Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records on vinyl: Prince, funk and soul from Burbank

In short: Warner Bros. Records was founded in 1958 in Burbank, California, as the record company of the film studio of the same name. Prince, Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, Chaka Khan and Zapp all released records here. The Vinyl Room currently has 127 Warner records, mostly funk and soul from the seventies and eighties.

What makes Warner Bros. special?

With the purchase of Reprise, Frank Sinatra’s label, Warner grew quickly in 1963. Atlantic joined the group in 1967, Elektra in 1970 – which led to the joint distribution company WEA (Warner, Elektra, Atlantic), whose name appears on many European pressings. For our stock one story matters most: in 1977 Warner signed the young Prince, and his debut “For You” came out in 1978. From 1985 his records also came out on his own label Paisley Park, distributed by Warner. Add funk and soul from Zapp, Ashford & Simpson and Candi Staton, rock from ZZ Top and pop classics such as Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours”.

12-inch, country of pressing and first pressing

With Warner it pays to check where a record was pressed. Especially with Prince’s eighties 12-inches, US, UK and German editions often differ in mix, sleeve and B-side – so several editions of the same single can be interesting at once. European pressings usually carry the distribution name WEA. Label, catalogue number, runout and cover together tell you whether you have a first pressing – more on our page “How to spot a first pressing”.

From our stock

Prince on Warner

Funk

Disco & soul

Pop & rock

New in

→ Prince · Prince and the Revolution · Funk & soul on vinyl · How to spot a first pressing · Grading explained

FAQ

When was Warner Bros. Records founded? In 1958 in Burbank, California, as the record company of the Warner Bros. film studio.

What does WEA on a record mean? WEA stands for Warner, Elektra and Atlantic – the joint distribution of the three labels from the early seventies. Many European pressings carry this name.

Which label was Prince on? Warner Bros. from 1978, and from 1985 also his own label Paisley Park, distributed by Warner.

Why are there several versions of the same Prince 12-inch? Because editions from the US, the UK and Germany often have different mixes, sleeves or B-sides.