Denon

Japanese label.
Label Code: LC 8723 / LC 08723.
Denon and its Katakana reading デノン/デンオン is derived from "日本電氣音響株式會社", commonly known as "Nippon Denki Onkyō Kabushiki Gaisha". It was absorbed into Nippon Columbia in 1963 and was originally the brand name of the company's acoustic equipment business. This business was later transferred to label.

The Denon label was founded in 1968 as a Nippon Columbia subsidiary. It originally focussed on Japanese pop music, and was under the management of Nippon Columbia's third division. The label was created at a pivotal moment in Japan's music industry. Until the mid-1960s record companies had signed singers and writers to exclusive contracts. However, during the 1960s a new wave of independent music publishers (such as Pacific Music Publishing) began to train freelance writers and singers, and then market masters produced by the music publishers to the record companies. Denon was created to respond to this change and make use of songs by freelance writers, effectively competing with Nippon Columbia's exclusive writers.

Denon was also used as a label for overseas export records, since the Columbia trademark could only be used within Japan. On these records, Denon stickers were affixed to the cover and labels to conceal the original Columbia logos.

In 1973, Denon was revived as a classical and jazz label, focussing on releases with high-quality sound.