Apple Records
1968
Funding good ideas
On 14 May 1968, The Beatles introduced Apple Records at a press conference in New York. John Lennon said it was to be a ‘business concerning records films and electronics’, a place where anybody with a good idea could receive funding without having to ‘go on their knees in somebody’s office’. Paul McCartney: It’ll be big.
The Granny Smith apple
Using the name of the company as the inspiration, Wolff Olins used a bright green Granny Smith apple as the logo. A standard Apple album would display this iconic apple on the A-side, while the flipside displayed the apple cut in half.
A lasting influence
Three months after its launch, ‘Hey Jude’ was launched as its first single and was the first of a string of hits. Between 1968 and 1974 Apple Records released some 40 albums by other acts before becoming an administrator of all of The Beatles records and individual projects. Whilst Apple Records did not achieve Lennon and McCartney’s ambitions of being a label that would unite records, film and electronics, it did provide inspiration for future businesses. Until Apple Records, most artist-run labels were simply vanity projects but today musicians are taking on more responsibilities that had previously belonged to the suits at record labels.
