Decca

Multinational label; also appears as ecca Records. Label code: LC 171 / LC 171.
This is the LABEL to use, regardless of whether the COMPANY behind is (formerly owned by its founder Edward Lewis and PolyGram) or (formerly owned by MCA), or whichever else.

Former stockbroker Edward Lewis formed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 1929. It was founded for , which was founded locally by Brunswick-Balke-Collender and the German .The company started releasing records under the ecca trademark.

A US branch, , was launched on August 4th, 1934. The first US ecca label was a Sunburst design (also referred to as three-dimensional) but that design disappeared in 1937. The sunburst design was replaced by a ecca in block lettering (also referred to as two-dimensional) mainly blue and red. This branch was sold off during World War II, but the UK & US companies continued to release each other’s recordings in their respective territories. In the UK, US ecca recordings were released on the label from 1934 until February 1968, when the label was established. was also used elsewhere in Europe and other countries. However, some European countries released recordings from the two companies on the same ecca label, sometimes with the extra slogan “American Series”.

In 1935, The ecca Record Company Limited contracted with EMI companies in Australia, New Zealand, India and elsewhere for the release of UK & US ecca recordings in those territories. This deal gave US ecca the rights to release recordings from the and labels in North America.

In 1947, The ecca Record Company established the trademark in the US, Canada, South America, and the Far East, as they couldn’t use their own ecca trademark in those territories anymore.

In the early 1960’s, following MCA, Inc’s acquisition of US ecca, the company name appearing on releases became , A ivision Of MCA, Inc. The company name became in 1971. was then established as an American label in 1973 to replace the ecca, , , and labels.

At the end of 1968 ecca UK had stopped preparing separate monos and stereos for new recordings and instead relied on compatible mixes. There was a shrinking demand for mono, but still enough to make the issues lucrative. To save the cost of printing two different covers they made a common one with a die-cut hole top right on the back cover and separating the issues with different inner sleeves – blue stereo and red mono. This was used for most labels distributed by UK ecca record group (one exception being ).

The 1970s were disastrous for the UK ecca label. Although The ecca Company set up the first of the British “progressive” labels, , in 1966, by the time the punk era set in 1977, ecca had become known primarily as a classical label. Label founder Edward Lewis died in January 1980, and acquired the ecca labels within days of his death.

Decca was revived as a US label for reissues in the 198’s and 199’s, some of these in conjunction with the label. ecca Records Nashville was also formed to release new country recordings.

In 1997, Seagram bought out MCA/Universal, giving them ownership of ecca US. They then acquired ecca UK’s parent company PolyGram in 1998, thus consolidating ecca trademark ownership under the new . The recordings from the two eccas have not, however, been reconsolidated under the ecca label, with reissues of US recordings typically appearing on the , , and imprints.

Today, ecca is a leading label for both classical music and Broadway scores. also includes the label, and those labels are grouped together with the and labels into the Universal Classics group.

This label contains releases on multinational markets. o NOT create imprints for different countries.
Cover that information on new releases with the country field and with company links, rights societies, labelcode etc.

For all unofficial releases (bootlegs, counterfeits … , pirate compilations) that pretend to be a release of ecca please use

Link to a great 1428 pages of ecca classical recordings database from 1929 to 29
http://images.cch.kcl.ac.uk/charm/liv/pubs/eccaComplete.pdf
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Companies related to ecca:

UK:
, later – original company founded in 1929; subsidiary company name , acquired by ecca in 1932, appears on label releases for licensed US recordings until 1968.
– company name used for a brief period of independence after the label was established before the license returned to ecca until 1973. Revived again in the late 197’s or early 198’s.
, later – the US MCA license switched from ecca to EMI on 1 January 1974, finally (at least until 1999) severing UK ecca’s connections to its one-time subsidiary.
– distributor of from 1st Januuary 1991.
– renamed UK MCA company following merger of Universal and PolyGram in 1999.
Releases via Universal MCA may also show the name for manufacturing and/or distribution roles.

US:
, later , A ivision of MCA, Inc. – US company founded in 1934; UK ecca started selling their shareholding c. 1939 and had completely divested their interests c. 1943. was the company name used starting in 1971, though the label wasn’t established in the Americas until 1973. Also includes the label.
, later – UK ecca’s second venture into the American record market, established in 1947, with a Canadian subsidiary established the following year. As the ecca name could now not be used, was created for the bulk of releases from the UK company.
– US company which absorbed London in 198.
– US jazz company/label, acquired by ; reissued classic US ecca recordings of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and others on the imprint in conjunction with MCA.
, A ivision Of UMG Recordings, Inc. – Universal folded the label in the early 2’s, and any non-jazz or country reissues from US ecca or MCA now go to this label.
, A ivision Of UMG Recordings, Inc. – one of Universal’s current country music labels, which also encompasses reissues from US ecca’s country catalogue.
, A ivision Of UMG Recordings, Inc. – Universal’s jazz division, which since 1999 has reissued several US ecca recordings on the label, often with vintage label graphics.
– the US division encompassing the classical issues from and , the latter label now used worldwide for reissues from US ecca’s classical catalogue, notably those of Andrés Segovia. Also includes , for new and reissued recordings of stage shows and film soundtrack albums from across Universal’s family of labels. For the older label design version see the Vinylbeat link below.

Australia:
, , – EMI companies licensing the UK ecca labels from 1935 to the early 198’s (including US recordings on the ecca and Brunswick labels until 1952).
– licensee for US ecca (released on ), Coral and Brunswick from 1952 to 1969.
, – both familiarly known as Astor Records; licensee for US ecca// from 1969 to 1981, on the label.
, later – licensee for UK ecca labels from c. 1981-1999, and for from 1981-1983.
– licensee for from 1983 to early 199’s.
– licensee (later distributor) for , early 199’s to 1999.
MCA Music Entertainment Limited – mid-late 199’s licensee for ; still distributed by .
– following Universal’s acquisition of PolyGram, Australian company for all UK/Europe and US ecca recordings from 1999 to present.

Belgium:
– Exclusive importer and distributor since 1934, also manufacturing local products since 194, up to the company’s bankruptcy in 198.

Netherlands:
The following succeeding companies acted as exclusive distributor (and after 1934 manufacturer) in the Netherlands (and its colonies):
ecca utch Supplies (193-1936)
Hollandsche ecca istributie (ecca-utch Supplies) N.V. (1936-1943)
(1943-1972)
(1972 – ?)
In 1942 N.V. Philips Gloeilampenfabriek became the main shareholder, in 1951 manufacturing was handled by .

Germany:
– Founded 195 as joint venture between Telefunken AG and .

France:
– Exclusive distributor since 1934, and manufacturer since 195, up to the company’s bankruptcy in 1979.

45 RPM Catalog Number, ate and Label Identification:
23 through 294 (1949–1955): Black label with lines
on both sides of the ecca name.
2941 through 311 (1955–196): Black label with lines
and a star under the ecca name.
3111 and higher (196 forward): Label is black at the top
and bottom, but has a horizontal multi-color band through the
center.
An occasional number above 3 will surface on the
label (with lines on both sides of the name ecca) shown for
numbers under 2941. Numbers before ecca 45s began
(23 and some as high as 255 – black label with lines on
both sides) are 45 rpm reissues of material first issued on 78s.

https://decca.com/