Alfa Records, Inc

Unless Alfa Records, Inc is branded (the specific logo shown), it should be listed as a company with the branded label/s, typically Alfa or Alfa International. When Alfa is written large, and Alfa Records, Inc small, use Alfa as the label. Not to be confused with Alfa Music, Inc., its successor in the mid-nineties or Alfa, the label. Japanese title: アルファレコード株式会社 (Alfa Record Kabushiki Gaisha) Established in 1969 by Kunihiko Murai as Alfa Music, formed into an independent record label in 1977. The company faced much hardship in the 1990s. Due to financial troubles from the collapse of their foreign automobile dealer operations, the record label was reformed into a new company Alfa Music, Inc. in 1994. 1995 saw the closure of their Shibaura "A" Studio (as used by Yellow Magic Orchestra and other artists). In October 1998, operations were scaled back and Alfa withdrew from record production. In April 2001, Sony Music Publishing gained worldwide distribution rights for Alfa's back catalogue - re-issues have appered on the Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. label for domestic releases and Epic for international sales. Alfa were previously partners with A&M Records, Zomba Music and Mute for Japanese domestic distribution.