Zomba Label Group

Zomba Label Group was founded in Britain during 1977 by Clive Calder as a book-publishing venture and moved into the recording business in 1981 as Zomba Recording Corporation. Calder, a South African expatriate living in the UK, named the label after the former capital of Malawi.

In 1991, BMG purchased a 25% share of Zomba's music publishing division. Calder sold a 20% minority stake of its recorded music business to BMG in 1996 with an option for BMG to purchase the remaining interest in the company before the end of December 2001 and, on June 11, 2002, BMG bought the remainder of Zomba for a reported US$3 billion, ending its reign as the world's largest independent record label. Zomba's top UK publisher was Steven Howard, who has worked with Iron Maiden, Craig David, and is now heavily involved with Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music, Natasha Marsh and Darcey Bussel.

Zomba is now a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, and distributes different labels: Jive Records, LaFace Records, Epidemic Records, Music For Nations Records, Pinnacle Records, Silvertone, Battery Records, Verity Records, Gospo-Centric Records, and Volcano Records (formerly Scotti Brothers Records and Zoo Entertainment). Zomba also owns the FirstCom Music production music library.

Currently, Legacy Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division, reissues Zomba Music Group’s classic releases.