Record Label

Nonesuch

Label Code: LC 0286 / LC 00286. US record label that is the trading name of Nonesuch Records / Nonesuch Records Inc. Releases with either "Nonesuch" or "Nonesuch Records" logos should use this label. Company credits as on release. References to Nonesuch Records Inc. are the company identity and not the label. Elektra indicates that Elektra Records was founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman. Under his leadership, Nonesuch was created in 1964 as a budget label for classical releases licensed from large classical record companies in Britain and France that did not have a cost-effective means to directly distribute their releases in North America. Bill Harvey designed the packaging, and releases were marketed as "Recordings at the Price of a Quality Paperback." Nonesuch eventually hosted a large catalog of adventurous music from around the globe, and world-premiere recordings of contemporary composers of avant-garde, electronic and computer music. Warner Communications Inc. provides the most coherent summary of ownership and identity changes from 1969 onward. As a division of Elektra, Nonesuch was also acquired by Warner Communications (Kinney/WEA at the time) in 1970. Releases from Elektra-based labels like Elektra, Nonesuch, and Asylum Records will usually state this affiliation as "A Division Of Warner Communications Inc." (). Elektra/Asylum Records states that the Elektra and Asylum Records labels were combined in August 1973 to form label identities Elektra/Asylum Records and Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records. The identity Elektra Nonesuch was used for some releases from 1987 to 1995. Catalog entries for "Nonesuch" or "Nonesuch Records" continue through this period as well. In 1994, Warner Music International became its parent label and later switched to Atlantic approximately 2001 to 2004. A further merger of the Elektra and Atlantic labels took place in mid 2004. Thereafter, Nonesuch has been identified as a sub-label of Warner Bros. Records within the Warner Music Group, continuing to use the established Elektra UPC prefix and numbering system.