China Record Group

China Record Group Co., Ltd. (China Record Group Co., Ltd., commonly referred to as “China Record” or CRC) is the largest and oldest state-level professional audio-visual publishing and production organization in mainland China. Its history can be traced back to the People’s Radio Equipment Factory established in Shanghai in 1949 and the subsequently formed Shanghai Record Factory. China Record Group was not only the first fully-fledged record company established after the founding of the People’s Republic of China but also played a monopolistic role as the sole state-owned entity in record publishing in mainland China for decades.

In terms of asset and copyright succession, China Record Group acquired a vast collection of early record company (such as Pathé, Great China Records, and Victory Records) metal master discs and recording archives that remained in mainland China prior to 1949. These historical materials encompass early popular songs from 1920s and 1930s Shanghai, out-of-print masterpieces by masters of various opera genres, and precious recordings of traditional Chinese instrumental music. As a result, China Record’s archive (i.e., the China Record Library) is not only a commercial music copyright repository but also a national-level repository of China’s modern audio heritage.

Throughout the history of physical media, China Record’s catalog has borne witness to every technological iteration in China’s recording industry. From the early 78-rpm shellac records to the high-density vinyl LPs of the late 1950s, then to cassette tapes in the 1980s and CDs, which became widespread in the 1990s, CSC’s record label logo has been etched into the auditory memories of several generations of Chinese people. Its catalog includes not only pop music but also a vast array of patriotic songs, film and television soundtracks, radio dramas, foreign language teaching materials, and educational audiobooks.

In the 1990s, as China’s music market opened up to private capital and multinational record company, China Record’s market monopoly was gradually broken, but its foundational role as a state-level publishing institution (with the authority to independently assign ISRC codes for Chinese audio-visual products) remains irreplaceable. Many overseas, Hong Kong, and Taiwan record company must collaborate with China Record and its regional branches to obtain publication licenses when distributing imported physical records in mainland China.

In recent years, with the resurgence of the high-fidelity physical record market and the development of digital restoration technology, China Record Group has launched a massive “Chinese Vintage Record Preservation Project.” record label has used modern digital audio technology to digitally restore a large number of vintage master tapes and metal master discs on the verge of degradation, reissuing them as high-specification CDs or 180g vinyl records. These reissues not only meet the exacting demands of audiophiles and collectors but also solidify China Record Corporation’s irreplaceable academic and physical standing in the preservation of global Chinese musical heritage.