His Master's Voice

His Master's Voice (HMV) is a famous trademark in the recording industry and was the unofficial name of a major British record label. The phrase was coined in the 1890s as the title of a painting of a terrier mix dog named Nipper, listening to a wind-up disc gramophone. In the original painting, the dog was listening to a cylinder phonograph. His Master's Voice (HMV) is a label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd., which was founded in 1897 in the UK by the US businessman William Barry Owen. In 1899 the painter Francis Barraud sold, for £100, the rights to the portrait of his dog 'Nipper' listening to the gramophone. The first records with the dog logo were released in 1909.