K-tel

K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including The Super Hits series, The Dynamic Hits series and The Number One Hits series and consumer products, including the Record Selector, the Veg-O-Matic, the Miracle Brush, and the Feather Touch Knife. The company has sold more than half a billion units worldwide.[1]

K-tel is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and has been in business since the late 1960s. It has subsidiaries or other controlled entities in the US and UK.[2][3]

History

K-tel was founded by Philip Kives,[4] a demonstration salesman from

Dot-com bubble

In mid-April 1998, during the dot-com bubble, news that the company was expanding its business to the Internet sent the thinly traded stock shooting from about $3 to over $7 in one day (3:1 split adjusted).[17] The short interest of the stock swelled. The price of the stock peaked at about $34[18] in early May, and began to decline, reaching $12 in November and eventually pennies. The sudden upswing was fuelled mainly by a large short squeeze. Traders with short positions either "bought in" or were forced to cover positions at very high prices because of the great losses.[19]

In 2007, Philip Kives took K-tel private again. The company completed a 1-for-5000 reverse split on July 18, 2007, reducing the number of public shareholders to under 300 and allowing the company to delist.[20] It changed its symbol to KTLI and moved from the NASDAQ to the over-the-counter market.

Recent years

The company now earns profits from its catalogue of Billboard-charting hits, by the original artists, particularly songs from the 1950s through the 1980s. Tracks include "The Twist" by Chubby Checker, "What I Like About You" by the Romantics, "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard, "Surfin’ Bird" by the Trashmen, and "Help Me Make It Through the Night" by Sammi Smith.

K-tel distributes 200,000 songs worldwide per year on digital platforms, including Amazon, Spotify and iTunes, and licenses songs from its catalogue for use in commercials (e.g., Nike, Fiat, Coke and KFC), films (e.g., Spider-Man, Baby Driver,[21] The Dallas Buyers Club and Hotel Transylvania 2) and television programs (e.g., Stranger Things,[22] Ray Donovan, Breaking Bad, Californication, Mad Men and Transparent).[23]

K-tel Records has also produced a Canadian children’s music group called Mini Pop Kids,[24] a series of recordings in which a group of Canadian children aged 10 to 14 sing family-friendly pop hits.[21] The series sold millions of copies when it was originally distributed in the 1980s. K-tel brought the series back in Canada, the United States, and Israel as of May 15, 2004, and has continued to produce recordings. The latest album, Mini Pop Kids 18, was released in 2020 in Canada.[25] The series is promoted by a touring group that performs shows across Canada.

K-tel’s company founder Phillip Kives died in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on April 27, 2016.[26][27][28]

Music business

In 1966, Philip Kives released the company's first compilation album, a collection of 25 country songs titled 25 Country Hits.[29] Every copy was sold.[30] The idea of compilation albums was new,[29] and the venture's unexpected success led to further releases. K-tel's second release, 25 Polka Greats,[31] sold 1.5 million copies in the United States[30]

K-tel recruited Australian Don Reedman (twin brother of Peter Reedman, who was already working in the Australian office) to set up the UK-based division of K-tel Records in the early 1970s.[32]

The company built the business of releasing compilation albums that combined material from a number of popular artists onto a single theme album using the tag line "20 Original Hits! 20 Original Stars!".[7] The company negotiated directly with artists and labels for the rights to reproduce their original recordings, in the process also securing a long-term asset through adding those recordings to their catalogue.[33] K-tel’s marketing of such albums was most noted for its television advertisements which were described by Andrew H. Malcolm of The New York Times as "blunt, grainy and loud" and featured Winnipeg radio disc jockey Bob Washington who had an "urgent, driving voice" and was "obviously assigned to squeeze four minutes of copy into a one-minute ad."[34]

While most of the compilation albums relied on the pop charts of the day, there were some that focused on hits from a specific genre. Examples include:

The company also created original records, including the Grammy-nominated Hooked on Classics series of classical recordings with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

From 1983 to 1986, K-tel distributed original records for the popular youth-oriented television series Kids Incorporated, featuring two self-titled LP's (1983 Pilot, 1984), The Chart Hits (1985) and New Attitude (1986).

20 Power Hits (1973) and Gold Rock (1975), mainly rock-oriented.

Super Bad, Super Bad Is Back (both 1973), and Souled Out (1975), soul and R&B hits of the day.

20 Town & Country Greats (1974), a mixture of mainly country songs from the late 1950s to early 1970s.

Summer Cruisin' (1976) and Rock 'N' Roll Show (1977), mostly 1950s music.

Goofy Greats (1975) and Looney Tunes (1976) compiled novelty songs from the 1950s and 1960s.

Night Moves (1979), a two-record disco dance tutorial with accompanying instruction book featuring Deney Terrio; included one side of disco songs featured in the lessons.

Modern Dance (1981) compiled songs of the burgeoining synth-pop movement.

type	Private
founder	Philip Kives
products	Television advertising, music
owner	Philip Kives
homepage	k-tel.com
foundation	1962
location city	Winnipeg, Manitoba
location country	Canada

History

Dot-com bubble

Recent years

Music business

Answering machine recordings

Other ventures

Legacy

See also

External links

References