Label Guide: GRT

GRT Records was established by parent company General Recorded Tape in 1969. General Recorded Tape was an American manufacturer of reel to reel, 8-track and cassette tapes, and as of 1968, the company had duplication rights for 67 record labels. With the founding of GRT Records, the company entered the music publishing business, and next to establishing its own record label in 1969, General Recorded Tape acquired Chess Records and formed Janus Records (as a joint venture with Pye Records) that same year.

The Canadian branch of GRT Records became a major label in Canada during the 1970s. By 1976, the foreign labels distributed by GRT in Canada included ABC Records, Dunhill Records, Island Records, Chess Records, Festival Records, Richesse Classique, Westminster Records, America Records, Impulse Records, Musidisc Records, Janus Records and Sire Records.

In the United States, GRT Records was far less successful. A subsidiary named Sunnyvale Records was started in 1976, publishing dixieland, organ and accordion music. With the 1979 bankruptcy filing of parent General Recorded Tape, GRT Records ceased operations.