1897
- An American (William Owen) establishes "The Gramophone Company" in London
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1899
- Company adopts "His Master's Voice' image and title as trademark
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1921
- First "His Master's Voice" retail outlet in London
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1930
- "Electric & Musical Industries" (EMI) formed by merger of The Gramophone Company and The Columbia Graphophone Company
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1931
- Abbey Road Recording Studios open
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1955
- EMI acquires Capitol Records
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1962
- EMI signs The Beatles and releases "Love Me Do"
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1972
- Contemporary Christian Music Company, Myrrh Records founded in Waco, TX by Billy Ray Hearn
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1973
- EMI Music Publishing formed
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1976
- Sparrow Records founded in Los Angeles, CA by Billy Ray Hearn. Artists included Keith Green, John Michael Talbot,and 2nd Chapter of Acts among others
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1988
- ForeFront Records founded in Nashville by Dan Brock, Eddie DeGarmo and Ron Griffin. Artists included dcTalk, Rebecca St. James, and Audio Adrenaline among others
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1991
- Sparrow Records relocates from Los Angeles, CA to Nashville, TN. Artists included BeBe & CeCe Winans, Steven Curtis Chapman, Steve Taylor, Avalon and Michael Card among others St. James, and Audio Adrenaline among others
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1992
- EMI acquires Virgin Music Group
- EMI acquires Sparrow Records
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1994
- EMI acquires Star Song Records. Artists included Petra, Newsboys, and Twila Paris among others
- EMI Christian Music Group and Chordant Distribution are formed. Distributed labels include Integrity Music, Gospo Centric and Gaither Music Group among others
- EMI Christian Music Publishing is formed.
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1996
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EMI Christian Music Group acquires ForeFront Records. Artists included Stacie Orrico, Toby Mac and Rebecca St. James among others
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1998
- EMI Christian Music Group creates EMI Gospel. Artists included Smokie Norful, Kierra Sheard and Bishop T.D. Jakes among others
- EMI Christian Music Group creates WorshipTogether.com
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2000
- EMI Christian Music Group acquires 50% interest in Tooth and Nail Records. Artists included MXPX, Jeremy Camp, Kutless and Thousand Foot Krutch among others
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2002
- EMI Christian Music Group acquires minority interest in Gotee Records. Artists included Grits, Jennifer Knapp, Sonic Flood and Out of Eden among others
- EMI Christian Music Publishing acquires Kingsway’s Thank You Music UK copyright catalog
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2003
- Launches over 600 albums for digital sale
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2004
- EMI Christian Music Publishing makes history with Here I Am To Worship, earning honors as the #1 CCLI song in North America in addition to Dove Awards for Inspirational Song of the Year and Worship Song of the Year
- EMI Gospel sensation, Kierra "Kiki" Sheard debuts at number one on Billboard Gospel, Billboard Heatseeker and R&R Gospel Radio charts with her first CD, I Owe You
- EMI CMG companies shine in Billboard Magazine’s year end issue with top honors in 8 categories including Contemporary Christian Artist and Album, Imprint, Label, Radio Imprint, Radio Label, Publishing Corporation, Gospel Artist, and Gospel Imprint
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2005
- EMI Christian Music Publishing acquires Meaux Music Publishing
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2006
- sixstepsrecords/Sparrow Records' Chris Tomlin received 5 Dove Awards at the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards: Artist of the Year, Male Volcalist of the Year, Song of the Year ("How Great Is Our God"), Worship Song of the Year ("How Great Is Our God"), Special Event Album of the Year (Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe).
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2007
- EMI Music announced the launch of the new premium downloads for retail on a global basis, making all of its digital repertoire available at a much higher sound quality than existing downloads and free of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.
- EMI CMG Label Group's Sparrow label signed a world-wide, long term deal with Amy Grant, which included Grant's 30 year catalog of recordings, more than 30 million units sold, as well as new catalog products.
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