Philips DS9-37 - Manual (Page 5)

5 6
A legend of the recording industry
Philips has a strong heritage in recording which began with the acquisition
of Hollandsche Decca Distributie (HDD), the exclusive Dutch distributor
of Decca Records in 1942. Whilst Philips had produced gramophones for
some time, the management wanted to ensure that the company also had
an interest in recording and record manufacture and so in 1950 Philips
Phonografische Industrie (PPI) was formed.
PPI played an important role in introducing the long-playing vinyl (LP)
record to Europe and it had a worldwide distribution deal with Mercury
Records. With the goal of becoming the largest record company in
Europe, PPI focused on alliances, and in 1962 merged with Deutsche
Grammophone Gesellschaft (DGG), famed for its classical repertoire and
owner of Polydor Records.
By 1972, the merged company GPG would reinvent itself as PolyGram
and Polydor Records in the US, acquiring a range of famous American
and British labels such as MGM Records, Verve, Casablanca, Pickwick and
Decca. The height of Polygram’s success was during the disco craze of
the 1970s, thanks to multi-million selling LPs and 45s from artists such as
The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, The Village People, Kool & the Gang and
soundtracks for blockbuster films Grease and Saturday Night Fever.
For a short while it was the world’s biggest record company bolstered by
acquisitions of other famous labels such as Motown, Def Jam and Polar,
which held rights to the ABBA catalogue. Sadly, the company’s fortunes
dwindled and it was sold to Seagram in 1998 to become Universal Music.
It survives to this day thanks to the reissue of music under the Polydor
Records label.
Speech by Dutch Queen Wihelmina and Princess Juliana via a Philips short-wave transmitter, 1927.
Philips Phonografische Industrie (PPI) and gramophone records, 1950s.
The radio goes global
A radio valve featuring five electrodes - the pentode - was the
next major development by Philips, introduced in 1927. It was
an invention which was to stay at the forefront of electronics for
a number of years - this was an electron tube with high output
power which could be controlled in such a way as to minimize
signal distortion - a step towards the purest sound Philips has
always strived for.
In 1927 the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina and Princess Juliana were
able to speak to their compatriots in the East and West Indies
via a Philips short-wave transmitter which had been set up in a
laboratory. The first ever of its kind, it was greeted with national
excitement. Encouraged by this, Philips set up a world broadcasting
service - the N.V. Philips Omroep Holland-Indie.
To demonstrate the sensation of radio sound on a large scale,
Philips set up amplifiers with a large number of loudspeakers at
public events. What became known as the ‘Voice of the Giant’
caused a tremendous stir.
Philips continued to enrich the everyday lives of people when it
developed and brought to market a small domestic radio set in
1928. This was released at the same time as the most powerful
transmitter in the world, also built by Philips. These radio sets would
soon be found in homes all around the world, as Philips brought
quality sound to the masses. The one millionth Philips radio set was
produced in 1932 and the hundred millionth radio valve, produced
in 1933, meant Philips was now Europe’s biggest manufacturer of
radio valves, and the world leader in radio sets.