United Artists Records was founded by United Artists soon after its own founding in 1919 to distribute soundtracks from its movies.
The label's releases became very popular in the 1960s, with the albums from the James Bond and Beatles movies. In 1969, United Artists acquired Liberty Records and its subsidiary Imperial Records. In the following years the label was very succesfull, with Peter Sarstedt, Shirley Bassey and Hawkwind. After UA bought the small Mediarts Records label, their roster grew to include Don McLean, Paul Anka, Bill Conti, and Gerry Rafferty. Later Jet Records was also purchased and Electric Light Orchestra, Dr. Feelgood, The Buzzcocks, and The Stranglers joined the label.
EMI purchased United Artists in 1979 and absorbed its artists into EMI's worldwide operations, returning the name of the record label to the film company.
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