The
Pye Company originally manufactured TV and radios. It entered
the record business when it bought Nixa Records in 1953. In
1955, the company acquired Polygon Records (established by
Petula Clark's father) and merged it with Nixa Records to
form Pye Nixa Records with the subsidiary Pye Jazz Records,
In 1958, Pye International was started. The company licensed
recordings from American and other foreign labels in the UK.
In 1959, Pye Nixa became Pye Records and ATV acquired 50%
of the label. The company entered the budget-priced record
market in the 1960s, with first Golden Guinea, priced at a
guinea (one pound and one shilling), and then Marble Arch
reissuing older Pye material at an even lower price.
Another full-price subsidiary, Piccadilly Records, was for
new pop acts.
In Norway, PYE was distributed by Norsk Phonogram AS from
1960. The records were pressed in Norway. They were distributed
in British company sleeves until picture sleeves took over. |