Label Guide: Portrait

Portrait Records was launched in 1976 as a general purpose subsidiary of CBS Records. The label went through three distinct phases: From 1976 to 1979 it was technically a sister label of Epic Records with artists like Heart and Joan Baez on its roster. After a three-year hiatus it was relaunched in 1982 with acts like Altered Images, Eddy Grant and Saga. This incarnation became hugely successful for a short time with Cyndi Lauper and Sade, but by the end of 1986, the only act making money on this label was Lauper, and Portrait Records was shelved again by CBS.

In early 1988 the label was "dramatically revamped" to publish artists from the fields of jazz, folk, Latin, cabaret and New Age music, but the focus was on contemporary jazz. This version of Portrait Records also lasted for only two years into 1990. Parent companies CBS/Columbia and later Sony Music relaunched the label three more times since: in 1992 as an outlet for jazz collections, in 1999 as a hard rock/metal label, and in 2012 for classical music.