His Master's Voice
His Master's Voice(HMV) was the name of a major Britishrecord labelcreated in 1901 byThe Gramophone Co. Ltd.[1]The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artistFrancis Barraud,which depicted a dog namedNipperlistening to a wind-up discgramophoneandtilting his head.[2][3]In the original, unmodified 1898 painting, the dog was listening to acylinder phonograph.The painting was also famously used as thetrademarkandlogoof theVictor Talking Machine Company,later known asRCA Victor.The painting was originally offered to James Hough, manager of Edison-Bell in London, but he declined, saying "dogs don't listen to phonographs". Barraud subsequently visited The Gramophone Co. of Maiden Lane in London where the manager William Barry Owen offered to purchase the painting if it were revised to depict their latest Improved Gramophone model. Barraud obliged, and Owen bought the painting from Barraud for £100.
In the 1970s, an award was created with a copy of the statue of the dog and gramophone,His Master's Voice,cloaked in bronze, and was presented by (EMI Records) to artists, music producers and composers in recognition of selling more than 1,000,000 recordings.
The painting
[edit]The trademark image comes from a painting by English artistFrancis BarraudtitledHis Master's Voice.It was acquired from the artist in 1899 by the newly formedGramophone Companyand adopted as a trademark by the Gramophone Company's United States affiliate, theVictor Talking Machine Company.[4]
The logo
[edit]
In early 1899, Francis Barraud applied for copyright of the original painting using the descriptive working titleDog looking at and listening to a Phonograph.He was unable to sell the work to any cylinder phonograph company, but William Barry Owen, the American founder of the Gramophone Company in England, offered to purchase the painting under the condition that Barraud modify it to show one of their disc machines. Barraud complied and the image was first used on the company's catalogue from December 1899. As the trademark gained in popularity, several additional copies were subsequently commissioned from the artist for various corporate purposes.[5]
In 1967, EMI converted the HMV label into an exclusiveclassical musiclabel and dropped itsPOP seriesofpopular music.HMV's POP series artists' roster was moved toColumbia GraphophoneandParlophoneand licensed American POP record deals toStateside Records.[6]
The globalised market for thecompact discresulted in EMI retiring the HMV label in favour of "EMI Classics",a name that could be used worldwide; however, between 1988 and 1992Morrissey's recordings were issued on the HMV label. The HMV/Nipper trademark is now owned by the retail chain in the UK. The formal trademark transfer from EMI took place in 2003.[7]The old HMV classical music catalogue is now controlled by theWarner Classicsunit ofWarner Music Group.[8]Most reissues of HMV pop material that EMI previously controlled are now reissued on Warner'sParlophonelabel.[9]In the UK, Warner Classics's online presence was launched as 'Dog and Trumpet' onSpotify,Facebook,TwitterandInstagramin January 2017.[10]
Nipper worldwide
[edit]
On 1 April 2007, HMV announced that Gromit, the animated dog ofWallace and Gromit,would stand in for Nipper for a three-month period, promoting children's DVDs in its UK stores.[11]
HMV
[edit]
HMV shops in Ireland and the UK also use the Nipper trademark. HMV applied for trademark status in order to use Nipper at HMV shops in Canada, but in 2010 abandoned the application.[12]
As of August 2006, there were over 400 HMV shops worldwide.[13]
On 15 January 2013, HMV Group plc enteredreceivership;shops in Ireland closed 16 January 2013 and were no longer accepting vouchers. The HMV website posted a receivership notice and no further online sales were made.[14]
In December 2018 entered administration for the second time in six years.[15]
On 5 February 2019, the Canadian retailerSunrise Recordsannounced its acquisition of HMV Retail for an undisclosed amount (later reported to be £883,000).[16]Sunrise planned to maintain the HMV chain and fiveFoppoutlets, but immediately closed 27 locations.[17]By late February, HMV had reopened a number of shops (including 1 Fopp branch).[18][19]
On 24 November 2023, the flagship shop onOxford StreetinLondonreopened. [20]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"His Master's Voice (Multinational label)".Discogs.Retrieved31 January2020.
- ^Sommese, Andrea; Miklósi, Ádám; Pogány, Ákos; Temesi, Andrea; Dror, Shany; Fugazza, Claudia (2022)."An exploratory analysis of head-tilting in dogs".Animal Cognition.25(3): 701–705.doi:10.1007/s10071-021-01571-8.PMC9107419.PMID34697669.
- ^Wetzel, Corryn,Why Do Dogs Tilt Their Heads? New Study Offers Clues,Smithsonian, 3 November 2021
- ^Rye, Howard (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.).The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz.Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 249.ISBN1-56159-284-6.
- ^"The Nipper Saga".Archivedfrom the original on 24 September 2015.Retrieved27 May2006.
- ^Billboard.1967.Retrieved28 February2013– via Google Books.
- ^"Trade Mark Details as at 28 February 2013: HMV Group plc".Patent.gov.uk.Retrieved28 February2013.
- ^"Claude Debussy – Vladimir Horowitz: Complete HMV Recordings 1930–1951".Warner Classics.Archivedfrom the original on 11 May 2018.
- ^"At Abbey Road".Amazon.
- ^"Gramophone".reader.exacteditions.com.May 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 30 July 2017.
- ^"Gromit steps into HMV logo role".BBC News. 1 April 2007.Archivedfrom the original on 9 October 2007.Retrieved4 May2010.
- ^"Canadian Trade-mark Data: 1396181 – Canadian Trade-marks Database".Ic.gc.ca.Canadian Intellectual Property Office.Archivedfrom the original on 5 December 2013.Retrieved28 November2013.
- ^"HMV Adds Gaming".marketnews.ca. 28 August 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 23 September 2006.Retrieved13 September2006.
- ^"More Uncertainty for HMV".thedailyshift.com. 18 January 2013.Archivedfrom the original on 28 March 2013.Retrieved22 January2013.
- ^"Music retailer HMV calls in administrators".BBC News. 28 December 2018.
- ^"Sunrise Records paid £883000 for HMV".Financial Times.London. 25 February 2019. Archived fromthe originalon 10 December 2022.Retrieved28 February2019.(subscription required)
- ^Monaghan, Angela; Butler, Sarah (5 February 2019)."HMV reveals which 27 stores have closed after sale to Canadian music boss".The Guardian.London.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved5 February2019.
- ^Hope, Fiona."HMV brings back nine shuttered stores".PSNEurope.Retrieved28 February2019.
- ^"hmv stores: Details of Re-Openings..."HMV.
- ^"BBC News – HMV Oxford Street flagship store reopens four years after closing".
Further reading
[edit]- Barnum, Fred (1991).His Master's Voice in America.
- Southall, Brian (1996).The Story of the World's Leading Music Retailer: HMV 75, 1921–1996.
External links
[edit]
- NipperatCurlie
- Musée des ondes Emile Berliner – MontréalArchived16 February 2015 at theWayback Machine
