Ariola
Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola Express, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment.
Also recorded as Bertelsmann Schallplattenring · BMG Ariola · Ariola Records · Ariola Express
Ariola

Ariola Records · Public domain
- Name
- Ariola
- Founded
- 1958
- Headquarters
- Munich
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola Express, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment.
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Authority files
loc · nb2007019174 · wikidata · Q662575 · wikipedia · Ariola
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ariola • Parent — * Bertelsmann (1958–1987) • Bertelsmann Music Group (1987–2004) • Sony BMG Music Entertainment (2004–2008; 50%) • Sony Music Entertainment (2008–present) • Distributor — * Sony Music Australia • Sony Music Germany • Legacy Recordings (Ariola America catalog) • Genre — Various • Country — Germany • Location — Berlin, Germany • Url — ariola.de
Profile
Profile
Ariola Eurodisc GmbH was founded in 1958 as a music outlet of Bertelsmann. It set up several foreign subsidiaries. Leveraging acquisitions by its parent company, Ariola positioned itself to become a strong contender in the German record industry in the mid-1960s. Ariola America was founded in 1975 in Los Angeles, and achieved Billboard magazine number one singles with Mary MacGregor's "Torn Between Two Lovers" (1976) and Amii Stewart's cover version of the 1966 Eddie Floyd hit "Knock on Wood" (1979). Other artists on the Ariola America roster during the late 1970s included Gene Cotton, The Three Degrees, Chanson, and the Canadian band Prism among others. After its pop success dried up, Ariola America found success in the Spanish language market including José José and Rocío Dúrcal from the late 1970s onward and Mexican artist Marisela starting in the 1990s. Other subsidiaries include Ariola-Athena to release spoken word records; Ariola Benelux was founded in 1970 to cover the Benelux market; Ariola Eurodisc S.A. was a Spanish division of Ariola, founded in 1970; Ariola UK, the UK based subsidiary of Ariola, was founded in 1977; Baccarola; Türküola, a subsidiary for the Turkish market; Eurodisc to release classical records in Europe and Arabella to release disco records in France - most successfully with Amanda Lear, Giorgio Moroder (house producer of Ariola); and Jupiter Records for German Schlager music and disco artists such as Dschinghis Khan. It acquired both Arista Records and German rival label Hansa Records in 1979. It sold 50% of Arista to RCA Records in 1983; after a brief joint venture between RCA and Ariola, RCA (including its record division) was acquired by General Electric who promptly sold RCA's stake in the venture back to Ariola. Ariola America also had a sister label called Ocean Records, which included on its roster actress/entertainer Ann-Margret. It was active 1979 through 1980. In the 1980s, there was a software development division called Ariolasoft. Today, Ariola is a unit of Sony Music Group and is still active in Germany under the Sony Group Corporation umbrella.

"Love Is in the Air" by John Paul Young; side-A label. Solid centre variant of the UK single release (#ARO 117)
Ariola Records
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1958
Ariola established.
1958
Ariola is recorded from 1958.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Germany
Holdings and surviving copies
Where the work is held
Holdings and surviving copies
Where material relating to Ariola is held.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q662575: Ariola
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Ariola”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- —Ariola (Germany), Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, 2003
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2003
scholarly index
- OpenAlex bibliographic index, 12 indexed publications naming Ariola.
Unverified · OpenAlex
Literature
Scholarly footprint
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Citations
References
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scholarly publication
Verifiedscholarly index
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,752 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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