Skip to content
Virgin Records

File:Virgin-logo.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ203059· pop 48· linked from 6,596 articles

Virgin Records

Sign in to save

British record label

Key facts

Parent company
Universal Music Group (2012–present) Previously Thorn EMI (1992–1996) EMI (1996–2012) Warner Music Group (2013–present; European back catalogue except for UK)
Founded
Virgin Records Ltd. 1972 ; 54 years ago ( 1972 ) Virgin France SA 1980 ; 46 years ago ( 1980 ) Virgin Records America, Inc. 1986 ; 40 years ago ( 1986 )
Founder
Richard Branson Simon Draper Nik Powell Tom Newman
Defunct
2013 ; 13 years ago ( 2013 ) (original, United Kingdom/British branch)
Distributors
EMI (United Kingdom) Virgin Music Group (US and selected territories) Universal Music Group (outside the UK, the US and selected territories)
Genre
Various
Country of origin
United Kingdom

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Founded by
Tom Newman
Headquarters
Los Angeles
Owned by
Virgin Music
Parent organization
Universal Music Group
Official website
www.virginmusic.com
Show 8 more facts
Commons category
Virgin Music
inception
1972-01-01
topic's main category
Category:Virgin Records
different from
Virgin
organizational division
Caroline Records
short name
Virgin
social media followers
254052
distributed by
Virgin Music
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~27 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. They grew to be a worldwide success over time, meaning that by the time it was sold, it was regarded as a major label, alongside other large international independents such as A&M and Island Records.

Virgin Records was sold to Thorn EMI in 1992. EMI would later be acquired by Universal Music Group (UMG) in 2012 with UMG creating the Virgin EMI Records division. The Virgin Records name continued to be used in Germany until 2025, when it was renamed Intercord Records.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Virgin Records” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)