Mala Records was a small record label founded as a Bell Records subsidiary in 1959. Beginning in 1967, albums by Mala recording artists were issued on the Bell label instead of Mala. Along with Bell, Mala was acquired in the late sixties by Columbia Pictures and merged with the co-owned Amy Records into Bell Records.In 1974, the Mala catalog (and the rest of Bell Records) became part of Arista Records, which was purchased by BMG in 1979, and is now owned by Sony Music.