Misplaced Pages

#463536

57-426: The magazine was published seasonally, five times each year. Typically, it focused on indie music , on occasion covering established artists in long-form interviews. A variety of individuals collaborated on FILTER , including Alan Miller and Alan Sartirana (the publishers), Pat McGuire (the editor-in-chief), Breanna Murphy (the associate editor), and Melissa Simonian (the layout designer). The magazine initiated

114-473: A connection with Virgin, and some UK and European Virgin albums that were distributed internationally (instead of being manufactured in each country) named Caroline as their American distributor. Some Caroline records bore the label name Caroline Blue Plate , which was mainly used for reissuing on CD many early progressive rock albums and artists from Virgin and Caroline's UK branches. The first Canadian editions were distributed by WEA, and were parallel issues of

171-651: A consortium led by Sony/ATV Music Publishing acquired EMI Music Publishing for $ 2.2 billion. However, the European Union ruled that Sony/ATV would represent over half of all the charting hits in the United Kingdom, and required the company to auction off Virgin Music and Famous Music UK, as well as twelve unrelated authors. In December 2012, BMG Rights Management acquired the Virgin and Famous publishers, and concluded

228-411: A direct, do-it-yourself manner allowing creative distribution. There is the potential for artists to gain large numbers of streams on Spotify if their music are included in certain popular playlists. For both independent and major labels, the label generally owns the copyright to the sound recording. Artists who maintain their copyrights usually must sacrifice other parts of their deal, and must give

285-593: A distinct musical style found in indie music, which was influenced by post-punk and new wave . Important albums that contributed to this style include Joy Division 's Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Depeche Mode 's Speak & Spell (1981). Released on Rough Trade, Inflammable Material (1979) was the first independently-released album to sell over 100,000 copies. By the 1980s, the indie pop band The Smiths , signed with Rough Trade, "came to exemplify indie both musically and culturally" according to The Conversation . The Smith's authentic sound contrasted with

342-612: A long history of promoting developments in popular music, stretching back to the post-war period in the United States, with labels such as Sun Records , King Records , and Stax . In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major record companies had so much power that independent labels struggled to become established, until the launch of new labels like Virgin Records . Several British producers and artists launched independent labels as outlets for their work and artists they liked;

399-423: A partnership. One issue is that artists often forgo their mechanical royalties in 50-50 deals, and it can be more difficult to recoup the advance, meaning it takes longer to turn a profit. Some labels forgo a formal contract altogether, and their deals include few restrictions. Independent music is a broad category that is made up of distinct subgenres with influences from various other genres. Indie pop

456-411: A purple label with round logo up to 1992 when Virgin was acquired internationally. Soon after Virgin Records was founded, the label created a music publisher for its artists, who also served as songwriters. Starting in the 1980s, Virgin Music signed songwriters from other record labels. After Virgin was acquired by EMI, the publisher was folded into EMI Music Publishing as EMI Virgin Music. In 2012,

513-783: A scene or movement, and often combines influences from a variety of genres. It has origins in the 1990s, with artists like Stereolab , Arab Strap , and Disco Inferno contributing to the style. Indietronica largely grew in popularity in the 2000s, with the rising accessibility to home recording and software synthesizers . Influential artists of this era include Hot Chip , Metronomy , and The Postal Service . Some 2010s artists achieved wider success with their music, for example, James Blake and The xx . Indietronica artists usually release their music on independent labels, with examples including Sub Pop , Warp , and Ghostly International . Virgin Records Virgin Records

570-477: A variety of methods of distribution, with the label generally owning the copyright for the sound recording. They generally give smaller advances , or sometimes no advance, and some may offer higher royalty splits than major labels. Although "Indie" was first used to described music released on independent record labels, the term grew to describe a specific sound because of the creative freedom of its initial bands and artists. A defining characteristic of indie music

627-551: A young naked woman in mirror image with a large long-tailed lizard and the word "Virgin" in Dean's familiar script. A variation on the logo was used for the spin-off Caroline Records label. The first release on the label was the progressive rock album Tubular Bells by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield , who was discovered by Tom Newman and brought to Simon Draper – who eventually persuaded Richard and Nik to present it as their first release in 1973, produced by Tom Newman, for which

SECTION 10

#1732876533464

684-407: Is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group . They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson , Simon Draper, Nik Powell , and musician Tom Newman . They grew to be a worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers Paula Abdul , Janet Jackson , Devo , Tangerine Dream , Genesis , Phil Collins , OMD ,

741-686: Is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by independent record labels . Indie music describes a number of related styles, but generally describes guitar-oriented music straying away from mainstream conventions. There are a number of subgenres of independent music which combine its characteristics with other genres, such as indie pop , indie rock , indie folk , and indie electronic . The origins of independent music lie in British independent record labels, such as Rough Trade and Mute . In

798-513: Is a style of folk music which originated in the 1990s with artists like Elliott Smith and Will Oldham . The genre grew from traditional and contemporary folk , but took a distinctly independent approach inspired by indie rock. The genre gained further popularity and support in the 2000s from labels such as Saddle Creek , Barsuk , and Sub Pop . Notable 21st century indie folk artists include Fleet Foxes , Bon Iver , Great Lake Swimmers , Sufjan Stevens , and Phoebe Bridgers . Indie folk

855-451: Is a style of rock music and is one of the most popular independent music genres. It originally grew out of the alternative rock , punk rock , and independent movements of the 1980s, with local scenes emerging in many American cities and college towns . The New Zealand Dunedin sound of the 1970s and 80s was also influential in indie rock's development. By the 1990s, indie rock had separated from alternative rock and gained popularity in

912-598: Is a style of pop music that originally grew out of British post-punk in the late 1970s. Indie pop was one of the first independent music genres, and was initially synonymous with "indie". Indie pop is characterized by a focus on melody , arrangements, and harmony , with less angst and distortion as compared to indie rock . It features the homemade intimacy commonly found in independent music. Notable subgenres include chamber pop , which adds lush chamber orchestration , and twee pop , which features "primitive simplicity". Indie rock (also referred to as simply "indie")

969-404: Is distinguished by its acoustic instrumentation – and often consists of just vocals and acoustic guitar – although some artists experiment with more diverse instrumentation. As well, indie folk artists are often singer-songwriters . Indie electronic , also known as indietronica, is a broad categorization of music that combines independent and electronic music styles. It is not considered

1026-420: Is that artists have less to pay back, and therefore can begin to profit quicker. There are a number of ways that an independent label may structure their contract. Some independent labels have contracts that are essentially equivalent to major label deals. On a major label, a typical royalty rate (what the artist takes) is 13% to 16%; however, some independent labels offer 50-50 splits, which functions more as

1083-540: Is that artists retain much more creative control over their music as compared to major labels. Bands often have small budgets, and employ a do-it-yourself ethos which influences their sound. Indie music generally represents guitar-oriented music which strays away from commercial conventions. It often features lyrics that are earnest and emotive, with many cultural and sociopolitical references. Many artists signed to major labels have retained creative control and are still considered indie artists. Independent labels have

1140-565: The "Virgin Classics" name, along with "EMI Classics," disappeared. Branson and Powell had initially run a small record shop called Virgin Records and Tapes on Notting Hill Gate , London, specializing in krautrock imports, and offering bean bags and free vegetarian food for the benefit of customers listening to the music on offer. The first real store was above a shoe shop at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street . After making

1197-401: The 1970s, these labels contributed to the emergence of a distinct sound, influenced by post-punk and new wave . NME released the influential compilation album C86 in 1986, and helped with indie's spread and development. American independent music first emerged in the 1980s, and was spread via college radios . Styles that evolved out of indie music and reached wide commercial success in

SECTION 20

#1732876533464

1254-781: The 1980s was Culture Club. In 1978, Virgin set up US operations first in New York on Perry Street, with distribution from Atlantic Records . Virgin Records soon moved operations to New Jersey along with a short-lived subdivision called Virgin International , handled by independent New Jersey–based distributor Jem Records . Virgin International was used mainly for progressive rock artists and reissues of earlier Virgin / Atlantic albums such as Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield, and Fish Rising by Steve Hillage, which Columbia chose not to reissue. Virgin International also issued albums by some of Virgin's reggae artists, including Gregory Isaacs . At

1311-578: The 1990s include grunge ( Nirvana , Pearl Jam , and the Smashing Pumpkins ) and Britpop ( Blur , Pulp , and Oasis ). In the 21st century, due to the internet, indie music saw a global spread in popularity, as music fans were no longer dependent on physical publications to find new music. Independent record labels , important to the development of indie music, are characterized by their smaller operations, lower funding, and greater creative control as compared to major labels . Independent labels use

1368-701: The EMI Group. In 1997, Virgin absorbed the remainder of EMI USA , which earlier consolidated EMI America Records and Manhattan Records , with Capitol Records acquiring EMI's other American operations, and in 1998, opened a country music division called Virgin Records Nashville, of which record producer Scott Hendricks was president. The label's signees comprised Julie Reeves , Jerry Kilgore , Roy D. Mercer , Tom Mabe , Chris Cagle , Clay Davidson , and River Road . In 2001, Virgin Nashville closed and its roster

1425-599: The Human League , Culture Club , Simple Minds , the Spice Girls , Lenny Kravitz , the Sex Pistols , 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 . Virgin Records was sold to Thorn EMI in 1992. EMI would later be acquired by Universal Music Group (UMG) in 2012 with UMG creating

1482-584: The Italians , The Human League (whose " Don't You Want Me " was the label's first chart-topping single, in 1981), Magazine , Skids , the Motors , Penetration , the Ruts , Shooting Star , Simple Minds , and XTC . After modified versions of the twins label came the red, white and blue design introduced in 1975, which coincided with the height of punk and new wave. The current Virgin logo (known informally as "the scrawl")

1539-525: The Melody Makers , Redhead Kingpin & The F.B.I. , Neneh Cherry , Steve Winwood , Hindsight and, after her MCA contract ran out in 1991, Belinda Carlisle. Virgin Records America's releases were distributed through WEA again by Atlantic Records until 1992. The label was then acquired by EMI-Capitol Special Markets . In 1996, Virgin Records offered Janet Jackson one of the best and highest deals at

1596-766: The Muffins and Nash the Slash signed to Dindisc in the UK as well; both artists had releases in Canada and the UK on Dindisc. In 1983, an independent Virgin Records Canada Inc. company was created, three years before a similar move occurred in the US. From this time onward, Virgin Canada used unique label designs not seen in other countries: a red label with five horizontal bars across the top and an extra-large "scrawl" logo from 1983 to 1985, followed by

1653-488: The UK, this music was not referred to as "indie" until the 2000s. Indie music reached wide commercial success in the 1990s, especially with Britpop bands like Blur , Pulp , and Oasis . As well, American grunge bands like Nirvana , Pearl Jam , and The Smashing Pumpkins received mainstream success. In 1991, the Grammys added an Alternative section to its awards ceremony, for "non-traditional form[s]" existing "outside of

1710-608: The Virgin EMI Records division. The Virgin Records name continues to be used by UMG in certain markets such as Germany and Japan. Virgin Records America, Inc. was the company's North American operations founded in 1986. They are no longer active and were headquartered in Hollywood , California , and operated under the Capitol Music Group imprint, now also owned by UMG, since 2012. The US operations had also taken on

1767-578: The album sold over 60,000 copies and also reached number 12 in the charts, though it was later redacted its spot on the grounds of the cover price. Other early albums include Gong 's Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible, Pt. 1) , which Daevid Allen has been quoted as having never been paid for. The first single release for the label was Kevin Coyne 's "Marlene" (b/w "Everybody Says"), taken from his album Marjory Razorblade and released in August 1973. Coyne

Filter (magazine) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-444: The chances of greater success. There are a few ways an independent label may go about distributing its music. Some independent labels are owned by major labels, who carry out the distribution for them. Other labels instead go through independent distributors. Many current artists use their own resources to produce, record, market and release music through Spotify , SoundCloud , and other streaming platforms with social media in

1881-631: The common highly produced pop music of the time. The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, and independent distribution became better organized from the late 1970s onward. In 1986, NME released the compilation album C86 , which was influential to the development of indie music. In the United States, independent music was first spread by in the 1980s by college radios and thus dubbed college rock (also later termed modern rock and alternative rock ). Defining American albums of this era include Sonic Youth 's Daydream Nation (1988) and Pixies ’ Doolittle (1989). However, unlike

1938-525: The cost of smaller budgets and personnel. They are often able to support artists working in niche styles of music, and rely heavily on personal networking, or word of mouth , to expose their acts. Indie labels are usually small operations, with almost no outside assistance and run out of tiny offices. Some artists choose to go from an independent label to a major label if given the opportunity, as major labels have considerably more power and financial means to promote and distribute products, sometimes increasing

1995-576: The deal in May 2013. Virgin Music was renamed BMG VM Music, while Famous Music became BMG FM Music. Before its demise, Virgin Music's songwriters included Iggy Pop , Texas , Ozzy Osbourne , Cannibal Corpse , Nirvana , Winger , Wax , Tears for Fears , The Prodigy , Goo Goo Dolls , Tool , The Crystal Method , Terence Trent D'Arby , Lenny Kravitz , Ben Harper , Warrant , Mark Ronson , Devo , Culture Club , Take That , Bullet for My Valentine , Robbie Williams , Wayne Hector , Orchestral Manoeuvres in

2052-401: The fledgling label garnered unprecedented acclaim. This was soon followed by some notable krautrock releases, including electronic breakthrough album Phaedra by Tangerine Dream (which went Top 20), and The Faust Tapes and Faust IV by Faust . The Faust Tapes album retailed for 49p (the price of a 7" single) and as a result allowed this relatively unknown band a massive audience as

2109-668: The guidance of Tessa Watts , Virgin's Head of Publicity (and later, also Director of Production), the Pistols rocketed the label to success. Shortly afterwards, the Nottingham record shop was raided by police for having a window display of the Sex Pistols' album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols in the window. Afterwards they signed other new wave groups: Public Image Ltd , Boxer , Culture Club , Fingerprintz , Gillan , Holly and

2166-447: The label a temporary license to the recordings. An advance is a pre-payment of royalties from the label for the artist to record the album; it is paid back through the album's royalties. Independent labels generally give out much smaller advances than major labels, if any. Additionally, some independent labels will cover an album's recording costs instead of proving a set dollar amount as an advance. One advantage of smaller advances

2223-633: The label's president, with Virgin Records now operating as an imprint of latter label. In February 2021, the Universal Music Group announced that it will rebrand the Caroline Music Group as Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, the name change was "inspired and influenced by the spirit and ethos of the iconic Virgin Records label". In September 2022, UMG consolidated Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, Ingrooves Music Group , and

2280-695: The mainstream music consciousness". The internet 's ease of spreading information influenced indie music's popularization in the United States and global spread. Music fans no longer relied on publications or magazines to hear about new artists. At the beginning of the 21st century, the term indie came to describe a number of related but distinct subgenres . One example is indie folk , a stripped-back low fidelity approach to folk music , as seen in Fleet Foxes or Bon Iver 's first album, For Emma, Forever Ago . Widely popular indie rock bands of this era include Arcade Fire and Arctic Monkeys . By this time,

2337-487: The mainstream, pushed along by the popularity of Seattle's grunge scene, especially Nirvana . Notable artists of the 2000s included The Strokes , Yeah Yeah Yeahs , and the Arctic Monkeys , while some of the 2010s included The 1975 and Vampire Weekend . Indie rock went onto inspire a multitude of subgenres and derivative styles, such as dream pop , noise pop , lo-fi , math rock , emo , and more. Indie folk

Filter (magazine) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-415: The majority failed as commercial ventures or were bought by the major labels. During the punk rock era, the number of independent labels grew. In 1977, Manchester -band Buzzcocks released Spiral Scratch , considered the first independently released rock release. In the late 1970s, certain UK independent labels (such as Rough Trade , Factory , Fiction , and Mute ) contributed to the emergence of

2451-476: The name Virgin Records. A minor number of artists remained on Virgin Records America's roster, which was mostly occupied with European artists such as Bastille , Barbara Pravi , Circa Waves , Corinne Bailey Rae , Ella Eyre , Grizfolk , Walking on Cars , Seinabo Sey , and Prides ; American artists include Knox Hamilton, L'Tric, Loren Gray , and Rise Against . Virgin Classics was founded in 1988 as part of Virgin Records. Along with EMI Classics , it too

2508-487: The recently acquired mtheory Artist Partnerships as part of the newly launched division Virgin Music Group . UMG also appointed mtheory founders JT Myers and Nat Pastor as Co-CEOs of the new division. The Virgin label was distributed in the US by Atlantic from 1973 to 1975. During this period, 14 albums were issued. All had been previously issued in the UK on Virgin, although one album, Marjory Razorblade by Kevin Coyne,

2565-592: The same early 14 albums issued in the US by Virgin/Atlantic. In 1975, distribution transferred to Columbia (as it had in the US), but the following year distribution was transferred again to Polydor Records (which changed its name to PolyGram by 1980), and issued a different and larger selection of records from what was being issued in the US. Canadian editions of the Dindisc label were issued as Dindisc/Virgin. Virgin's Canadian division arranged to have Canadian artists Martha &

2622-618: The same time, Virgin releases distributed by Columbia continued, distribution returning to Atlantic (later WEA) in 1980, at which time Virgin International ceased operations. In 1986, Virgin Records opened up another American division, Virgin Records America . Its first release was the debut album by Cutting Crew which included the hit single " (I Just) Died in Your Arms ". Other Virgin America signings included Camper Van Beethoven , Bob Mould , Warren Zevon , Paula Abdul , T'pau , Ziggy Marley and

2679-469: The seasonal festival Culture Collide (hosted by Collide). Miller founded Collide after he founded Filter . [1] Miller and Sartirana parted ways in 2014. However, Sartirana, McGuire, and Simonian joined with several members of the FILTER staff to found FLOOD magazine, a quarterly entertainment publication. Independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music , or simply indie )

2736-450: The shop into a success, they turned their business into a fully fledged record label. The name Virgin , according to Branson (in his autobiography), arose from Tessa Watts , a colleague of his, when they were brainstorming business ideas. She suggested Virgin – as they were all new to business – like "virgins". The original Virgin logo (known to fans as the "Gemini" or "Twins" logo) was designed by English artist and illustrator Roger Dean :

2793-400: The term indie had transcended the definition of solely independently released music, and came to represent a "general resistance to popular and mainstream culture, evoking realism, independence and authenticity". An independent record label is one that operates outside of the funding and creative control of major record labels . Independent labels generally have greater creative freedom, at

2850-423: The time estimating an $ 80 million deal. The agreement also required Virgin to allocate about $ 25 million in video production, marketing and promotion costs – a much larger sum than most deals. Virgin Records America was founded by the executive team of Jordan Harris, Jeff Ayeroff and Phil Quartararo . Another American company called Caroline Records co-existed during this time. Caroline records rarely mentioned

2907-609: Was acquired by UMG in 2012 as part of the takeover of the EMI Group. But the terms of the European Commission 's approval of the takeover required divestment of the two classical labels. Accordingly, both were sold in February the following year to Warner Music Group , and this transaction was approved by the European Union that May. Warner placed the Virgin Classics artist roster and catalogue in its Erato Records division, and

SECTION 50

#1732876533464

2964-1291: Was coming under intense anti-competitive pressure from British Airways . In 1993, BA settled a libel action brought by Branson over BA's " dirty tricks " campaign, giving him £500,000 and a further £110,000 to his airline. After being acquired by Thorn EMI, Virgin launched several subsidiaries like Realworld Records , Innocent Records , blues speciality label Point Blank Records , and indie music label Hut Recordings , and continued signing new and established artists like Korn , A Fine Frenzy , Thirty Seconds to Mars , Tina Turner , Beenie Man , The Rolling Stones , Spice Girls , The Smashing Pumpkins , We Are Scientists , The Kooks , dcTalk (mainstream releases, contract ended in 2000), Belinda Carlisle , Meat Loaf , Placebo , Janet Jackson (contract ended in 2006), Daft Punk (contract ended in 2008), My Favorite Highway , Does It Offend You, Yeah? , The Future Sound of London , The Chemical Brothers , Brooke Allison , The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus , The Almost , Mariah Carey (contract ended in 2002), N.E.R.D , Laura Marling , Swami , RBD , Thalía and Priscilla Renea . Because business models increasingly diverged, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerger proposals on 16 August 1996. The resulting media company became

3021-780: Was created in 1978, commissioned by Simon Draper, then managing director of Virgin Records Limited. Brian Cooke of Cooke Key Associates commissioned a graphic designer to produce a stylised signature. The logo was first used on Mike Oldfield's Incantations album in 1978 and by the Virgin Records label exclusively until gradually other parts of the Virgin Group adopted it, including Virgin Atlantic , Virgin Mobile and Virgin Money . Virgin Records

3078-774: Was folded into Capitol Records' Nashville division. Capitol Records and Virgin Records America merged in 2007 to form Capitol Music Group after a massive restructuring of EMI Group Ltd. Stepping down as chief executive of Capitol Records was Andy Slater, with Jason Flom, former executive of Virgin, taking the reins as chairman and CEO of the newly created company. Universal Music Group (UMG) purchased EMI in 2012, thus acquiring Virgin. UMG absorbed Virgin's UK operations to create Virgin EMI Records in March 2013. On 16 June 2020, Universal rebranded Virgin EMI Records as EMI Records and named Rebecca Allen (former president of UMG's Decca label) as

3135-632: Was sold by Branson to Thorn EMI in June 1992 for a reported US$ 1 billion (around £560 million) (equivalent to $ 2,171,211,762 in 2023), with a special non-competition clause that would prevent Branson from founding another recording company during the five years following the agreement (see the final paragraph in EU Merger Decision IV/M202 of 27 April 1992). It now faces competition from Branson's new label: V2 Records . Branson sold Virgin Records to fund Virgin Atlantic which at that time

3192-407: Was the second artist signed to the label after Oldfield. Although Virgin was initially one of the key labels of English and European progressive rock, the 1977 signing of the Sex Pistols (who had already been signed and then dropped by both EMI and A&M ) reinvented the label PM in a new-wave outpost, a move that plunged the record company into the mainstream of the punk rock era. Under

3249-439: Was truncated from a 20-song double album to an 11-song single album. Beginning with Mike Oldfield's Ommadawn album in 1975, American distribution switched to CBS Records/ Columbia Records . CBS/Columbia was unwilling to release all Virgin artists, and so many were licensed to other labels: Some of these records had a small Virgin logo added to the regular company design on the label. One of Virgin's and Epic's biggest acts of

#463536