Editing Record label (section)

== Sublabel ==
Music collectors often use the term ''sublabel'' to refer to either an imprint or a subordinate label company (such as those within a group). For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, [[4th & B'way Records]] (pronounced as "Broadway") was a trademarked brand owned by [[Island Records]] Ltd. in the UK and by a subordinate branch, Island Records, Inc., in the United States. The center label on a 4th & Broadway record marketed in the United States would typically bear a 4th & B'way logo and would state in the fine print, "4th & B'way™, an Island Records, Inc. company". Collectors discussing labels as brands would say that 4th & B'way is a sublabel or imprint of just "Island" or "Island Records". Similarly, collectors who choose to treat corporations and trademarks as equivalent might say 4th & B'way is an imprint and/or sublabel of both Island Records, Ltd. and that company's sublabel, Island Records, Inc. However, such definitions are complicated by the corporate [[Mergers and acquisitions|merger]]s that occurred in 1989 (when Island was sold to PolyGram) and 1998 (when PolyGram merged with Universal). PolyGram held sublabels including Mercury, Island and Motown.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosen |first=Jody |date=11 June 2019 |title=The Day the Music Burned |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/magazine/universal-fire-master-recordings.html |access-date=22 November 2022}}</ref> Island remained registered as corporations in both the United States and [[United Kingdom|UK]], but control of its brands changed hands multiple times as new companies were formed, diminishing the corporation's distinction as the "parent" of any sublabels.