negotiations.[17] Zappa later licensed the recordings to Rykodisc, starting in 1987. After his death Gail Zappa licensed them to Universal Music Enterprises
.

MGM Music

In 1986, MGM formed MGM Music for the licensing of music of which MGM owns the rights. It focuses on licensing soundtracks. It manages the music and music publishing rights of MGM films from 1986 and beyond. (Warner Bros. Discovery's Turner Entertainment unit owns the pre-1986 MGM soundtracks.) It also manages the music and music publishing rights of United Artists and Orion films.[18]

Notable artists

References

  1. ^ "Miklos Rozsa* - Dramatic Highlights From The M-G-M Technicolor Picture "Quo Vadis" (Vinyl, LP) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  2. ^ "Two Weeks With Love". Songfacts.com. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Film Score Daily: Why the Rózsa Box Sold Out at 1,500, Not 2,000 Copies". Filmscoremonthly.com. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  4. ^ "Wizard Of Oz, The- Soundtrack details". SoundtrackCollector.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  5. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books. p. 89. CN 5585.
  6. ^ Nicholson, Stuart (October 26, 2013). "Verve Records and the man who made jazz the sound of America". The Observer. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  7. ^ "The Stereo Singles Project". Bsnpubs.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  8. ^ "Early Stereo Singles Discography (1958-1961)". Bsnpubs.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  9. ^ "Frank Walker: Country Music-Fusion of Many Cultures". Billboard. April 3, 1971. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  10. ^ Billboard. January 21, 1967. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  11. ^ "MGM Album Discography, Part 1". Bsnpubs.com. March 3, 2000. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  12. ^ Billboard. January 5, 1963. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  13. ^ Billboard. September 15, 1973. p. 37. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  14. ^ Billboard. October 7, 1972. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  15. ^ Billboard - Google Books. February 5, 1983. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  16. ^ [1] [dead link]
  17. ^ Healey, Jim. "Zappa presents 'zircon-incrusted' concert season". Des Moines Register, September 24, 1977. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  18. ^ "Welcome to MGM Music". Mgmmusic.songcatalog.com. September 9, 1998. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MGM_Records&oldid=1223410257"