UMG Philippines Inc.[ Formerly known as MCA Music, the record label previously retained the now-discontinued MCA name on legal purposes because of a trademark dispute with an unrelated label known as Universal Records, which preempted the rights to the word "Universal" for recorded music in the Philippines. However, the company adopted the moniker "MCA/Universal", much like Universal Pictures' home video unit from 1990 to 1997, to simplify identification, even though no formal "Universal" branding is exercised. Despite the naming, the label is known outside the Philippines as Universal Music Philippines.][
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The record label then changed to its current name on November 3, 2021.
History
PolyCosmic Records was formed in 1993 as a joint venture between PolyGram (Universal Music Group's predecessor, which has 30% of the company's stocks) and a consortium of Philippines businessmen including Dr. James G. Dy (founding chairman of Dyna Music, which was the local distributor of PolyGram) and Cosmic Records, a company founded in 1992 by Ramon Chuaying.
Universal Records — which would later be involved in a domestic trademark dispute with UMG — had the distribution rights to Polygram; and Chuaying was its first CEO.[
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In 1998, PolyGram N.V. was purchased by Seagram's[ and was merged into MCA Inc.,][ and PolyGram Music Group was merged with MCA Music Entertainment to become Universal Music Group.][ After the merger, PolyCosmic Records was reincorporated as MCA Music Inc. (Philippines). In 2006, Ricky Ilacad was named the managing director and CEO.][
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MCA Music has a partnership with Smart Communications, Inc. to make music downloads available to phone users via music service Spinnr.[
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In 2020, UMG formally appointed Sindikato Management founder and former Sony Music Philippines A&R consultant Enzo Valdez as managing director, replacing Ilacad.[ In 2021, UMG signed a distribution agreement with Off the Record, a local independent label owned by Ilacad.
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On November 3, 2021, after 23 years as MCA Music Inc., the record label was renamed as UMG Philippines Inc.
On July 8, 2022, UMG launched its third label, Republic Records Philippines.[
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On February 5, 2024, UMG relaunched EMI Records Philippines as its fourth label after 22 years.
Artists (past and present)
UMG Philippines (formerly MCA Music)
Def Jam Philippines
Island Records Philippines
Republic Records Philippines
EMI Records Philippines
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Shane Bernabe
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CHNDTR
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Dionela
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Cydel Gabutero
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Gracenote
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Jenzen Guino
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Hale
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Miss Ramonne
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Elha Nympha
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Daniel Paringit
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Patrick Quiroz
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Gabriel Tagadtad
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Dave Trinidad
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Waltz
See also
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Universal Music Group
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Universal Records (Philippines)
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Dyna Music
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PolyEast Records
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Sony Music Philippines
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Warner Music Philippines
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List of Universal Music Group labels
External links
