His Master's Voice

His Master's Voice (English: The voice of his master, French: La Voix de son Maître, Italian: La voce del padrone ) is the world -known brand name of several record labels.

History

The name and its logo to go back to the painter Francis Barraud, who had his 1898 three years earlier deceased dog Nipper while listening to an Edison phonograph portrayed. The included by Emil Berliner Gramophone Company, the newly created image including copyright in 1899 for a total of 100 pounds to buy him off, to use it in their newspaper ads. Condition, however, was that the original illustrated Edison phonograph was painted over by a Berliner Gramophone what happened. This original painting is today the focal point of the entrance hall of the main company building in Hayes. Another 15 similar works were still ordered, of which one is today in Vienna with a record label.

First, the logo was used in advertisements. From 1903, its use on the characteristic sheet jars in which gramophone needles, 100 needles were available in sets with around has been demonstrated. The logo was subsequently so popular that the Gramophone Company the name of their record label, Gramophone Records in 1909 in "His Master 's Voice" changed and so henceforth also be found on the plates themselves in the signature panel on the center as well as in many other places had.

Emil Berliner had in 1900 secured the trademark "His Master 's Voice" Nipper as advertising and design for the with which he founded German Grammophon Gesellschaft, in particular in order to serve the U.S. market. 1924 Berliner sold the American rights to the trademarks of the Victor Talking Machine Company, which was merged with RCA in 1929. The Thomson Group, is one of the RCA Victor today, is rights owner of the trademark for the Americas. One last memory of this first phase of the recording industry in Germany is a statue of Nipper in front of the former headquarters of Deutsche Grammophon in Hanover.

In Europe and the Commonwealth countries, the rights went to the trademark "His Master 's Voice" which was founded in 1931 on EMI, the successor to the Gramophone Company / HMV. EMI used the logo since 2001 as a cut-out cover of his CD series Nipper Collection with re-releases of older classical recordings. The record store chain HMV, which emerged from the EMI Group and is one of the UK 's market leaders, in the tradition of this trademark.

In Japan remained the rights of Victor Company of Japan ( JVC ), the former Japanese subsidiary of Victor Talking Machine Company.

Headlines

In the headlines, the company, as in February 2013 during the termination of 60 employees this short hijacked the Twitter account of the company and reported on their own dismissal came. When the company could again take over the account and deleted the posts, numerous screenshots, however, were already shipped.