In 1955, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters, Inc. formed a subsidiary company called The Am-Par Record Corporation, which began to release pop, jazz, rhythm and blues, children's and spoken word records under the label name ABC-Paramount.

ABC-Paramount became one of the major players in the North American music industry in the 1950s and 1960s, signing many early rock & roll artists, and launching/purchasing many sub-labels including Impulse!, Bluesway, Audition, Command Performance, Dunhill, Duke/Peacock, Probe and others.

In 1966, Paramount was dropped from the name, and the label became known as ABC Records. The 70s saw ABC having success with rock bands such as Poco and Steely Dan, and the label also released some of the top soul recordings of the time from artists like Isaac Hayes, The Four Tops and The Dells.

During the 1970s Anchor Records took care of manufacture and distribution of ABC titles in the UK, and ABC did the same for Anchor in the US.

In 1979, ABC Records was purchased by MCA Records, and it ceased to exist as a record label soon after the purchase, although some popular ABC titles were reissued by MCA.