Apple Records: UK record label

It was a division of the Beatles's company Apple Corps. EMI served as distributors for Apple.

Recording artists who appeared on the Apple label included James Taylor, Mary Hopkin, Badfinger, Billy Preston, Yoko Ono, and members of the Beatles before and after their breakup in 1970.

While the Beatles and their business associates had high hopes for Apple at first, the tensions that caused the Beatles to split also hurt the label. Many of the records released on Apple failed to become popular, either because they did not go over well with listeners, or were not given the promotion they needed or deserved to become hit records. James Taylor "walked out" on his Apple Records contract, and signed with Warner Bros., where he began a long string of hits. Mary Hopkin retired from music after completing her contract. Billy Preston and Badfinger moved on to other record labels.

Apple Records released the last of its non-Beatles records in 1973, and when their distribution deal with EMI ended in 1975, the label went out of business.

The label came back into business in the late 1980s, when the Beatles's music first appeared on compact disc. In 1992, most of Apple's other music also began to appear on CD. Yoko Ono's Apple recordings were not reissued by the label, because her husband John Lennon (a member of the Beatles) had to buy them back from Apple as part of a business settlement. After his death in 1980, Ono became the owner of the recordings. She later reissued them through another label, called Rykodisc.

Apple Records no longer signs new artists or groups, but new Beatles issues continue to appear on the Apple label.