Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they are a profound influence on the electronic and industrial music genres.
Virgin Records Ltd was a British independent record label founded by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman in 1972. It grew to be a worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers such as Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Phil Collins, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz 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.
Chrysalis Records is a British record label that was created in 1968. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Agency.
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.
Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), The Searchers (1963–1967), The Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhood of Man (1975–1979). The label changed its name to PRT Records in 1980, before being briefly reactivated as Pye Records in 2006.
Enigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s.
Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed director.
Tyranny is an album by Front 242, released in 1991 as their first album on Epic Records after leaving Chicago's Wax Trax! Records. This album is notable for being the band's highest charting album reaching #95 on the Billboard 200. The song "Rhythm of Time" proved a dance club hit topping at #11 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Disco charts matching the previous ranking of the album's title track. The accompanying music video for "Rhythm of Time" appears briefly playing on a television in a scene in the film Single White Female. "Moldavia" was subsequently featured in TV promos for the 1992 film K2.
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, also known very briefly as the Lorries, are an English rock band formed in Leeds in early 1981 by guitarist and songwriter Chris Reed, vocalist Mark Sweeney, bassist Steve Smith and drummer Mick Brown. After breaking up in 1991, the band reformed in 2003 and have released 5 studio albums over the course of their career.
Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well as the compilation album Pillows & Prayers. In addition to releasing new music, Cherry Red also acts as an umbrella for individual imprints and catalogue specialists.
Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and British home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's production ceased in 2007, and its remaining rights are now chiefly vested in BMG Rights Management. Castle also operated a subsidiary label, Essential Records.
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the relevance of the chart dwindled in the 1990s as major-label ownership blurred the boundary between independent and major labels.
Alfa Records Inc., originally a publisher known as Alfa Music Ltd. and later succeeded by record company Alfa Music Inc., was established in 1969 by composer and record producer Kunihiko Murai. It was formed into an independent record label known as Alfa Records in 1977. A short-lived American subsidiary operated from 1980 to 1982.
Native Records is a small British independent record label formed in Sheffield, England.
The Cartel was a co-operative record distribution organisation in the United Kingdom, set up by a number of small independent record labels to handle their distribution to record shops. Pooling their resources in this way allowed them to compete with the larger distribution operations of the major record labels, and also to gain access to the larger shop chains.
Recreational Records was a British record label set up in 1981 by the Bristol record shop and distributor Revolver Records. Originally formed as an independent record label with its own distribution as part of the Cartel.
Heartbeat Productions is the parent company of a number of record labels originating from Bristol, England. Heartbeat Records was formed in 1978, and other labels have been added over the years to cater for specific niche markets or bands: Riot City Records in 1980, Disorder Records in 1981, FSA Records in 1992 and Trash City Records in 1994.
Ember Records was a British independent record label established by Jeffrey Kruger.
An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented by trade associations in their country or region, which in turn are represented by the international trade body, the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN).
