HMV Logo History

His Master's Voice, today usually abbreviated to HMV, is a famous trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the Jack Russell Terrier dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone. In the original painting, the dog was listening to a cylinder phonograph.

The famous trademark image comes from a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, A.R.A. and titled His Master's Voice. It was acquired from the artist in 1899 by the newly-formed Gramophone Company. According to contemporary Gramophone Company publicity material, the dog, a fox terrier called Nipper, had originally belonged to Barraud's brother Mark. When Mark Barraud died, Francis inherited Nipper, along with a cylinder phonograph and a number of recordings of Mark's voice. Francis noted the peculiar interest that the dog took in the recorded voice of his late master emanating from the trumpet, and conceived the idea of committing the scene to canvas.

An older version of the HMV logo when it was branded as RCA Victor.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMV