The Pye Company originally sold televisions and radios but entered the record business when it bought Nixa Records in 1953.

In 1955, Pye acquired Polygon Records and merged it with Nixa Records and in 1959 changed the name to Pye Records.

Two subsidiaries were created during the sixties: Pye Golden Guinea Records and Piccadilly Records.

In 1970 it launched Dawn Records as a less mainstream label for folk, jazz, blues and progressive acts.

When the rights to the name Pye expired in 1980, the label changed its name to PRT Records. Its back catalogue was later acquired by Castle Communications.

In 1958 Pye International Records was started. The company distributed many American labels, including Chess Records, A&M Records, Kama Sutra Records, Buddah Records and King Records in the UK. The company entered the budget-priced record market in the 1960s with Marble Arch re-issuing Pye material.