Polar Music is a Swedish record company founded in 1963 by Stig Anderson and his friend Bengt Bernhag.
Background The first act that Polar Music signed was the Hootenanny Singers featuring Björn Ulvaeus. Polar eventually gained prosperity producing Ulvaeus' next group, international superstars ABBA. As a small Scandinavian company based in Sweden, Polar could not afford to set up operations worldwide and was ABBA's record company only in the Scandinavian countries. Therefore, ABBA's recordings were licensed to different record companies in each country, but usually to companies that had international operations, meaning they could effectively compete with each other to acquire the licenses in more countries if they proved successful in their own. The licenses gave the companies a few allowances to issue certain tracks as singles that Polar had not, or to modify single (and occasionally album) artwork. The licenses were for three years at a time, meaning that between 1989 and 1992 they all expired. This enabled PolyGram to release Gold: Greatest Hits to major success around the world.
Polar Music is currently distributed by Universal Music Group whose predecessor company, PolyGram, purchased it in 1989. However, Polar Music International AB legally still exists and ABBA's recordings remain copyrighted to the company. Polar is now ABBA's record label internationally, and the historic Polar vinyl label designs have been used on the group's CD releases since 2004 (usually on deluxe releases of studio albums).
The Polar Music Prize, an award for outstanding musical achievement, was created by Stig Anderson, the same year after he sold the label to PolyGram.
Polar Music artists Artists signed by Polar Music included ABBA, Alive Feat, Jessie Martins, Lena Andersson, Chana, Crosstalk, Dilba, Emilia, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog and Linda Ulvaeus, Ted Gärdestad, Gemini, The Hellacopters, The Infinite Mass, Fredrik Kempe, Lambretta, Maarja, Paulo Mendonça, Mr. Vegas Fea Intense, Emma Nilsdotter, Mats Paulson, Pineforest Crunch, Sam (musician), Skintrade, Starr Chukki/infinit, Svenne and Lotta (Sven Hedlund and Charlotte Walker), Joey Tempest, Top-Notch, Harpo (Jan Torsten Svensson), Topaz Sound and Anders Widmark. The last band to be signed to Polar were Beagle whose two albums for the label Sound On Sound and Within are considered to be power-pop classics.
ABBA's Polar releases ABBA Year Single Album 1970 — — Lycka – (POLS 226) 1972 POS 1156 "People Need Love" "Merry-Go-Round (En karusell)" Ring Ring – (POLS 242) POS 1168 "He Is Your Brother" "Santa Rosa" 1973 POS 1172 "Ring Ring" "She's My Kind of Girl" POS 1176 "Love Isn't Easy" "I Am Just a Girl" 1974 POS 1187 "Waterloo" "Watch Out" Waterloo – (POLS 252) POS 1192 "Honey, Honey" "King Kong Song" POS 1195 "So Long" "I've Been Waiting for You" ABBA – (POLS 262) 1975 POS 1207 "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" "Rock Me" POS 1213 "SOS" "Man in the Middle" POS 1220 "Mamma Mia" "Intermezzo No. 1" 1976 POS 1224 "Fernando" "Hey, Hey Helen" Greatest Hits – (POLS 266) POS 1225 "Dancing Queen" "That's Me" Arrival – (POLS 272) POS 1227 "Money, Money, Money" "Crazy World" 1977 POS 1230 "Knowing Me, Knowing You" "Happy Hawaii" POS 1234 "The Name of the Game" "I Wonder (Departure)" (live version) The Album – (POLS 282) 1978 POS 1235 "Take a Chance on Me" "I'm a Marionette" POS 1237 "Eagle" "Thank You for the Music" POS 1239 "Summer Night City" "Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton - On Top of Old Smokey - Midnight Special" 1979 POS 1244 "Chiquitita" "Lovelight" Voulez-Vous – (POLS 292) POS 1251 "Does Your Mother Know" "Kisses of Fire" POS 1253 "Voulez-Vous" "Angeleyes" POS 1260 "I Have a Dream" "Take a Chance on Me" (live version) POS 1256 "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" "The King Has Lost His Crown" Greatest Hits Vol. 2 – (POLS 312) 1980 — — Gracias Por La Música – POS 1272 "The Winner Takes It All" "Elaine" Super Trouper – (POLS 322) POS 1274 "Super Trouper" "The Piper" 1981 POS 1291 "One of Us" "Should I Laugh or Cry" The Visitors – (POLS 342) 1982 POS 1296 "Head over Heels" "The Visitors" POS 1318 "The Day Before You Came" "Cassandra" The Singles: The First Ten Years – (POLS 400-401) 1983 POS 1321 "Under Attack" "You Owe Me One" 1986 — — ABBA Live – (POLS 412)
See also List of record labels Polar Studios, a recording studio founded by Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Benny Andersson
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