# Warner Records new logo (2019)

> Warner Records launched a new logo in May 2019, designed by Pentagram. May 2019: Warner Bros. Records becomes Warner Records.

## Key facts

- Brand: Warner Records
- Launched: May 2019
- Studio: Pentagram
- What changed: May 2019: Warner Bros. Records becomes Warner Records.
- Why: Warner Music Group said the new Warner Records logo nods to the label's past, present and future and was built for digital use.
- Industry: Media
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/warner-records-2019/before.svg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/warner-records-2019/after.svg (after)

## The rebrand, explained

The name change was not optional. Warner Bros. Records had borrowed the shield from its film-studio sibling, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Variety reported that by prior agreement the label could no longer use the WB shield or the name after two decades. The label was by then owned by Len Blavatnik's Access Industries, which bought it in 2011, and had been through big changes in leadership and roster.

The replacement is a circle. Warner Music Group says the icon suggests a record, a sun and a globe, a nod to the label's past, present and future, and pitches the logo's simple shape and strong type as built for digital use. The tagline about a label born in the California sun and at home everywhere on earth tells you how the circle is meant to be read.

Co-chairs Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson presented the change as a chance to build a distinct modern identity, and The Drum quoted the team rooting the circle in the label's California origins, born in the California sun. Industry reaction gathered by Variety was mixed: some insiders called the mark dull or generic, one said it blows chunks, and others praised its graphic strength as a fresh start.

The identity came from Emily Oberman and her team at Pentagram, a credit given in both the label's announcement and Variety's report. It launched alongside a move to a new headquarters in the Los Angeles Arts District.

Variety explained the legal clock behind the change. When Time Warner sold Warner Music Group in 2004 to investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., the label, founded in 1958 as a division of Warner Bros. Pictures, was allowed to keep the Warner Bros. name and shield for 15 years. Those years were up. The label's co-chairs said that for the first time it could build an identity entirely its own, and the announcement described the circular icon as a record, a sun and a globe at once. A forced rebrand turned into a declaration of independence is about as good as these stories get.

The label itself hedged against expecting too much of the mark, saying a new logo means nothing on its own and that the company will always be defined by its artists, music and people. That is true, and it is also the best case for a logo that does very little: a plain disc ages better than a borrowed movie crest.

In short: A forced divorce from the WB shield, handled with a disc that is simple enough to carry anything.

## Sources

- https://www.wmg.com/news/warner-bros-records-evolves-warner-records-34326
- https://variety.com/2019/music/news/warner-bros-records-rebrands-as-warner-records-1203226630/
- https://www.pentagram.com/work/warner-records

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "Warner Records new logo (2019)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/warner-records-2019/, last updated 2026-10-20.