Since the earliest days of the music business more than a century ago, record labels have come and gone, been taken over or merged. Some have been owned by retailers, DJs, agents, and managers, others by individual artists or groups or vast media and electronics conglomerates. For many fans, a symphony or song on the right label is almost as important as the artist recording it. From classical to soul, jazz to rock, folk to rap, every record label has a story to tell. Those stories are collected here — along with details about the labels founders, artists, and corporate backers — providing a fascinating insight into one of the most important aspects of the history of popular music. Covering every major record label from A&M Records to Motown to ZTT, this historical guide is illustrated in full color.