Richard Branson began Virgin in 1970 as a mail-order record business.
Branson started the venture as Virgin Mail Order, selling records by post. The business expanded into a physical record shop in Oxford Street, London, in 1971, and Virgin Records was formed soon afterward as the group's music company.
The Virgin brand later entered music, airlines, telecommunications, finance, and other industries. The wider corporate group is now known as Virgin Group, while the original record operation became Virgin Records.
A common mix-up is to answer Virgin Records when a question asks for the broader company founded by Branson. Virgin Records was the music label created during the group's early expansion; Virgin began with the mail-order record business in 1970.