First years The company began in 1975 as part of Koch International originally of Tirol, later of Munich. Founded by Tirolean banker Franz Koch, Koch was an independent Austrian record label, recording studio, and music distribution company that specialized in German Folk Music and later popular
classical music recordings. For over 20 years, the international arm of the company operated under the name Koch Entertainment, a music, film, and television distribution & record label company that was started in 1987 by Franz's son Michael in
New York City. In 1988, the parent Austrian company Koch acquired
Schwann Records from Schwann Verlag.
1990s By 1991, Koch had become one of the first national independent distributors of domestic labels in the U.S. by offering an alternative to the traditional system of regional independent distribution or national major label distribution. In 1992, Koch was ranked #315 on
Inc. Magazines list of America's 500 fastest-growing private companies, and has since grown into an entertainment conglomerate. It acquired the specialist German label Schwann, Koch expanded into the Canadian market in 1995 by forming the
Toronto-based
Koch Entertainment Canada. In 1996, Koch International took over Discover, a budget label which had been set up by conductor
Ali Rahbari to challenge the dominance in the budget classical sector of Naxos. The new Koch Discover International was to be jointly controlled by Franz Koch and Rahbari. The Austrian parent Koch divested Schwann to Deutsche Grammophone's parent Universal Music GmbH in 2002.
2000s In 2003, Koch formed the DVD label
Koch Lorber in collaboration with Richard Lorber. In 2005, Koch was acquired by the Canadian company ROW Entertainment (later
Entertainment One, now
Lionsgate Canada). ==References==