On 3rd February 2016, the EMI Archive Trust, together with TV production company 7 Wonder, hosted a very special event for former EMI employees in our historic home of Hayes, now being redeveloped by U&I as The Old Vinyl Factory. 7 Wonder is producing a major BBC broadcast and online project for 2016, ‘The People’s… Read more »
THE great, great, great-grandson of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Isambard Thomas, meets Simon Blumlein, son of Alan Blumlein, the inventor of stereo. The inventor’s son, Simon Blumlein, spoke with Mr Thomas during his visit about their respective ancestors’ historical link to Great Western Railways, EMI and Hayes. With thanks to Isambard Thomas and Simon Blumlein. Film… Read more »
EMI are inviting former employees at the Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes to come back and share their memories of the iconic site. The original article was posted in June 2016 and amended in June 2026. The factory was a major employer for the town and produced records by some of the world’s best-known artists,… Read more »
I had that weird feeling when I came across this crowd shot whilst scanning Don McLean images for Universal (Music Group) I remembered going to this free concert at Hyde Park (though I didn’t remember that it was May 1975, or that I’d recently turned 17). I thought ‘wouldn’t it be funny if I could… Read more »
“Our famous, Jewish orchestra, you remember, four violins, a flute and a double bass” (Gayev in Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, 1904) Renair records are proud to announce the fourth of their series of issues exploring the story of Jewish recorded music. Produced by Julian Futter and with a 40 page booklet written by the… Read more »
David, 71, is chairman of the EMI Music Sound Foundation (an idea he formulated with EMI MSF CEO Janie Orr MBE, as part of EMI’s centenary celebrations in 1997), an independent music education charity helping improve access to music education by providing instruments and bursaries. He also chairs the EMI Archive Trust, which preserves… Read more »
The World Service -The Documentary Delivering the King’s Speech, 2nd September 2014 Marking the 75th anniversary of King George VI’s declaration of war against Germany, Louise Minchin relates the untold story of how the King’s Speech reached the entire world. Inspired by the discovery of the original pressing of the speech in the EMI Archives… Read more »
EMI has a long history of supporting artists and music in India. The Gramophone and Typewriter, Ltd. engaged agents in India as early as 1900 and soon established their Indian offices by 1901. In 1906 the site for a record pressing factory had been chosen in Sealdah, Calcutta. By 1946, The Gramophone Company of India… Read more »
On July 28, 1914, one month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a Serbian Nationalist, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia, thus initiating the First World War. By August 4th 1914, Britain declares war on Germany, Austria’s ally.Published at the start of the First World War, the popular song… Read more »
In early 1940, Alan Blumlein and his team at the EMI Central Research Labs began work on the technology behind the Capacitance Altimeter. This device works by measuring the differences in charge between a low-lying aircraft and the charge at Earth’s surface, therefore enabling aircraft and other vehicles to fly at night and in cloudy… Read more »