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WEA Records Limited

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New Zealand company. Also printed as WEA Records N.Z. Limited, or WEA Records NZ Limited. [b]NB: For the UK company please use [l=WEA Records Ltd.] This company should not be used as a label. [/b] [b]WEA Records Limited does not appear on releases before 1975. There was a crossover period where both EMI (NZ) Ltd. and WEA Records Limited were mentioned. Such releases are from 1975.[/b] WEA Records Limited was the New Zealand operating company of the US WEA / Warner Music operation. One of the earliest of the international branches, WEA's NZ operation was originally set up in 1973 under the wing of [l=EMI (NZ) Ltd.], who had distributed the WEA labels since 1970, as the result of an approach to the parent company by NZ businessman Tim Murdoch. Jointly owned by Murdoch and WEA, it went fully independent in 1975. Murdoch was bought out in the 1980s, although he remained as MD until the mid-1990s. The company was registered on 21 March, 1975. From 1973 to 1975 the company's product was manufactured by [l=His Master's Voice (NZ) Limited (2)], a subsidiary of EMI (NZ) Ltd. The company changed its name to [l=Warner Music New Zealand Ltd.] in 1990. Also appears as WEA Records (New Zealand) Limited on some early copyrights.