during the 1960s canadian music was regarded with indifference and canadian recording artists were forced to turn toward the united states to establish their careers. in 1960 walt grealis of toronto started in the music business with apex records, the ontario distributor for compo company (founded in 1918), canada's first independent record company that today is part of universal. he later joined london records, where he worked until february 1964, when he then established "rpm" weekly trade magazine. from the first issue of "rpm weekly" on february 24, 1964 to its final issue on november 13, 2000, "rpm" was the defining charts in canada. the popularity of us rock on the two canadian charts led to many existing groups, especially those devoted to country music, to change styles or to incorporate some rock style hits in their repertoires.