Record Label Research

Rough Trade

The British indie label, Rough Trade began in 1978 when Geoff Travis founded it in the back of his Notting Hill record shop. The first artists signed to the label were the Smiths, the Fall, and Stiff Little Fingers whose album ‘Inflammable Material’ which was Rough Trade’s first ever album release, sold more than 100,000 copies. Despite these early successes, the label went bust in 1991 but was re launched in 2000 when they signed a little-known band called ‘The Strokes’. Now owned by Beggars Group, the label manages acts such as Antony & the Johnsons and Micachu.

Domino

Domino Records was set up by Laurence Bell in 1993 and proved to be a success. It was set up to license American records for the UK. In 2006 Domino had a big success with ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ by Arctic Monkeys which became the fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history. Before that, Domino had scored big hits with the first two albums by Franz Ferdinand. With the help of its star acts, Domino continues to release offbeat material from artists such as Anna Calvi, Wild Beasts and Four Tet.

Mute

Daniel Miller did not set out to become a music label founder, however, after releasing a single in 1978, many musicians started sending him their demos. Miller decided to release some of them and Mute Records has succeeded ever since. Guided by his love of synthetic music, Miller signed acts such as Depeche Mode.