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| founded = European company Virgin Records America | founder = Richard Branson Simon Draper Nik Powell Tom Newman | status = Active in the U.S. Defunct in the U.K. | distributor = Virgin EMI (UK) Capitol Music Group (US) Universal Music Distribution (Int'l) | genre = Various | country = United Kingdom United States | location = | url = }} Virgin Records, Ltd. was a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell and Tom Newman in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, dc Talk, the Smashing Pumpkins, Mike Oldfield, Spice Girls and more on their list of artists.〔(''Virgin: A History of Virgin Records'' ) by Terry Southern, URL accessed 6 July 2011.〕 It was later sold to Thorn EMI in 1992. Wholly owned by Universal Music Group after its purchase of EMI in 2012, UMG absorbed its British operations to create Virgin EMI Records in March 2013, which absorbed Mercury Records UK.〔(EMI Music | Universal Music UK launches Virgin EMI Records )〕 Today, the operations of Virgin Records America, Inc. (a unit of Virgin Records, Ltd.) are still active and are headquartered in Hollywood, California, as it operates exclusively via Capitol Music Group since 2007.〔https://twitter.com/virginrecords〕 A heavily minor amount of artists remain on Virgin Records America's roster, which today is mostly occupied with European artists such as Bastille, Circa Waves, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ella Eyre, Grizfolk, Walking on Cars, Seinabo Sey, and Prides. American artists include only L'Tric and Rise Against. ==Origins== Branson and Powell had initially run a small record shop called ''Virgin Records and Tapes'' on Notting Hill Gate, London, specialising particularly in "krautrock" imports, and offering bean bags and free vegetarian food for the benefit of customers listening to the music on offer. In fact the first real store was above a shoe shop at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street. After making the shop into a success, they turned their business into a fully fledged record label. The name Virgin, according to Branson (in his autobiography), arose from Tessa Watts, a colleague of his, when they were brainstorming business ideas. She suggested Virgin – as they were all new to business – like "virgins".〔(''Then Came Branson'' ) by Erik Larson at Inc Magazine Online, 1 Nov 1986, URL accessed 7 July 2011〕 The original Virgin logo (known to fans as the "Gemini" or "Twins" logo) was designed by English artist and illustrator Roger Dean: a young naked woman in mirror image with a large long-tailed serpent and the word "Virgin" in Dean's familiar script. A variation on the logo was used for the spin-off Caroline Records label. The first release on the label was the progressive rock album ''Tubular Bells'' by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, who was discovered by Tom Newman and brought to Simon Draper – who eventually persuaded Richard and Nik to present it as their first release in 1973, produced by Tom Newman, for which the fledgling label garnered unprecedented acclaim. This was soon followed by some notable krautrock releases, including electronic breakthrough album ''Phaedra'' by Tangerine Dream (which went Top 10), and ''The Faust Tapes'' and ''Faust IV'' by Faust. ''The Faust Tapes'' album retailed for 49p (the price of a 7" single) and as a result allowed this relatively unknown band to reach number 12 in the album charts. Other early albums include Gong's ''Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 1)'', which Daevid Allen has been quoted as having never been paid for. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Virgin Records」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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