Sampler album

Last updated

A sampler or promotional compilation is a type of compilation album generally offered at a reduced price to showcase an artist or a selection of artists signed to a particular record label. The format became popular in the late 1960s as record labels sought to promote artists whose works were primarily available in album rather than single format, and therefore had little opportunity to gain exposure through singles-dominated radio airplay. Most samplers showcased already-released material, so that as they sampled artists they also sampled the albums from which their tracks were drawn. The term 'album sampler' is also used in cases where an album is distributed among multiple records in case of, for example, vinyl where the maximum play time is less than the length of the full album. In these cases, album sampler titles may be added to each vinyl.

Contents

Elektra Records

The first record sampler was A Folk Music Sampler released by Elektra Records in the US in 1954, initially for radio stations and later reissued for retail sales. Jac Holzman of Elektra wrote:

"I was...searching for a way to take our specialized and distinctive catalog and have it heard by many people. As a fanatical moviegoer, I knew the value of the film trailer. I translated that to the record business. My concept...was a sampler LP: a collection of musical trailers, a compendium of carefully assembled material, with lyrics and notes, all on a 10-inch LP that would sell for a bargain price unheard of in 1954: $2.00...I inserted a "sampler clause" in all new artists' contracts, allowing me to use one track from any album, royalty-free...With no royalty obligation and only the raw cost of manufacturing to consider, a good sampler could net between ten and twenty thousand dollars. This was the best of all possible worlds. We were actively promoting our records, the public was paying for the privilege and getting good value in return, and Elektra was being fertilized by the profits." [1]

At the time the term "sampler" was mainly used for a demonstration of needlework, and this was the first time the word had been applied to a musical compilation. Holzman was enthusiastic for the format, and Elektra regularly issued budget-priced samplers of its folk catalogue in the USA throughout the 1950s and 60s. In the UK, Elektra's office decided to use issue samplers to try to position the label in the marketplace, and issued the folk sampler Fantastic Folk (1968) before the more rock-oriented Select Elektra (1968). [2] However, these British discs were full price issues.

Budget samplers in Europe

CBS’s The Rock Machine Turns You On , Liberty Records' Gutbucket , Warner Bros.' The 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook (first of the long-standing Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders series), and Island Records' You Can All Join In were the first samplers issued in the UK and Europe at a discount price, setting the standard for those to follow. Many of the most important and innovative folk and rock artists of the time featured on the samplers of their respective record labels, particularly in the UK, and as a result their work reached an audience which would have otherwise been inaccessible. Amongst the most well regarded, and subsequently collectable, were those from Island Records, CBS, Decca Records, Liberty Records, Vertigo Records and Harvest Records. By the end of the 1970s, however, the format became less relevant.

The rise of indie rock labels (e.g. Chiswick Records and Stiff Records in the UK) and bands in the late 1970s and early 1980s revitalised the sampler as a marketing tool, but the format was all but dead by 1985. [3] Since then, the increased influence of the World Wide Web as a medium for distributing content has made the sampler album format increasingly redundant.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extended play</span> Musical recording longer than a single but shorter than a full album

An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. Contemporary EPs generally contain four or five tracks, and are considered "less expensive and time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album. An EP originally referred to specific types of records other than 78 rpm standard play (SP) and LP, but it is now applied to mid-length CDs and downloads as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elektra Records</span> American record label

Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. In October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music. In June 2022, Elektra Music Group was merged with 300 Entertainment to create the umbrella label 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE), though both Elektra and 300 continued to maintain their separate identities as labels.

<i>Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968</i> 1972 compilation album by various artists

Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era is a compilation album of American psychedelic and garage rock singles that were released during the mid-to-late 1960s. It was created by Lenny Kaye, who was a writer and clerk at the Village Oldies record shop in New York. He would later become the lead guitarist for the Patti Smith Group. Kaye produced Nuggets under the supervision of Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman. Kaye conceived the project as a series of roughly eight LP installments focusing on different US regions, but Elektra convinced him that one double album would be more commercially viable. It was released on LP by Elektra in 1972 with liner notes by Kaye that contained one of the first uses of the term "punk rock". It was reissued with a new cover design by Sire Records in 1976. In the 1980s, Rhino Records issued Nuggets in a series of fifteen installments, and in 1998 as a 4-cd box set.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Buckley</span> American musician

Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, the avant-garde, and an evolving voice-as-instrument sound. He died at the age of 28 from a heroin and morphine overdose, leaving behind sons Taylor and Jeff.

<i>Other Voices</i> (The Doors album) 1971 studio album by the Doors

Other Voices is the seventh studio album by the Doors, released by Elektra Records in October 1971. It was the first album released by the band following the death of lead singer Jim Morrison in July 1971 with keyboardist Ray Manzarek and guitarist Robby Krieger sharing lead vocals. Tracks for the album had begun before Morrison's death and the band hoped that Morrison would return from Paris to finish them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Music Group</span> American multinational music conglomerate

Warner Music Group Corp. is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the global music industry, after Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME). Formerly part of Time Warner, WMG was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2011, when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries. It later had its second IPO on Nasdaq in 2020, once again becoming a public company. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover, WMG employs more than 3,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pye Records</span> British record label

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.

Warner Records Inc. is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonesuch Records</span> American record label company

Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records, and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Nonesuch has developed into a label that records critically acclaimed music from a wide range of genres. Robert Hurwitz was president of the company from 1984 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jac Holzman</span> American businessman (born 1931)

Jac Holzman is an American music businessman, best known as the founder, chief executive officer and head of record label Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. Holzman commercially helped launch the CD and home video formats, as well as the pilot program which became MTV. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

Music for Pleasure and Classics for Pleasure (CFP) were British record labels that issued budget-priced albums of popular and classical music respectively. Albums were subsequently released under the MFP label in Australia (MFP-A) and South Africa.

<i>The Rock Machine Turns You On</i> Columbia/CBS 1968 compilation album by various artists

The Rock Machine Turns You On was the first bargain priced sampler album. It was released in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, The Netherlands, Germany and a number of other European countries in 1968 as part of an international marketing campaign by CBS, the Columbia label then active in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

<i>Whats Shakin</i> 1966 Elektra compilation album with various artists

What's Shakin' is a compilation album released by Elektra Records in May 1966. It features the earliest studio recordings by the Lovin' Spoonful and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, as well as the only released recordings by the ad hoc studio group Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse, until they were reissued years later.

<i>The Doors: Vinyl Box Set</i> 2008 box set by the Doors

The Doors: Vinyl Box Set is the seventh box set for American rock band the Doors. It is a seven-record set of the original six studio albums, remastered in stereo from the original analogue tapes and pressed on 180-gram HQ vinyl, and a mono version of the debut album. Artwork, packaging, and inner sleeves are replicas of the original LPs issued between 1967 and 1971. The albums were remastered from 192k/24 bit digital copies and pressed at Record Technology (RTI). An insert booklet includes notes from Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records and Bruce Botnick the Doors' longtime sound engineer/co-producer on all the original studio albums.

Robert Alan Krasnow was an American record label executive and entrepreneur who had a long and successful career in the music industry. He founded Blue Thumb Records, later became chairman of Elektra Records, and was a co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

<i>The Original Delaney & Bonnie & Friends</i> 1969 studio album by Delaney & Bonnie

The Original Delaney & Bonnie, also known by its subtitle Accept No Substitute, is the second studio album by American recording duo Delaney & Bonnie. It was recorded with many of the "friends" that would form the core of their best-known 1969–70 touring band, including Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle and Rita Coolidge.

The Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders were a series of promotional sampler compilation albums released by Warner Bros. Records throughout the 1970s. Each album contained a wide variety of tracks by artists under contract to Warner Bros. and its subsidiary labels ; often these were singles, B-sides, non-hit album tracks, or otherwise obscure material, all designed to arouse interest in the artists' regular albums. Also found on some were humorous, bizarre interstitial audio material—clips from old records and movies, short skits, found sound, etc.--and most albums featured clever, humorous cover art and liner notes. Most of the 1970s albums were compiled and annotated by Barry Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento.

<i>John B. Sebastian</i> (album) 1970 studio album by John Sebastian

John B. Sebastian is the debut album by American singer-songwriter John Sebastian, previously best known as the co-founder and primary singer-songwriter of the 1960s folk-rock band the Lovin' Spoonful. The album, released in January 1970, includes several songs that would become staples of Sebastian's live performances during the early and mid-1970s. Most notably, the album included "She's a Lady", Sebastian's first solo single, and an alternate version of "I Had a Dream" which was used to open the soundtrack album of the 1970 documentary film Woodstock. John B. Sebastian also featured support performances by David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash several months before that trio agreed to work together as a performing unit.

A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may be collected together as a greatest hits album or box set. If the recordings are from several artists, there may be a theme, topic, time period, or genre which links the tracks, or they may have been intended for release as a single work—such as a tribute album. When the tracks are by the same recording artist, the album may be referred to as a retrospective album or an anthology.

William Stanley Harvey was an American graphic designer and art director, responsible for the design of Elektra Records' logos and many of its album covers between the 1950s and 1970s including those by Love, The Doors, MC5, The Stooges, Judy Collins, Tim Buckley and others.

References

  1. Jac Holzman and Gavin Daws, Follow The Music, 1998, ISBN   0-9661221-1-9, pp.31-32
  2. Elektra discography
  3. The last "mainstream" sampler, issued as a disc or CD was arguably the ZTT Records sampler of 1985