This record label was founded in London and New York on October 20, 1947 by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson, with the intention of disseminating African-American popular music, especially soul, jazz and rhythm & blues.
During its first 20 years of operations, Atlantic Records gained a reputation as one of the leading British record companies, specializing in jazz recordings, with artists such as Art Pepper, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Django Reindhart and Johnny Hodges.