FMR Records

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FMR Records
Founded1987 (1987)
FounderTrevor Taylor
Genre Jazz, free improvisation
Country of originUK
Official website www.fmr-records.com

FMR Records is a British record label. Founded by Trevor Taylor in 1987, it specialises in jazz and improvised music.

Contents

Origins

Taylor is a drummer and percussionist who became increasingly interested in avant garde music. [1] In the early 1970s he started Future Music, which was a record shop that expanded to seven branches. [1] He founded the FMR (short for Future Music Records) label in 1987. [1] [2]

Label history

FMR's first release was by saxophonist Tim Garland. [1] This set the pattern for the label's early years, concentrating on British jazz musicians. [1] Taylor also purchased the right to issue CD versions of successful albums released by other British musicians, including Mike Osborne, Howard Riley, John Surman and John Taylor; sales of these provided FMR with a financial boost. [1] "By 2007 there were 250 CDs, DVDs and books in the catalogue". [1]

Over time, the founder felt that mainstream jazz lacked originality and that the label needed a narrower focus to succeed, so he concentrated more on releasing improvised music. [1] He observed in 2017 that recordings by British musicians were in the minority of FMR's releases. [1] The label has also had to adapt to the industry reality of falling CD sales: in 2017, "FMR and the artist split the costs and the output 50/50, with the artist being responsible for promotion while the record company has to recoup its investment through the website or via a diminishing band of distributors." [1] Some items from the catalogue can be bought as downloads from subradar.no, following an agreement between FMR and the Norway-based website. [3]

Some musicians have had a large number of albums released by FMR. [1] These include Paul Dunmall (more than 70) and Frode Gjerstad (over 40). [1]

Production and habits

Taylor selects music for release based on how well it matches the label's ethos. [1] After that, he does not interfere with the recording: he commented that, "Occasionally I have suggested changing the order of tracks but that's it". [1] Catalogue numbers have "'Visions' – prefixed 'V' – for original new music and 'Legacy' – prefixed 'L' – to re-issue on CD long out-of-print recordings of British jazz". [4]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Sharpe, John (November 2017). "FMR". The New York City Jazz Record . No. 187. pp. 11, 42.
  2. Taylor, Trevor (April 2017). "FMR Label Head Trevor Taylor Remembers Roland's Electronic Pioneer Ikutaro Kakehashi". The Wire. London. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  3. Margasak, Peter (November 2015). "Subradar Expands Reach". DownBeat . Vol. 82, no. 11. p. 18.
  4. "FMR: Future Music Records". efi.group.shef.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.