A&M RECORDS, LTD.
HISTORY
A&M Records was established in the United States in 1962. The company licensed its first recordings in Britain to Stateside Records in 1963 and 1964. It created a licensing agreement with Pye Records from 1965 until March 1974. A&M recordings were issued with Pye stock numbers until A&M Records opened its British office, A&M Records, Ltd., in 1969.
1970
A&M Records, Ltd. released and recalled its first album, A Witch Is Born by Alex Sanders. A&M realized the risk it took on a recording about
a witch's initiation into a coven. The album also has the distinction of being the first A&M recording to carry a warning label: "Record suitable for
adults only." A Witch Is Born is among the most expensive of A&M's collectible records. A&M would be wary of recordings about witchcraft and
satanism for many years. In 1976, A&M Records, Ltd. chose to release Chris DeBurgh's Spanish Train and Other Stories with a plain back cover rather
than with the drawing of Satan's hand that appeared in other countries.
1973
By now, Derek Green was the managing director of A&M Records, Ltd. Dave Margerson was named the A&R Director and John Mair was hired as the general sales
manager. Mair had a staff of five sales people. On the artist side, A&M signed the Esperanto Rock Orchestra for worldwide distribution.
1974
Now with a staff of 12 employees, A&M began a three-year manufacturing and distribution deal with CBS. A&M's other licenses in Europe were:
Barclay in France
Ariola-Eurodisc in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Spain
Sonet in Scandanavia
Ricordi in Italy
On October 26, 1974, Billboard announced that A&M Ltd. planned global release of its product. Until then, British products had to prove
their sales potential at home first and were distributed in the U.S. and other countries at later dates.
1975
Thanks to an 80% increase in sales in the mid-1970s from British artists Stealers Wheel, the Strawbs, Hudson-Ford, Rick Wakeman, and with the Carpenters'
first four albums in the Top 30 in the British market, A&M enlarged its sales staff to twelve employees. A&M Records, Ltd. moved to its New Kings Road
headquarters in London.
1977
On March 9, A&M Records, Ltd. signed the Sex Pistols for a twoyear period and a minimum of 20 tracks that could be albums or singles. The public signing was
held the next day. The Pistols, apparently not concerned about the reason for their release from EMI put on a show for onlookers then made a mess of A&M's
London offices and were rude to the A&M staff. Their first single, "God Save the Queen" was rushed into production, however, it was never released. A&M Britain
reported to label owners Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. Press reports of the Pistols behavior also reached other A&M artists who told Alpert and Moss that they did
not want to be on the same label as the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols will bought out of the contract and released on March 16. A few copies of "God Saves the
Queen" were taken from the manufacturing plant. It is the most highly collectable of A&M recordings.
1978
A&M Records, Ltd. undertook its largest campaign for the Carpenters album The Singles 1974-1978. It invested $600,000 in television ads, posters, print ads
and 750 window displays in record stores.
1986
A&M's first CD singles were released in Great Britain. Considered novelty itens, they were successful. By 1987 CD singles sales would exceed that of cassette singles.
Variety reported that A&M launched a campaign for new age music with the Beggars Banquet record label.
1987
A&M introduced the 3-inch CD single in Britain as a promotional item. The first commercial 3-inch CD released by any record compan was A&M's limited edition of
Sting's "We'll Be Together." This collector's package included a CD sleeve and plastic adapter to play the CD. While "We'll Be Together" sold out within one week.
A&M realized that future CD singles would more likely be 5-inch because the market for the smaller CDs was only about 5,000 units. Promotional CD singles were
produced in 1,00 to 5,000 unit lots.
1991
Bryan Adam's single "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" spent 16 weeks at #1.
1998
On June 27, 1998, Billboard reported that A&M Records, Ltd. was being restructured under the merger of its owner PolyGram with Universal Music Group. The
reorganization essentially closed A&M's presence in Great Britain after 29 successful years. It removed A&M's marketing and distribution operations. A&M's artists
with international recording agreements were transferred to Polydor while British artists were sent to Mercury Records. However, PolyGram also announced A&M would
continue to sign new acts and some current artists' new releases would be on the A&M label.
SOURCES:
1. Billboard. A&M Marketing Step-Up Seen in Wake of New Appointments. March 10, 1973.2. Billboard. A&M Distrib, Pressing Tie Is Seen Strong Alliance for CBS. February 16, 1974.
3. Billboard. A&M to Set Up Sales Operation in England After Volume Surge.
4. Billboard. 5-Inchers Seen As Best Bet Among CD Singles in U.K. Nick Robertshaw.
November 28, 1987.
5. Billboard. U.K. A&M Executive Quits Charts Post. September 2, 1989.
6. Billboard. A&M U.K. Restructured. M. Solomon. June 27, 1998.
