Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was originally founded in 1887, evolving from an earlier enterprise called the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business,[2][3][4] being the second major company to produce recorded records. From 1961 to 1990, Columbia’s releases were released outside North America under the CBS Records name to avoid confusion with EMI’s Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music’s three flagship record labels, alongside RCA Records and Epic Records.