First called Cure, Starwave Records started as an Osaka-based project to release works by label-owner Kiwamu's own band Blood. The label changed names to Darkest Labyrinth and expanded to distribute music by international Gothic and Post-Industrial artists in Japan. In 2007 the label started to sign other artists, making its first deals with international groups such as Virgins O.R. Pigeons (Greece), Spectrum-X (Italy) and GPKism (Australia). That same year they released their first compilation record "V.A. - Darkest Labyrinth" featuring tracks from Japan's dark underground music scene.
Darkest Labyrinth reached its heyday in 2009, releasing works by a variety of international and Japanese artists. As of March 2009 Darkest Labyrinth had released 50 titles from the label and distributed 280 titles from other labels for Japanese major distribution.[1]
In 2010, the web store rebranded itself as Starwave Records and opened a new facebook account.
The most successful artist on the label was Blood who had sold over 20 000 CDs.[1]
Geffen Records is an American record label, founded in 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the now-defunct Geffen Pictures, it is owned by the Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) faction of Universal Music Group (UMG).
Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Phil Collins, OMD, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, the Sex Pistols, and Mike Oldfield among others, meaning that by the time it was sold, it was regarded as a major label, alongside other large international independents such as A&M and Island Records.
Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. In turn, Polydor distributes Interscope releases in the United Kingdom. Polydor Records Ltd. was established in London in 1954 as a British subsidiary of German company Deutsche Grammophon/Schallplatte Grammophon GmbH. It was renamed Polydor Ltd. in 1972. The company is usually mentioned as "Polydor Ltd. (UK)", or a similar form, for holding copyrights.
Dark ambient is a genre of post-industrial music that features an ominous, dark droning and often gloomy, monumental or catacombal atmosphere, partially with discordant overtones. It shows similarities with ambient music, a genre that has been cited as a main influence by many dark ambient artists, both conceptually and compositionally. Although mostly electronically generated, dark ambient also includes the sampling of hand-played instruments and semi-acoustic recording procedures.
Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is home to artists such as The 1975, Death Spells, Eels, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, CRUISR, Active Child, PJ Harvey, School of Seven Bells, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, James Vincent McMorrow, Black Joe Lewis, Wake Owl, Blitzen Trapper, and Bombay Bicycle Club. Originally, Vagrant Records was mostly focused on emo bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, The Get Up Kids, Senses Fail, and Alkaline Trio. The label is considered one of the pre-eminent labels of the emo music scene.
WTII Records is an independent record label created in 2001 by former Wax Trax! Records employee Bart Pfanenstiel, and David Schock.
Arts & Crafts Productions is a music-focused media and artist services company that offers information as an independent record label, management firm, merchandiser, and publisher worldwide. It has earned 21 Juno Awards. Arts & Crafts has been called one of Canada's most important record labels.
Def Jam Recordings is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short, is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is operating independently from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry. Its subsidiaries include the Japanese animation production enterprise, Aniplex, which was established in September 1995 as a joint-venture between Sony Music Entertainment Japan and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, but which in 2001 became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was prominent in the early to mid '90s producing and licensing music for animated series such as Roujin Z from acclaimed Japanese comic artist Katsuhiro Otomo and Capcom's Street Fighter animated series.
Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Deadline Music Records, X-Ray Records, and Goldenlane Records, encompassing a variety of genres with emphasis on unique and experimental artists.
Strange Music is an American independent record label specializing in hip hop music and founded by Tech N9ne and Travis O'Guin in 1999.
Blood is a Japanese band that has been active from 2002 to 2009, returning in 2011. Blood's aim is to create music that expresses the meaning of human emotion that breaks the musical frame. They are closely associated with visual kei, but the band refers to themselves as a "gothic band".
Frontiers Music – formerly Frontiers Records – is an Italian record label, predominantly producing hard rock. It was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples.
Aurelio Voltaire Hernández, professionally known as Aurelio Voltaire or simply Voltaire, is a Cuban-American musician, singer, composer, author, and animator. Known for his gothic style of dress and music, Voltaire is considered a leading figure in the dark cabaret music genre. He has released 13 studio albums, including Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children (2011), BiTrektual (2012), and Raised by Bats (2014). He has also created songs for the Cartoon Network animated series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2001–2007).
Light in the Attic Records is an independent record label that was established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan. The label is known for its roster of reissue projects and for its distribution catalog. Light in the Attic has re-released work by The Shaggs, Betty Davis, Serge Gainsbourg, Jim Sullivan, Jane Birkin, Monks and The Free Design. The label has also released albums by contemporary bands The Black Angels and Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators.
GPKism was a gothic/industrial music group formed in 2007. It was originally the solo project of GPK, while Kiwamu joined later that year. Both GPK and Kiwamu compose music for this project. They were featured in several publications including Cure Magazine and they have toured Australia, Japan, the United States, Europe and Central America.
Spectrum-X is a Harsh/Industrial music/Gothic/Industrial metal band. Over the years, it has been featured in magazines such as "Dark Spy" from Germany, "Alamode" and Risknote" from Japan, and "Anime Food" and "Gaku-X" in the USA.
DreamWorks Pictures is an American film studio and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action film studio by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, of which they owned 72%. The studio formerly distributed its own and third-party films. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each.
Dianna Marie St. Hilaire, better known as Opāru, is an American actor, singer and composer from Los Angeles, California. She was born in Modesto, California and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her genre is Dark Electro Pop, Pop, and Ethereal.
Abaddon is an Italian extreme metal band from Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1999. It is heavily associated with sister band Spectrum-X.
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