German record company operating under this name between 1925 and 1972; also appears as: Electrola GmbH, Electrola G.M.B.H, Electrola GES.M.B.H and Electrola Ges. mbH..
Please only use with company roles.
Check how this company is mentioned on your item and pick a matching role from the Label dropdown menu on the submission form.
If the "Kontrolle Electrola Ges. mbH." logo (2nd image) appears use role Published By, please.
The company acted as a distributor / marketer for Electrola and Die Stimme Seines Herrn, as well as for Capitol Records, and other EMI owned labels (e.g. Columbia or Odeon, Imperial (2), Harvest). Also distributed were MGM Records (until 1959), Tamla Motown and Mercury.
It is the predecessor of the EMI Electrola GmbH and its trademark EMI Electrola.
The Electrola Gesellschaft m.b.H. (Electrola GmbH) was founded on May 8th, 1925 in the outskirts of Berlin as the German subsidiary of The Gramophone Co. Ltd. and as a holding company for the Electrola label, the German equivalent to His Master's Voice. Due to the merge of The Gramophone Co. Ltd. and the Columbia Graphophone Company Ltd. to form Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. (EMI), Electrola Gesellschaft m.b.H. became ultimately owned by Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. in 1931.
It was now a sister company to larger manufacturer Carl Lindström A.-G.. Consequently in 1932 Electrola's own production facilities in Nowawes near Berlin were closed and Carl Lindström AG became the primary manufacturing arm.
World War II resulted in a near collapse of German record production, practically stopping by 1944. Despite large damages to their studios and production facilities during WW II, the Electrola Gesellschaft m.b.H. and her sister company Carl Lindström GmbH, were able to reestablish the production of records in 1946.
In September 1953 it was decided to move the administration and production facilities to Cologne.
Electrola GmbH was responsible for A&R, marketing and distribution (while the Carl Lindström GmbH was responsible for the recording and manufacturing).
Electrola GmbH and Carl Lindström GmbH were merged by EMI Ltd. to form EMI Electrola GmbH on November 30, 1972.
