United Artists Records GmbH

About

German record company, successor to Liberty/UA GmbH since about 1972 - see below. The company was part of the Transamerica Corporation, since mid1974 managed by United Artists Music And Records Group, Inc. On the releases the company is usually mentioned on the cover and at the label perimeter text, where it appears in all capitals: United Artists Records GmbH, München There also exists a shortened version: United Artists GmbH that should be credited if it appears this way, for example at some Blue Note releases. This German company handled a whole bunch of labels that belong to the trust, not only United Artists Records. This is a company, not a label. Please be sure to denote the correct version. Variant spellings should be denoted at the release notes. United Artist Records was initially manufactured and distríbuted by Deutsche Grammophon in Germany. Transamerica Corporation acquired United Artists Records, Inc. in summer 1967, and Liberty Records, Inc. in summer 1968. Liberty Records GmbH was launched in summer 1967 in Munich, so when both companies where merged, UA moved to the Munich office. The new German company credit Liberty/UA GmbH appeared on the releases since approximately spring 1969. Nevertheless many releases still showed the Liberty Records GmbH credit further on. We frequently find a mix of the company credits on the cover and the labels. Please always try to denote all credits and mention in the release notes where to find. The chairmen in USA decided to fold the Liberty label in 1971. So we find a few more reissues with this label in 1972, then the label was gone, till autum 1980, when it was revived. The Liberty/UA GmbH was used further on. Most likely at some point in 1972 it was decided to change the credits to United Artists Records GmbH. We still find many initial releases with Liberty/UA GmbH credited from 1972. A whole bunch of Sunset Records releases shows the credit even in the later 1970s. The company was closed around 1976/77 and the further manufacturing and distribution went in the meantime to Ariola Eurodisc GmbH - but also German versions of the United Artist Records releases by EMI Electrola GmbH are known from this period.