Virgin began as a London record shop, specializing in krautrock imports, becoming Virgin Records, a small, independent label begun in 1972 by Richard Branson & Nik Powell. Virgin expanded to the US in 1986 after failed attempts to license its bands to U.S. labels, gaining distribution by Atlantic Records div. of WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic). By 1991, Virgin was the world's largest independent label when sold for a reported $1 billion to EMI, now the world's third-largest music company. Branson sold out to fund Virgin Atlantic Airways. Having some exclusive artists, Virgin Records America shares some artists with its parent label and other foreign divisions. EMI's Virgin launched record companies RealWorld, Innocent, Point Blank and Hut, and absorbed sister label Charisma Records. Branson took a 5-year break from the music industry and founded V2 Records in 1997; he was prevented from starting another record company sooner by a 5-year, non-competition clause in his sale of Virgin agreement.

NOTE: Many releases issued by Virgin branches in the UK, Europe and other countries mention Virgin Records America Inc. in the copyright notice. This means that the artist was signed to Virgin through the American branch, so the copyright to their recordings resides there.