Polydor - Biography

Biography - Polydor

Germany

The Polydor label was founded in April 1913 by German Polyphon-Musikwerke AG in Leipzig and registered in July 1914.

During World War 1, the German Government confiscated the German assets of the British-owned The Gramophone Company (HMV) which included Deutsche Grammophon AG, and these were sold to Polyphon-Musikwerke. It is estimated that around 50,000 original HMV master discs were still located in Germany at this time, including all the 'Red Label' celebrity masters. This caused many problems after the war ended.

From 1924 the Polydor label was also used for export of the Deutsche Grammophon AG and Polydor recordings outside Germany, Polydor released mostly German dance music. In 1941, Siemens & Halske AG acquired Deutsche Grammophon, and for a while the name Siemens-Polydor appears on labels. By 1943, production had almost completely ceased because the war led to a lack of raw materials. In 1946, Polydor resumed its work, reissuing earlier hits and turning into the best-known German pop music label of the 1950s.

The earliest labels feature the red "Polydormännchen" (the little Polydor man) holding two gramophone horns to his ears. After World War 2 (1946-1949), plain text labels feature the name Polydor above a reference to the military occupation government. In 1949, red labels feature the word Polydor in gold script inside a golden banner under a firmament of 9 small stars and 1 large star. At some point in 1953, the label color turns orange, the stars are filled in with gold, and the word Polydor now appears in red font on top of a white banner. In 1954, the number of small stars is reduced to only 6.

Label guide in English
Label guide in German (incomplete)

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