Elektra Records

Elektra Records is a music label in the USA. It was founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickholt in Los Angeles. The starting capital was 600 US dollars. Jac Holzman produced mainly performers from the folk scene on the American West Coast at that time, sometimes with considerable success. But he also helped groups like the Doors to national and international fame.

After twenty years as an independent company, the label was sold to Kinney National Company in 1970 for $10 million. This conglomerate had entered the media business only a short time before with the purchase of the film and music company Warner Bros/Seven Arts. Warner Bros. in turn brought previously acquired, well-known record labels into the group, such as Atlantic Records or the Reprise label founded by Frank Sinatra. After the purchase, the group combined its music activities under the name WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic). The individual record labels were continued as divisions of the group.

In 1971 Elektra took over the Asylum Records label, whose founder David Geffen ran Elektra-Asylum from 1973. Jac Holzman remained associated with the group as one of the vice-presidents and settled in Hawaii.

In 1972, the Kinney Group divested almost all of its non-media activities and changed its name to Warner Communications. In the following years, the music business was also established and expanded in Europe under old and new labels. WEA also became one of the leading record companies in Germany.

In 1982 Elektra/Musician was founded as a jazz label.

In the mid-1980s, Warner Communications merged with the Time Inc. group and henceforth called itself Time-Warner. Another merger with the Internet company AOL followed in 2000. As a result, the company ran into serious difficulties and sold off significant parts of its business, including the music business and the Elektra label.

In 2004, the new owners of Warner Music Group closed the Elektra music label.

In 2009, the record company Atlantic Records relaunched the Elektra label.

Some well-known artists who released on Elektra were Metallica, Bruno Mars, AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Björk, Bread, Butterfield Blues Band, Dream Theater, Tracy Chapman, The Cure, Pantera, The Doors, Love, MC5, Pixies, The Cars, Mindless Self Indulgence, Bob Dylan, Missy Elliott, Third Eye Blind, Queen, The Prodigy, Tom Waits, Phish, The Stooges, Kyuss, the Beach Boys and John Zorn.