It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation.

ABC produced music in a variety of genres: pop, rock, jazz, country, rhythm and blues, soundtrack, gospel, and polka.

[7] In 1957, the company had two million-selling singles: in June with "Diana" by Paul Anka and in October with "At the Hop" by Danny & the Juniors.

Am-Paramount Records in May 1958 debuted the Apt subsidiary label with its first million-selling single, "Little Star" by the Elegants, released the same month.

[5] On January 4, 1965, vice-president in charge of sales Larry Newton was promoted to president of ABC-Paramount Records.

The previous president, Sam Clark was promoted to director of theater operations for American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres.

Newton's first action as president was to restart Apt Records as a teen-oriented West Coast base label under Irwin Garr.

Dunhill co-owner Jay Lasker was named president and referred to the combined operations as ABC/Dunhill.

The company planned to have writers create a broader music for the catalog market.

[22] As a cost-cutting measure, ABC Records discarded many master tapes in the 1970s to save storage space.

When these recordings were reissued on compact disc in the 1980s, CD versions were often taken from master copies which had less than optimal sound quality.

[23] The company's last president, Steve Diener, was named to that job in 1977 after serving as head of ABC Records' international division.

developed a reputation for innovative releases, including albums by John Coltrane from 1961 until his death in 1967.

It also bought Don Robey's record labels, including Duke, Peacock, Back Beat, and Song Bird on May 23, 1973.

In 1974 ABC bought the Famous Music record labels from Gulf and Western, the parent company of Paramount.

This acquisition gave ABC Dot, Blue Thumb, and a distribution deal with Sire, which released the first album from the Ramones.

The catalogs of ABC Records and its sub-labels are now controlled by Universal Music Group.