Label Guide: Philips

Philips Records is a record label, founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips in 1950. In the late 1950s Philips created a subsidiary label, Fontana Records, and helped American Columbia Records form CBS Records in 1961. In 1962 Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon were linked into the Gramophon-Philips Group joint venture (GPG), which later became PolyGram.

The American pop label was launched in 1962, which went on to play a major part in promoting the garage rock and psychedelic rock genre in the mid to late 60s, their most successful signing being Blue Cheer.

In 1972, Philips, Fontana, Philips Records, and the newly formed Vertigo Records were amalgamated into a new company called Phonogram Records. By 1980, Phonogram and Polydor Records decided to merge to become PolyGram Records. Under the new company, PolyGram decided to discontinue Philips as a pop and rock label in the UK and throughout much of Europe, though it still frequently issued records in France and South East Asia by Chinese and Hong Kong pop artists. Philips Records is part of Universal Music Group since 1998.