In 1989, Island Records was sold to Polygram, who immediately started to re-release parts of the huge Island catalogue, mainly classics from the 1970s and good selling records from the 1980s within a midprice CD series called Island Masters. The first year of the sub-label saw more than 80 releases, with new releases appearing for several years.

In 2000, the label was remodelled and renamed as Island Remasters. While the packaging of the Island Masters of the 1980s and 1990s was simple, the newer Island Remasters followed a trend for better packaging with higher print quality of the cover, additional slip cases, booklets, additional tracks and label prints using the label of the original LP releases.