Rykodisc
Encyclopedia
Rykodisc Records is an American
record label
. It is owned by Warner Music Group
, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group
and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance
.
-only independent record label
in the United States, Rykodisc was founded in 1983
in Salem, Massachusetts
, by Arthur Mann, Rob Simonds, Doug Lexa and Don Rose. In the late 1980s, the label also began to issue high-quality cassette
and vinyl
versions of many releases under the name Ryko Analogue.
Rykodisc had some notable successes in the CD-reissue industry, as artists such as Elvis Costello
, David Bowie
, Yoko Ono
, Frank Zappa
, Nick Drake
, Nine Inch Nails
, Robert Wyatt
, and Mission of Burma
allowed Rykodisc to issue their catalogs on CD. Rykodisc still retains the rights to the Zappa catalog. Rykodisc also re-released the SST Records
-era recordings by the Meat Puppets
.
Over the years the label has acquired Hannibal Records
, Tradition Records
, Gramavision Records, Emperor Norton Records
, Restless Records
and, most recently, Cordless Recordings
. Rykodisc also founded a distribution company, Ryko Distribution, and a music publishing company, Rykomusic. The label's catalogue now exceeds 1,200 titles.
In 1998, Chris Blackwell
left Island Records
and bought Rykodisc for a reported $35 million as a means of acquiring music marketing and distribution expertise for his new venture, a media company called Palm Pictures
. In 1999, one year after the Blackwell buy-out, the office in Salem MA was closed, and many industry veterans were laid off. The office held a wake for the label. In 2001 Blackwell parted ways with Rykodisc. The label was then located in New York
with offices in Los Angeles
and in Beverly, Massachusetts
.
Rykodisc sets apart its CD issues with its trademarked green-tinted jewel boxes, which the company began using in 1988. The label began limiting the use of the green-tinted cases on new releases in 2002.
On March 23, 2006, it was announced that Warner Music Group
acquired the Ryko Corporation for $67.5 million. When Warner bought Ryko, it acquired the label's Frank Zappa master tapes, entitling Warner to any reissue rights—an irony considering Zappa's outspoken hatred for Warner, with whom he acrimoniously parted ways in 1979. Also in 2006, the independent publishing company EverGreen Copyrights purchased the Rykomusic publishing catalogue, among others.
In 2009, Ryko Distribution was folded into Alternative Distribution Alliance
. Currently, ADA acts as the distributor for all Rykodisc releases in the United States
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. It is owned by Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group
Independent Label Group
Independent Label Group is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. The company was formed in 2006 as an umbrella for various Warner auxiliary labels including East West Records, Rykodisc and Cordless Recordings. Outside of the U.S., the label is distributed by WEA International...
and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance
Alternative Distribution Alliance
The Alternative Distribution Alliance was created in 1993 by Warner Music Group and Sub Pop Records as a joint venture to distribute and manufacture records owned by indie labels. Headed up by Mitchell Wolk, ADA is the leading "indie" distribution company in the U.S. for both physical and digital...
.
Company history
Claiming to be the first CDCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
-only independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
in the United States, Rykodisc was founded in 1983
1983 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1983.-January-April:*January – ZTT Records is founded.*January 8 – The UK singles chart is tabulated from this week forward by The Gallup Organization...
in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, by Arthur Mann, Rob Simonds, Doug Lexa and Don Rose. In the late 1980s, the label also began to issue high-quality cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
and vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
versions of many releases under the name Ryko Analogue.
Rykodisc had some notable successes in the CD-reissue industry, as artists such as Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
, Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
, and Mission of Burma
Mission of Burma
Mission of Burma is an American post-punk band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1979. The band was formed by Roger Miller , Clint Conley , Peter Prescott and Martin Swope...
allowed Rykodisc to issue their catalogs on CD. Rykodisc still retains the rights to the Zappa catalog. Rykodisc also re-released the SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
-era recordings by the Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets
The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood , his brother Cris Kirkwood , and Derrick Bostrom . The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix...
.
Hannibal Records
Hannibal Records was a record label and one of the first to work with the World music genre.Hannibal was started by Joe Boyd in 1980. Boyd had produced records by artists such as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention and released recordings by these artists as well as...
, Tradition Records
Tradition Records
Tradition Records was an American record label that existed from 1955 to 1961.The label was founded by Guggenheim heiress Diane Hamilton in 1956. Its first president and director was Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, who was soon to join his brothers and Tommy Makem, as part of the new Irish folk group, The...
, Gramavision Records, Emperor Norton Records
Emperor Norton Records
Emperor Norton Records, was a Los Angeles-based electronica, hip-hop, and dance-music record label. Among the artists featured on the label were Ladytron, Arling & Cameron, Money Mark, Ugly Duckling, and Fantastic Plastic Machine...
, Restless Records
Restless Records
Restless Records was started in El Segundo, California in 1981 by Enigma Records and primarly released alternative, metal and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade Records and Mute Records...
and, most recently, Cordless Recordings
Cordless Recordings
Cordless Recordings is a netlabel owned by Warner Music Group. The label was founded in 2005 by Jac Holzman, who also founded Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records.-Affiliation with Rykodisc - Present:...
. Rykodisc also founded a distribution company, Ryko Distribution, and a music publishing company, Rykomusic. The label's catalogue now exceeds 1,200 titles.
In 1998, Chris Blackwell
Chris Blackwell
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...
left Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
and bought Rykodisc for a reported $35 million as a means of acquiring music marketing and distribution expertise for his new venture, a media company called Palm Pictures
Palm Pictures
Palm Pictures is a US-based entertainment company owned and run by Chris Blackwell. Palm Pictures produces, acquires and distributes innovative music and film projects with a particular focus on the DVD format...
. In 1999, one year after the Blackwell buy-out, the office in Salem MA was closed, and many industry veterans were laid off. The office held a wake for the label. In 2001 Blackwell parted ways with Rykodisc. The label was then located in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with offices in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and in Beverly, Massachusetts
Beverly, Massachusetts
Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...
.
Rykodisc sets apart its CD issues with its trademarked green-tinted jewel boxes, which the company began using in 1988. The label began limiting the use of the green-tinted cases on new releases in 2002.
On March 23, 2006, it was announced that Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
acquired the Ryko Corporation for $67.5 million. When Warner bought Ryko, it acquired the label's Frank Zappa master tapes, entitling Warner to any reissue rights—an irony considering Zappa's outspoken hatred for Warner, with whom he acrimoniously parted ways in 1979. Also in 2006, the independent publishing company EverGreen Copyrights purchased the Rykomusic publishing catalogue, among others.
In 2009, Ryko Distribution was folded into Alternative Distribution Alliance
Alternative Distribution Alliance
The Alternative Distribution Alliance was created in 1993 by Warner Music Group and Sub Pop Records as a joint venture to distribute and manufacture records owned by indie labels. Headed up by Mitchell Wolk, ADA is the leading "indie" distribution company in the U.S. for both physical and digital...
. Currently, ADA acts as the distributor for all Rykodisc releases in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Rykodisc artists
External links
- http://www.rykodisc.com/ Rykodisc Official Site
- http://www.cordless.com/ Cordless Official Site