His Master's Voice is an English painting by Francis Barraud in 1899 that depicts a dog named Nipper listening to a wind-up disc gramophone whilst tilting his head. The painting was sold to William Barry Owen of London's Gramophone Company, and would also be adopted as the trademark and logo for their United States affiliate, the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901.
In 1929, the Victor Talking Machine Company was acquired by RCA, gaining control of the His Master's Voice trademarks in the U.S. and Canada, as well as Japan until they were divested to JVC during World War II, eventually becoming Victor Entertainment.[1] In 1931, the UK's Gramophone Company merged with Columbia Graphophone to form EMI; EMI would then own the His Master's Voice (HMV) chain of stores. In February 1998, HMV became HMV Group plc, a separate public company in February 1998 that operated across Europe, Australia and Asia, with EMI no longer in control of the 'His Master's Voice' trademark.[2] HMV's retail operations in Hong Kong and Singapore, and subsequent 'His Master's Voice' trademarks, were later sold off.[3] HMV in the United Kingdom would go into administration in December 2018 with JD Sports acquiring the 'HMV' trademark, but Hilco Capital retaining the 'His Master's Voice' trademark for Europe and Australia.[4]
The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a dog named Nipper listening to a wind-up disc gramophone and tilting his head.[5] In the original, unmodified 1898 painting, the dog was listening to a cylinder phonograph.[6]
In early 1899, Francis Barraud applied for copyright of the original painting using the descriptive working title Dog looking at and listening to a Phonograph. He was unable to sell the work to any cylinder phonograph company. The painting had been originally offered to James Hough, manager of Edison-Bell in London, but he declined, saying "dogs don't listen to phonographs". William Barry Owen, the American founder of the Gramophone Company in England, offered to purchase the painting for £100, under the condition that Barraud modify it to show one of their disc machines.[7] Barraud complied and the image was first used on the company's catalogue from December 1899. As the trademark gained in popularity, several additional copies were subsequently commissioned from the artist for various corporate purposes.[8]
In 1967, EMI converted the HMV label into an exclusive classical music label and dropped its POP series of popular music. HMV's pop series artists' roster was moved to Columbia Graphophone and Parlophone and licensed American pop record deals to Stateside Records.[9]
In the 1970s, an award was created with a copy of the statue of the dog and gramophone, His Master's Voice, cloaked in bronze, and was presented by EMI Records to artists, music producers, and composers in recognition of selling more than 1,000,000 records.In 1990, the globalised market for the compact disc resulted in EMI retiring the HMV label in favour of EMI Classics, a name that could be used worldwide; however, Morrissey's recordings were issued on the HMV label until 1992.
In June 2003, the formal His Master's Voice trademark transfer took place from EMI Records to HMV Media Group plc.[10]
In January 2017, Warner Music Group (who purchased EMI in September 2012) launched Warner Classics digital efforts as 'Dog and Trumpet' due to not having the 'His Master's Voice' trademark rights.[11] [12] Most reissues of former His Master's Voice-pop material previously controlled by EMI are now re-issued on Warner's Parlophone label.[13]