Calderstone Productions facts for kids

Calderstone Productions is a company based in London, England. It is part of a bigger music company called Universal Music Group. Calderstone Productions helps manage and release the music made by the famous band, the Beatles. This includes songs and albums that were first owned by another company called EMI.

The Beatles' music was released on different record labels. In the United Kingdom, it was often on EMI's Parlophone label. In the United States, it was released by Capitol Records. This happened from 1962 to 1968. After 1968, from 1968 to 1970, The Beatles released their music on their own label, Apple Records. EMI helped distribute these Apple Records.

How Calderstone Productions Started

Universal Music Group bought EMI in 2013. With this purchase, Universal Music also gained the rights to The Beatles' music collection. They also got the rights to use the EMI and Capitol brand names.

Universal Music then created Calderstone Productions. At first, it was called "Beatles Holdco Ltd." Its main job was to manage The Beatles' music all over the world.

Changes After the Purchase

After buying EMI, Universal Music had to sell some parts of EMI. This was because of rules from regulators. One important part they sold was Parlophone. Warner Music Group bought Parlophone in 2013.

Because of this sale, Calderstone Productions now releases The Beatles' music mainly on the Apple label worldwide. In the United States, it's released on Apple/Capitol. However, if you see older Beatles albums reissued, they still show the Parlophone name. This is allowed because Calderstone has a special agreement with Warner Music.

Managing Solo Music

Calderstone Productions also manages some solo music from The Beatles' members. This includes songs by John Lennon and Ringo Starr that were first released on the Apple label.

However, Paul McCartney's solo music that was on Apple Records is owned by his own company, MPL Communications. Since 2016, Universal Music's Capitol Records unit has been distributing his music.

As of 2023, George Harrison's solo music is owned by Dark Horse Records. This music is distributed by BMG.