Jem Records, Inc.

US distributing company; sometimes printed as Jem Records Inc. From 1971 through 1988, Jem Records, Inc. was one of the world's largest importer/exporters and distributors of records. Building on a business of importing and distributing British albums into the United States Jem grew to have office and warehouse locations from London to Los Angeles with the home office in South Plainfield, New Jersey. In 1973, Jem in association with Sire Records launched Passport Records in order to manufacture and release records from within the United States. The Passport label eventually grew to become the Passport Records Group which included the original flagship Passport label, Passport Jazz, The Audion Recording Company, and several other diverse labels. The Jem Records distribution division found itself in financial difficulty in the mid-1980s. Though the Passport Records Group was consistently profitable, the parent company was unable to stay afloat and the entire corporation was shut down. After Jem Records went out of business at the end of 1988 taking Passport Records and The Audion Recording Company with it. When the Jem assets were liquidated, all of the records in their warehouses were sold off to the cutout market.