Pathé

French label launched in 1894 by brothers Émile and Charles Pathé. Label Code: LC 0300 / LC 00300 Established in France, the label's territory expanded to the US (in 1914), the UK and even Asia (see 百代唱片 for Chinese language releases). On early releases (Pathé Discs, 1910s/1920s -- 90 rpm (1905 to 1916), 80 rpm (1916 to 1930)), the label logo reads as "Disque Pathé". Prior to 1931 the label went through major ownership changes. First, Emile Pathé sold the Pathé label and companies outside of the US to the Marconi Company owned by physicist Guglielmo Marconi in 1924. This included the Compagnie Générale des Machines Parlantes Pathé Fréres which the brothers Pathé had established in 1919 (this company controlled all of their phonographic activities including the factory at Chatou). In 1928 the Columbia Graphophone Company Ltd. acquired Compagnie Générale des Machines Parlantes Pathé Fréres, the following year Compagnie Générale des Machines Parlantes Pathé Fréres acquired the Marconi Company. In 1931 Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. (EMI) was formed through the merger of the Columbia Graphophone Company Ltd. and The Gramophone Co. Ltd., which in 1936 effected a merger of Cie Française Du Gramophone (subsidiary of The Gramophone Co. Ltd.) and Compagnie Générale de Etablissements Pathé Fréres to form Les Industries Musicales Et Electriques Pathé Marconi (a.k.a. Pathé Marconi) which then becomes the immediate registered owner of the Pathé trademark. In the US, the Pathé label became part of the Cameo Recording Company in 1927. Two years later the Cameo Recording Company merged into the American Record Company. Coincidently the Pathé label disappeared from the US market in 1930/31, but not in the rest of the world, especially in France and Asia. In 1972 Les Industries Musicales Et Electriques Pathé Marconi became known as Pathé Marconi EMI Up until the 27th March 2013 the trademark was directly owned by EMI Music France S.A.S.