Philips

The Philips label was originally part of the Dutch electronics firm Philips releasing music from both popular and classical genres. Due to the close association with the hardware side of the business Philips classical recordings were noted for their high quality of sound reproduction. Philips was also the the first company to issue classical recordings on Compact Disc in 1983. Philips Classics was founded in the 1980s as a dedicated label for classical music. Notable artists have included Neville Marriner, John Eliot Gardiner, Mitsuko Uchida and Alfred Brendel. A landmark in its history was the issuing of its Complete Mozart Edition to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the composer's death in 1991. Philips was incorporated into Universal Music in 1998 before being finally subsumed into the Decca label in 1999. Although no new recordings are now made under the Philips logo, it still survives as a re-issue label.