A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.
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.
Kung Fu Records is an American independent record label founded in 1996 by Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald of the punk rock band The Vandals. Founded in order to release a record by the Riverside, California band Assorted Jelly Beans, the label soon grew to include a roster of notable artists such as The Ataris, Ozma, Tsunami Bomb, and The Vandals themselves. In 2000 Escalante started Kung Fu Films as a subsidiary of the music label in order to release DVDs of live concerts, music videos, band documentaries, and independent films. In 2005 Kung Fu also spawned the spinoff label Broken Sounds Records, focusing on hardcore releases.
Redbird, Redbirds, Red Bird or Red Birds may refer to:
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.
Star Song Communications is a Christian record label that was started in 1976 by Wayne Donowho, who recruited his friend Darrell Harris. It gained notoriety when it issued Resurrection Band's ground-breaking debut album, Awaiting Your Reply in 1978. Originally a distribution deal was made with Benson Records. From 1983 until 1986 distribution was done by Word Records. After that, a deal was made with Sparrow Records. Independent distribution was started in 1989 and picked up distribution for ForeFront records and DC Talk in 1991. This distribution was maintained until the sale of the company to EMI and the launch of Chordant Distribution in 1994.
Combat Records was an American independent record label from New York City. The label was home to predominantly heavy metal and punk rock acts including Megadeth, Circle Jerks, Nuclear Assault, OZ, Death, Dead Brain Cells, Possessed, Crumbsuckers, Agnostic Front, Agent Steel, Dark Angel, Heathen, Zoetrope and Exodus. In 2017, it was announced that Combat was being relaunched by Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and Thom Hazaert as a new label imprint under their EMP Label Group.
Star Trak Entertainment was an American record label, founded by The Neptunes in 2002. It operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Its name is a reference to the 1960s TV program Star Trek.
Vision of Disorder is an American metalcore band from Long Island, New York that initially released three albums before disbanding in 2002. The band garnered attention for blending melody and groove into a traditional hardcore framework, but its attempts to pursue an alternative metal direction on its third album were met with limited commercial success. The band reunited in 2008 and have since released two further albums, The Cursed Remain Cursed in 2012 and Razed to the Ground in 2015.
Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label founded in 1992 by entrepreneur and music fan Brian Perera. It has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Deadline Music Records; and X-Ray Records, encompassing a variety of genres with emphasis on unique and experimental artists.
An unsigned artist, unsigned band or independent artist is a musician or musical group not under a contract with a record label. The terms are used in the music industry as a marketing technique. Bands that release their own material on self-published CDs can also be considered unsigned bands. Often unsigned bands primarily exist to perform at concerts.
Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, which is distributed by Universal Music Group, specializing in country and pop artists. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and became a joint venture between Borchetta and country singer Toby Keith. The company concentrates on publishing, management, and merchandising and oversees imprints, such as Valory Music, that are part of the Big Machine Label Group.
Union Label Group is a record label based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was formed through the merger of the smaller labels Stomp Records, 2112 Records, and Tyrant Records. Mayday! Records was later created as a genre imprint.
Mötley Records is a record label founded by the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe after severing their ties with Elektra records and acquiring the rights to their music catalog. It technically serves as a successor to the band's original record label Leathür Records, which released their 1981 debut album Too Fast for Love, an imprint of Greenworld Distribution, owned by the band and original manager Allan Coffman. Leathür was soon closed when Mötley Crüe signed a deal with Elektra, which lasted until 1997. Albums produced under Mötley Records include Saints of Los Angeles, Red, White & Crüe, and New Tattoo. In addition, the label also re-released the band's first seven albums.
Ludo is the first album to be released by St. Louisian pop punk band Ludo on indie label Redbird Records. It was released April 6, 2004 and was re-released on September 29, 2009.
You're Awful, I Love You is the second full-length studio album by St. Louis pop punk band Ludo and the band's first to be released by Island Records. The title comes from a lyric in their single, "Love Me Dead." The song "Love Me Dead" was featured in a summer 2008 promo for the television series House and also became Ludo's most successful song to date, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart.
Iko are an English rock band from Exeter, Devon. Formed in 2005 the band consists of Kieran Scragg and Neil Reed.
EMP Label Group, also known as Ellefson Music Productions, is an American record label formed in October 2015, which was founded by David Ellefson of Megadeth.
