EMI Music Canada

EMI Music Canada, formerly one of the major record labels in the Canadian music industry, had its beginnings in Capitol Records of Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of the Capitol Records company started by Glenn Wallichs, Buddy DeSylva, and Johnny Mercer in Los Angeles in 1942. Capitol Records of Canada was formed in London, Ont., in 1949 by Ken Kerr, Johnny Downs, and Lockwood Miller. A friend of Wallichs’s from their school days, Miller acquired a five-year contract to distribute Capitol Records recordings in Canada. By 1954, however, the U.S. office of Capitol Records decided to let the London group’s contract expire and instead established its own label, Capitol Records Distributors of Canada Ltd., to distribute its recordings directly to the growing Canadian market. The new company was headed by Harold J. Smith and based out of Toronto rather than London. The following year Capitol Records was acquired by Electric and Musical Industries Ltd. (EMI), a British company formed in 1931 through the merger of Columbia Graphophone and the Gramaphone Company. In 1956 the Toronto office of Capital Records moved to a new location at 635 Queen Street East and two years later the company officially changed its name back to Capitol Records of Canada Ltd. after Miller’s formal rights to the name expired in 1958. EMI brought distribution of the classical label Angel Records and the France-based Pathé Records to Capitol Canada in 1959, and, later, several of the popular British Invasion bands of the mid-1960s, including The Beatles, Cliff Richard, The Dave Clark Five, The Yardbirds, and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Capitol Canada began to expand its operations across Canada in the 1960s, opening branch offices in Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver. From 1962 to 1968 Geoffrey Racine served as label president and from 1964 to 1978 Paul White directed the A&R department. In 1960 the A&R department started a domestic division, the first of any major label operating in Canada. Within four years its director, White, was responsible for signing a range of popular Canadian artists in the pop, rock, country, and folk fields. The main domestic acts released on Capitol Canada in this period included The Esquires, Jack London and the Sparrows, The Staccatos (Five Man Electrical Band), Robbie Lane and the Disciples, The Sugar Shoppe, Diane Leigh, Malka and Joso, Wes Dakus, Barry Allen, and Gary Buck. Deals followed with the successful domestic independent labels Roman, Hawk, Yorkville, and Yorktown, which brought the label distribution of popular Toronto rock acts Ronnie Hawkins, David Clayton-Thomas, and the Ugly Ducklings. The label’s first all-Canadian recording appeared in 1961, a recording by the house band at the Granite Club in Toronto, Frank Bogart and His Society Dance Orchestra, entitled Society Dance Date…, which was released on the Capitol 6000 series of Canada-only LPs that White introduced to target the budding Canadian market. The immense success of the Beatles in the mid-1960s was a major factor in the growth of the label and its command in this period of over forty percent of the market share. Capitol soon became the country’s largest supplier of Canadian recording artists. A French A&R division opened in Montreal in 1966 and went on later to sign the Quebec artists Pierre Lalonde, Les Cailloux, Beau Dommage, Raôul Duguay, Suzanne Stevens, Morse Code, and Maneige. In 1967 Edward Leetham was appointed company president, the first Canadian-born executive to hold the position, and a new head office and distribution facility was opened at 3109 American Drive, in Mississauga, Ont., which remained the label’s headquarters for the next forty years. When the new headquarters opened in 1967 the company had over 150 employees.

Arnold Gosewich became president of the label in 1970. He introduced a new marketing campaign that year promoting Capitol Canada’s strong domestic roster under the brand “Sounds Canadian”. Canadian artists signed to the label in the previous two years featured prominently in the campaign. Particularly successful for Capitol Canada at the time were releases from their rising stars Anne Murray and Edward Bear. At the Junos in 1971 and 1973 Capitol Canada was awarded Top Canadian Content Record Company, and Gosewich was named Industry Man of the Year in 1973. In 1974 the label changed its name to Capitol Records–EMI of Canada Ltd to more clearly reflect its connection with the EMI label. Two years later, the label opened its own vinyl record pressing plant adjacent to the American Drive head office in Mississauga, where it manufactured all records released by Capitol-EMI plus other independent labels affiliated with the company, including Daffodil and Arista. From 1976 to 1985 the Canadian A&R department was integrated with A&R at Capitol U.S. to bring artists greater exposure across the borders of Canada and the United States.

Dave Evans served as Capitol–EMI Canada president from 1977 to 1986 followed by Richard Lyttelton from 1986 to 1988. Deane Cameron took over from White as head of the Canadian A&R division in 1978. Cameron soon brought in deals with domestic independent labels Anthem and Aquarius, which led to distribution of some of the main Canadian musical icons of the 1980s, including Max Webster, April Wine, Rush, and Corey Hart. Among the roster of artists Cameron signed as head of A&R in the late 1970s and the 1980s were Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, Luba, Rock and Hyde, Slik Toxic, Helix, Glass Tiger, Streetheart, Prism, Long John Baldry, and David Wilcox. In 1982 Dan Middleton and the engineering arm of the company introduced Super Dynamic Range (SDR) in all of the cassettes manufactured by the label. Recognizing the superior sound quality produced by SDR, it was later adopted by Capitol U.S. under the name XDR. The first CDs were also released by Capitol–EMI Canada beginning in 1984. Glass Tiger’s The Thin Red Line was the first Capitol–EMI CD by a Canadian artist, released two years later in 1986.

Cameron’s eight years as head of A&R were followed by his appointment as president of the company in 1988. His support for the domestic music industry continued throughout the late 1980s and the 1990s by signing a wide range of Canadian artists and forming deals with the independent labels Alert and Nettwerk, which carried Holly Cole and Sarah McLachlan respectively. Among the many notable artists signed in this period were The Tea Party, Moist, The Rankin Family, Rita MacNeil, Kim Stockwood, John McDermott, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Susan Aglukark, Tom Cochrane, I Mother Earth, and Econoline Crush. Tim Trombley took over from Cameron as head of A&R in 1988 and continued to develop and manage the label’s extensive domestic roster until 2006. In 1990, 1991, and 1994, Cameron was named executive of the year at the Canadian Music Industry Awards. Virgin Records was purchased by EMI in 1992 and was brought to Capitol–EMI Canada as an independent division within the company. Following the acquisition, Virgin Records Canada continued to maintain its own head office in Toronto with a separate A&R department. In 1993 the company’s name again changed and Capitol Records–EMI of Canada became EMI Music Canada. A CD production plant was opened by the label in 1995 and the following year EMI’s annual general meeting was held in Toronto, marking the first time it was held outside of England.

In the 2000s EMI Music Canada’s support of Canadian talent continued with successful releases by k-os, Serena Ryder, Nickleback, and Johnny Reid. The company also formed a distribution deal with the independent Arts & Crafts label and began releasing its popular acts Feist, Broken Social Scene, and Stars. Cameron’s over twenty years as president of EMI Canada and his long support for the Canadian music industry were recognized in 2010 when he was named to the Order of Canada and in 2011 when he was awarded the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Junos. EMI Music Canada ceased its operations after it was acquired by the Universal Music Group in September 2012.

1942 - Capitol Records founded in Los Angeles, California.
1949 - Capitol Records of Canada Ltd. founded in London, Ont. (1949-1954)
1954 - Capitol Records Distributers of Canada Ltd. founded in Toronto. (1954-1958)
1955 - EMI purchases Capitol Records.
1958 - Name changes back to Capitol Records of Canada Ltd. (1958-1974).
1960 - Capitol Records of Canada establishes a domestic Canadian A&R department.
1967 - New head office and distribution facility opens at 3109 American Drive, Mississauga, Ont.
1969 - Capitol Canada signs Anne Murray.
1970 - Sounds Canadian marketing campaign.
1974 - Name changes to Capitol Records–EMI of Canada Ltd. (1974-1993).
1974 - Board meeting of Capitol US held in Toronto.
1976 - Record pressing plant opens adjacent to American Drive head office.
1992 - Virgin Records purchased by EMI.
1993 - Name changes to EMI Music Canada (1993-2012).
1995 - EMI Music Canada CD production plant opens.
2012 - Universal Music Group purchases EMI Music Canada.

Sources:
“Capitol Records–EMI of Canada: Portrait of a Company on the Rise.” Capitol Records–EMI of Canada 40th anniversary pamphlet, 1989.
Jennings, Nicholas. Fifty Years of Music: The Story of EMI Music Canada. Macmillan Canada, 2002.
LeBlanc, Larry. “EMI exec shapes Canadian music.” Billboard 107.45 (Nov. 11, 1995). 52.
McLean, Steve. “EMI Music Canada’s 50th Anniversary.” The Record 18.46 (Jul. 5, 1999). 3, 7.
“RPM salutes Capitol’s record pressing plant”. RPM Magazine Special Edition. (Jun. 25, 1977)

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Artists and Repertoire (A&R) department of EMI Music Canada (then named Capitol Records of Canada) had its beginnings in 1960 under the direction of Paul White. Capitol was the first of any major label operating in Canada to have a domestic A&R department. A&R is the department of a record label responsible for finding and recording artists. The first all-Canadian release by the A&R department appeared in 1961, a recording by the house band at the Granite Club in Toronto, Frank Bogart and His Society Dance Orchestra, entitled Society Dance Date…. The album was released on the Capitol 6000 series of Canada-only LPs, introduced to target the budding Canadian market. In 1963 White signed the Esquires, the first Canadian pop band to join the label’s artist roster. Though White had been leading the A&R department since 1960, he also served as the head of promotions and only officially received the designation head of A&R in 1967. He went on to direct the A&R department until 1978, during which time he was responsible for signing a range of seminal Canadian artists in the pop, rock, country, and folk fields, including Jack London, Malka and Joso, Diane Leigh, Edward Bear, Anne Murray, Gene McLellan, Sylvia Tyson, and Mother Tuckers Yellow Duck. The label opened a French A&R division in Montreal in 1966 and went on later to sign the Quebec artists Pierre Lalonde, Les Cailloux, Beau Dommage, Raôul Duguay, Suzanne Stevens, Morse Code, and Maneige. From 1976 to 1985 the Canadian A&R department was integrated with A&R at Capitol U.S. in an effort to bring artists greater exposure across the borders of Canada and the United States. Deane Cameron took over from White as head of the Canadian A&R division in 1978 and soon brought in deals with domestic independent labels Anthem and Aquarius, which led to distribution of some of the main Canadian musical icons of the 1980s, including Max Webster, April Wine, Rush, and Corey Hart. Among the roster of artists Cameron signed as head of A&R in the late 1970s and the 1980s were Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, Luba, Rock and Hyde, Slik Toxic, Helix, Glass Tiger, Streetheart, Prism, Long John Baldry, and David Wilcox. Tim Trombley took over from Cameron as head of A&R in 1988 and continued to develop and manage the label’s extensive domestic roster until 2006. Fraser Hill was director of the A&R department from 2006 to 2012 during which time the artist roster included k-os, Serena Ryder, Idle Sons, Kardinal Offishall, Kreesha Turner, and Skye Sweetnam.

A&R department directors:
1960-1978 - Paul White
1978-1988 - Deane Cameron
1988-2006 - Tim Trombley
2006-2012 – Fraser Hill

April 2016