Star Music (stylized in lowercase; also known as Star Records[a] and corporately as Star Recording, Inc.) is a Philippine record label owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation.[1] It was formerly a separate company operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation until 2013 when it was merged to ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc.[citation needed] It is now a division of ABS-CBN Music, a division of ABS-CBN for its music. Its publishing and distribution subsidiary in the country is Star Music Publishing (formerly Star Songs, Inc.) and has over one thousand songs in its catalog including the classic song "Anak" by Freddie Aguilar.[2][3]
It is a member of the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI), a non-profit and private trade organization, that represents the recording industry distributors in the Philippines.[4]
Star Music also released video karaokeVCDs versions of the label's songs in the Philippines.
Star Music was founded on February 20, 1995, as Star Recording, Inc. with Star Records as its label. The record label was created by ABS-CBN Corporation to diversify its functions from a broadcast media to a full entertainment company. Commercial operations of the label started in September 1995, signing an exclusive distribution agreement with Sony Music Entertainment Philippines in the entire country, except in Metro Manila. Due to its distribution agreement with Sony, Star Records endured problems with distributing titles in Metro Manila. In August 1996, the record label engage into licensing deals in order to strengthen its production base and gain entry into the Metro Manila market. It first signed a 3-year license agreement with JML Records, a local rock label. The deal enabled the label to gain control of its catalogue of 30 titles. Later, Star Records signed deals with foreign-independent labels such as Beaver Music of the Netherlands, Music of Life of the United Kingdom, and Rox of Belgium.[5]
In October 1996, Star Records renewed its licensing deal with Sony which also includes 30 dealerships in Metro Manila. The deal enabled the label to get a significant presence in Metro Manila's market. By December of the same year, the label's number of signed artists increased to twenty artists. In June 1997, Star Records signed a distribution and licensing agreement with Taiwan's Rock Records, which also involved products from about forty independent European and American labels. Also under this deal, albums by named international artists helped improved Star Records' market profile.[5]
In 2007, Star Records launched Acel, the former vocalist of the rock band Moonstar88, as the country's first digital artist.[7] By 2015, the record label celebrates its 20th anniversary.
In 2013, Star Recording, Inc. and Star Songs, Inc. were both merged to ABS-CBN Film Productions. In 2014, the recording company started to adapt the Star Music name and logo, with Star Recording, Inc. still used as corporate name and the Star Records name is alternatively used nowadays on some contexts. In the same year, they launched their very own music downloading website. This is also the time where Star Music started to release their songs on iTunes, Spotify, and other music downloading and streaming websites and applications. They also revamped their YouTube channel as a response to the current trend in the consumption of music and video contents on the internet.
In September 2015, Star Music acquired the copyrights to around 116 original compositions of Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon which includes songs popularized by 1970s group VST & Co., Sharon Cuneta, and Nora Aunor, and popular songs such as "Ipagpatawad Mo", "Tayo'y Magsayawan" and "Awitin Mo, Isasayaw Ko."[8]
On January 31, 2016, after 10 years, rapper Gloc-9 signed a record deal with Star Music, the record label who introduced Gloc-9 to mainstream listeners. Two of the most successful albums of Gloc-9, G9 and Ako Si... were released in 2003 and 2005 respectively. These albums brought Gloc-9's biggest smash hits with songs like "Simpleng Tao" and "Hinahanap Ng Puso (feat. Hannah Romawac of Session Road)".[9]
In addition, Star Music also distributes singles and albums/EPs of selected artists from OneMusicPH, a digital music website owned by ABS-CBN Digital Media.
