Manhattan Records

Manhattan Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group and operates as a branch of Capitol Music Group. Company history Manhattan Records was formed in 1984 by Bruce Lundvall and was later renamed EMI Manhattan Records after absorbing the EMI America Records imprint. EMI Manhattan was used to reissue back catalogue titles from Capitol Records and other EMI-owned labels such as United Artists Records and Liberty Records. It also distributed new albums from Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International Records during the later half of the 1980s, after a 15-year stint with CBS Records. The deal gave EMI distribution rights to PIR's back catalog from 1976 onward (CBS, later Sony Music, would retain the rights to PIR's catalog up to 1975 and later acquire the rest in 2007). Artists signed to EMI Manhattan included Kenny Rogers, Richard Marx, Natalie Cole, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queensrÿche, and Thomas Dolby. In 1989, EMI Manhattan was dissolved and absorbed into Capitol Records to become EMI Records USA, with the catalog bearing the EMI label. In 1985, Manhattan Records and Island Records entered into a joint venture to release the U.S. version of Grace Jones' album Slave to the Rhythm. The album used the Manhattan prefix number. In the UK the album was released by ZTT via Island Records with neither Manhattan nor Capitol nor EMI being part of the release.