Lowercase People Records

Last updated
Lowercase People Records
Founded 2007 (2007)
Founder Switchfoot
Distributor(s) Atlantic (for Switchfoot releases), Credential/EMI CMG (primarily for Jon Foreman releases)
Genre Alternative rock, acoustic rock, pop rock
Country of origin United States
Location San Diego, California
Official website www.lowercasepeople.com

Lowercase People Records (stylized lowercase people records) is the record label founded and run by the members of the band Switchfoot. It was founded after the band split with their major label, Columbia/Sony BMG. The label's name was drawn from the lyrics of the song "Company Car" from the album New Way to be Human .

Switchfoot American alternative rock band

Switchfoot is an American alternative rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman, Chad Butler, Jerome Fontamillas, and Drew Shirley . After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition with the inclusion of four of their songs in the 2002 movie A Walk to Remember. This recognition led to their major label debut, The Beautiful Letdown, which was released in 2003 and featured the hits "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move". The album sold over 2.6 million copies. They have since been noted for their energetic live shows, and their seventh studio album Hello Hurricane received a Grammy award in 2011 for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album.

Columbia Records American record label; currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment

Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded in 1887, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1990, Columbia recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside former longtime rival RCA Records, as well as Arista Records and Epic Records.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann Music Group. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music Entertainment, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout of the remaining 50% held by Bertelsmann AG. BMG was instead rebuilt as BMG Rights Management on the basis of 200 remaining artists.

Contents

Formation

In October 2007, Jon Foreman announced on Switchfoot's official YouTube account page the formation of lowercase people records. This development came about some time after the band cut ties with their major label, Columbia Records.

Jon Foreman American musician and songwriter

Jonathan Mark Foreman is an American musician, the lead singer, guitarist, main songwriter and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He started Switchfoot in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and his brother Tim Foreman on bass guitar.

YouTube video-sharing service owned by Google

YouTube is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California. Three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—created the service in February 2005. Google bought the site in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion; YouTube now operates as one of Google's subsidiaries.

"Our goal was to remove the corporate barrier between our audience and our songs. Musically, we wanted to go places we've never been before. We wanted to put out a more diverse collection of musical projects with more artistic control. Since music plays such a crucial role of connecting people with important issues around the world, we wanted to be a part of a label that gives directly to social justice causes, one that is more eco friendly. lowercase people records is our attempt to do all of this and more.

"lowercase people is our attempt to better serve this community that has supported us through the years without a middle man in the way. As a band, this is the dream of a lifetime: to have no boundaries in our songs or in the ways that they are presented. So here's what you can expect... Over the course of the next few months we are going to release several diverse projects culminating in a new switchfoot release that will redefine who we are in a new independent era." [1]

First Release: Rebuild

On November 1, 2007, lowercase people records released its first song, "Rebuild", a song written by Switchfoot's Jon Foreman and Relient K's Matt Thiessen for their 2007 Appetite for Construction Tour. It was offered as a free download, with options to donate either time or money to Habitat for Humanity.

Rebuild (song) 2007 single by Switchfoot

"Rebuild" is a song written by Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Matt Thiessen of Relient K. The song was written in conjunction with the bands' 2007 Appetite for Construction Tour, featuring members from all three bands on tour, Switchfoot, Relient K, and Ruth. Thiessen sang second vocals, and Dustin Ruth of Ruth played harmonica.

Relient K band

Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman during the band members' third year in high school and their time at Malone University. The band is named after guitarist Hoopes' automobile, a Plymouth Reliant K car, with the spelling intentionally altered to avoid trademark infringement over the Reliant name.

Matt Thiessen musician

Matthew Arnold Thiessen is a Canadian-American musician, singer and songwriter known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. With Relient K, he has released eight full-length albums, including three that were certified Gold, and three that peaked in the top twenty on the Billboard 200. Outside of his work with Relient K, Thiessen leads a side project called Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes, which released its debut album Wind Up Bird on August 31, 2018. In 2009, he co-produced and collaborated on Owl City's album Ocean Eyes.

Distribution

lowercase people records has deals in place with Atlantic Records to distribute Switchfoot records and Credential Recordings/EMI CMG to distribute Jon Foreman and Switchfoot releases to CCM. Both labels work simultaneously under the banner company lowercase people records. [2]

Atlantic Records American record label

Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Led Zeppelin and Yes.

Credential Recordings is a pop and rock record label in Nashville, Tennessee. The label branched out after a distribution agreement with Lowercase People Records for Switchfoot singer Jon Foreman's solo EPs, which tend to be more folk-acoustic in style. They also have agreements with the label to release its Switchfoot and Fiction Family releases to the Christian market.

Artists

Artists currently "signed" to lowercase people records are:

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<i>The Beautiful Letdown</i> 2003 studio album by Switchfoot

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lowercase people is an organization that is divided into three major divisions: The lp Online Magazine, lp apparel, and the lowercase people Justice Fund. The organization was founded by the alternative rock band Switchfoot. In late October 2007, the band announced on their YouTube account page that they had created "lp records" to help further the vision of lowercase people.

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References

  1. SwitchfootTV
  2. BREAKING: Switchfoot teams with Atlantic Records for Worldwide release of "Hello Hurricane" - Published August 8, 2009 (retrieved August 9, 2009)