Alfa Records Inc. アルファレコード
Founded	1969 (1977 as an independent label)
Founder	Kunihiko Murai
Defunct	2000
Distributor(s)	Victor Musical Industries (1977–1982) Warner-Pioneer (1982–1991) Nippon Columbia (1991–1994) Toshiba-EMI (1994–2001) Sony Music Direct (2001-present)
Country of origin	Japan
Location	Tokyo

Alfa Records Inc. (アルファレコード株式会社, Alfa Record Kabushiki Gaisha), originally a publisher known as Alfa Music Ltd. and later succeeded by record company Alfa Music Inc., was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Records in 1977. A short-lived American subsidiary operated from 1980 to 1982.

History

In December 1980, Alfa Records opened a U.S. subsidiary in Los Angeles, planning to specialize in a "global approach to music".^[1] The label had some U.S. Top 40 successes in 1981 with Lulu, whose two-year-old recording of "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" became a Top 20 hit on Alfa, as well as former The Guess Who singer Burton Cummings ("You Saved My Soul") and Billy Vera and the Beaters ("I Can Take Care Of Myself"). Vera's "At This Moment" was also originally released on Alfa and reached No. 79 on the Billboard chart in late 1981, five years before it was re-released on Rhino Records and became a nationwide No. 1 smash. Other U.S. Hot 100 success came with singles by Yutaka featuring Patti Austin ("Love Light") and The Monroes ("What Do All The People Know?"), and the label also branched out into country music with the Corbin/Hanner Band. However, the American subsidiary ceased operations in July 1982 due to "slow market conditions," and although the shutdown was intended to be temporary, the subsidiary never reopened.^[2]

Back home in Japan, the company faced much hardship in the 1990s. Due to financial troubles from the collapse of their previous diversification into foreign automobile dealerships, the record label was reformed into a new company "Alfa Music" in 1994. 1995 saw the closure of their Shibaura "A" Studio (as used by Yellow Magic Orchestra and other artists). In October 1998, operations were scaled back and Alfa withdrew from record production.

In April 2001, Sony Music Publishing (Japan) Inc. (a subsidiary of SMEJ) gained worldwide distribution rights for Alfa's back catalogue - re-issues have appeared on the Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. label for domestic releases and Epic for international sales. In April 2019, Alfa became a wholly owned subsidiary, and an internal division, of Sony Music Publishing (Japan) Inc.

Alfa were partners with A&M Records, Zomba Music and Mute during the 1980s and 1990s for Japanese domestic distribution.

Imprint labels

Notable signed artists

References