Brunswick Ltd.

British record company established in 1927 as the outlet for the Brunswick label (established in Britain in October 1923, marketed by Cliftophone Ltd., a subsidiary of the Chappell publishing company). It was founded locally by Brunswick-Balke-Collender and the German Polyphon Musik. Sold to Duophone in August 1928, but collapsed within a year. Decca was formed for the owners by Brunswick Ltd. in 1929. The company was resurrected in December 1930 following American Brunswick's acquisition by Warner Brothers, but then sold to The Decca Record Company Limited in April 1932 after the American company was sold to the American Record Corporation. This deal gave Decca a continuing license to US Brunswick's roster, as well as absolute rights to all pre-December 1931 recordings, as well as the Panachord label. After the 1934 founding of the US subsidiary Decca Records, Inc., Brunswick became the UK and European outlet for the US Decca label, a role it continued until late 1967, when the MCA Records label was introduced. The company remained a dormant subsidiary (copyright holder) of The Decca Record Company Limited, until its dissolution on the 17th December 1998. British releases typically show the company name "Brunswick Ltd." on the labels and cover without any specific company role assigned. For these releases, assign the company the "Record Company" tag in the LCCN fields.