Minos EMI

In 1930, British Columbia Graphophone Company and Gramophone Company, which a year later merged to form EMI Group, formed a partnership along with Greek investor Lambropoulos Brothers Limited to produce records in Greece. By 1931, company operations were in full swing and the first disc produced in Greece had been pressed under the company name EMIAL. After five years of using the halls of large hotels to record songs, EMIAL built Greece's first recording studio and became the front runner in the Greek music industry for many years. The company continued to be incorporated as EMIAL, although it predominantly used the trade name EMI Greece. EMI's domestic Greek releases during this period generally came out bearing the company's British legacy labels, including Columbia, His Master's Voice, and Parlophone, as well as the Odeon label.

The Minos EMI back catalogue – from the inheritances of both the EMIAL and Minos Matsas & Son discographies – carries important works of Greek recorded music heritage in many different genres, although most notably in the genres of Rebetiko and Laïko. Minos EMI actively exploits its catalogue by remastering works for re-releases, compilations and special releases, as well as through licensing to third-party strategic marketers.

Select recordings from Minos EMI's catalogue have seen international release by labels within the EMI Group, including under world music label EMI Hemisphere and EMI Classics. These collaborations began between EMI Hemisphere founder, Gerald Seligman, and Vangelis Yannopoulos, Minos EMI A&R and Strategic Manager.

Merger with Minos Matsas & Son

In 1991, EMIAL purchased a controlling share of Minos Matsas & Son, founded by pioneering Greek music industry executive and prominent rebetiko musician Minos Matsas, and relaunched the company under the name Minos EMI. At the time of the acquisition, "Minos Matsas & Son" was led by Makis Matsas, who became CEO of the new entity. It was identified that Minos EMI would command one-third of the Greek market, as Minos Matsas & Son held a 22% market share, while EMIAL held 9%.

The labour union at Minos Matsas & Son was unsatisfied that EMI Greece (EMIAL) was now controlling Minos Matsas, as EMI Greece opted to engage in layoffs at Minos Matsas, instead of integrating the existing company into EMI Greece's operations. The two distribution centers merged at EMI Greece's historical building, which was located in the Athens suburb of Rizoupoli, while most of the remaining staff joined Minos Matsas' offices on Messogeion Avenue. EMI Greece CFO Panayotis Papalimberis was retained, while the artistic direction went to Minos A&R managers: Achileas Theofilou, Elias Benettos and Vangelis Yannopoulos. EMI Greece's foreign repertoire manager, Manos Xydous, was chosen to undertake a domestic A&R role by launching the EMI label Harvest Records as a domestic repertoire imprint. Costas Bourmas was hired as managing director, who came from the same position at Sony Music Greece.

The Minos label saw a continuity as a local A&R imprint. Artists not specifically under the Minos A&R operation, generally only carried the EMI label. The distinction of artists by imprint was usually only carried out on album covers, reflecting internal A&R management.

Acquisition by Universal Music Group

Following the completion of the acquisition of EMI Group by Universal Music Group in September 2012, several European EMI operations were placed for sale to comply with European competition laws, and were subsequently acquired by Warner Music Group. In the Greek market hitherto, Universal Music Group had its label operation, Universal Music Greece, which was chosen over Minos EMI to be included in the sale of European assets. As a result, Greece was the only European country where a Universal Music office was chosen for divestiture, instead of an EMI office. Universal Music Greece was acquired by Greek investors and relaunched as an independent label named Cobalt Music(which was subsequently acquired by Sony Music in December 2024).