Started in the 1980s as the new Philips sub-label for classical music.

The name Philips Classics has appeared on no new recordings since 1998. Between then and 2008, Philips Classics was an in-name only imprint of Decca Records. Many classical titles were and continued to be reissued on the Eloquence and Eloquence (Australia) label.

In 2008, parent Universal Music ceased use of the name after the branding rights agreement between Universal and Philips (no longer in the music business) expired. All catalogue Philips Classics releases were reissued as Decca. Philips Classics' web presence was also subsumed into Decca's website.

There is Philips Digital Classics too, for DDD releases. [Some consider it a label on its own, others a series.]