131-560: Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller . It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode , Erasure , Einstürzende Neubauten , Fad Gadget , Goldfrapp , Grinderman , Inspiral Carpets , Moby , New Order , Laibach , Nitzer Ebb , Yann Tiersen , Wire , Yeasayer , Fever Ray , Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds , Yazoo , and M83 . During 1978, Daniel Miller began recording music, using synthesisers, under
262-492: A Chance on Me ", and " Always ". As of November 2022, the duo have released 19 studio albums and have enjoyed a long string of hit singles spanning their four decades together. In 2011, Clarke collaborated with his former Depeche Mode colleague Martin Gore for the first time since 1981, as techno duo VCMG , on an instrumental minimalist electronic dance album called Ssss , released on 12 March 2012. The first EP, entitled Spock ,
393-658: A Friend", in June 1984, produced by Daniel Miller. In subsequent years, the band would also record for the label under the names Fortran 5 , John Came and Komputer . 1984 ended with the long delayed release of Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing by Frank Tovey and Boyd Rice. The album was originally recorded at Blackwing Studios in May 1981, using sounds created from non-musical appliances, and other studio-generated sounds. The recordings were engineered by John Fryer and Eric Radcliffe . In 1985,
524-418: A UK top ten hit. I Start Counting finished recording their debut album, My Translucent Hands , in this same year. Wire re-grouped to record a 12-inch single, " Snakedrill ", produced by Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones . Band member Bruce Gilbert went on to produce the 12-inch single "Just Talk", for A.C. Marias. Two Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds albums were released in 1986. The first was Kicking Against
655-681: A couple of appearances from Kylie Minogue and a few releases on XL Recordings, the Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50 would be alien to anyone who remembered the indie chart from 1990. It is now more likely for grime, dance and K-Pop artists to be in the Top 10 than indie bands, with the chart of 20 November to 26 November 2020, having KSI and Craig David at number one with their BMG released single "Really Love", BTS at number two with "Dynamite" and AJ Tracey at number three with "West Ten". Apart from re-issues and oldies by people like
786-521: A few years later decided to launch a 'new Virgin Records'. This 'Virgin2' was set up as V2 Music in 1996 with staff from Branson's company working on V2 at the same time as the V96 Festival (both record company and festival would use similar 'V' branding, as Branson could not use the full Virgin name for any projects involving music). This British independent label would be joined by other V2 Records around
917-438: A guitar and a tape recorder, I'll strum some chords, he'll sing a melody, and we work in little sections, four or eight bars long. Then we'll try stringing the sections together. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. I find it very hard to relate songwriting to synthesisers, actually – we write songs in a very traditional way. The electronic side of things is just to create the atmosphere. It's mostly just messing about..! Once we've worked out
1048-508: A hired cottage in Wiltshire , South West England . Goldfrapp completed the recording after six months, and the album was released in September 2000. Mute was one of the first British record labels to have an Internet presence, entitled Mute Liberation Technologies. This started out running as an FTP site, Telnet site and a bulletin board system in 1994. They continued to be run in tandem for
1179-433: A huge number of records (usually promoted by a 'front' of models-turned-singers and various rappers) and, in the 1990s, a UK arm which would eventually turn into hard house label Nukleuz , known for its DJ Nation releases. The dance music scene also proved beneficial to independent labels who compiled and marketed TV-advertised compilations, especially when Virgin teamed up with EMI to launch Now That's What I Call Music ,
1310-524: A little dark for his taste, but good nonetheless. Clarke also stated that he did not enjoy the public aspects of success, such as touring and interviews, and found himself frequently at odds with his bandmates, particularly on the tour bus. He also stated: "I think everybody in the band, especially myself, imagined that the reason we were doing so well was because of themselves ... We were pretty young and very lucky, and things had happened very quickly for us, and I don't think we were really mature to handle
1441-407: A lot of its catalogue in order to please various anti-monopoly and merger commissions or trade bodies, after buying the large part of EMI ( Parlophone ) that UMG was not allowed to keep hold of after acquiring the remainder. In 2016, Radiohead 's back catalogue was sold to Beggars (XL Recordings) , Chrysalis Records was sold to Blue Raincoat Music (now including recordings by Everything but
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#17328771192291572-529: A massive $ 3.4 million record deal, all which ended when Mimran's father, Jean Claude, cut finances. In the end Bowie's Savage album, Black Tie White Noise only just made the US Top 40 albums chart (but was a number one in the UK for Savage's distributor BMG via their Arista label) with Savage Records being a record label whose 'story' Telstar and Sanctuary would follow to a lesser extent. One independent record label who
1703-664: A negative way, WEA set up Korova in 1979 for Zoo Record's Echo & the Bunnymen , with Zoo Records being the Liverpool-based label of Bill Drummond and David Balfe). The term " alternative " was increasingly used to describe artists, and "indie'" was more often used to describe a broad range of guitar-based rock and pop. The "explosion" of the dance music scene in the mid- to late 1980s found labels such as Warp , Coldcut's Ahead of Our Time and Wax On Records set up. In Italy production teams like Groove Groove Melody and
1834-399: A new USA distribution deal with Alternative Distribution Alliance , returning to Warner Music Group , which was its American home 20 years prior. European distribution for Mute was now handled by PIAS . In September 2014 New Order announced that it had signed with Mute Records for its tenth studio album. The wholly independent label continued to sign new artists such as Lee Ranaldo plus
1965-539: A new incarnation of Simon Bonney 's Crime & the City Solution formed, including ex-Birthday Party members Mick Harvey and Rowland S. Howard. The new line-up released the EP The Dangling Man and later the mini-album Just South of Heaven . Mute released the single "Hypnotized" in May 1985, by newly signed artist Mark Stewart , produced by Adrian Sherwood . Stewart recorded his first album for Mute, As
2096-567: A nightclub in South London, before it became a record company). Originally AATW would focus on singles and would issue a compilation album once in a while as a tie-in with a local EMAP-owned radio station such as 97.4 Rock FM in Preston, Lancashire (Rock The Dancefloor - All Mixed Up), while the Ministry of Sound moved into compilations quite quickly with the release of their Sessions series . Over
2227-573: A number of years until they were shut down. Mute Liberation Technologies has been running as a website since 1995. A newer version of the site was launched in July 2004. In 2001, Rough Trade Records celebrated the 25th anniversary of the opening of their first retail shop. To mark the anniversary, Mute released the Rough Trade Shops 25 Years four CD box set. The album release coincided with ten days of special live events across London. Tracks appearing on
2358-407: A number one hit that would see CBS and WEA (the future Sony BMG and WMG) move into the market with their rival Hits compilations and Chrysalis and MCA team up for the short lived Out Now! brand. Morgan Khan's StreetSounds/StreetWaves was the first independent company to run up a number of hits in the UK album chart with a run of various artist dance music collections and started off business in
2489-461: A second album, entitled Wonderful . In 2001, Clarke founded Illustrious Co. Ltd. with Martyn Ware, to create new forms of spatialised sound composition using their unique 3D AudioScape system, collaborating with fine artists, educational establishments, the performing arts, live events, corporate clients, and educational settings round the world. In 2004, Clarke provided additional music for an episode of Johnny Bravo titled "The Time of My Life". This
2620-501: A similar marketplace to their compilations partner, the original BMG company. In the 2010s, due to platforms such as Bandcamp and SoundCloud, a number of the larger indies moved away from signing unknown acts instead acquiring back catalogues and working with 'heritage acts' (for example, those popular in a pre-digital age). New independent BMG , which had been spun-out of the Sony BMG joint venture that included Arista and RCA, ended up with
2751-504: A single for his label; that first single was " Dreaming of Me ". Emerging out of the British electronic pop scene, Depeche Mode quickly asserted themselves as a radio-friendly pop group, and they had hits with their next three singles, including the UK top ten single " Just Can't Get Enough ". Their loyalty to Mute was reciprocated by the label's rapid expansion to cope with their success. In defiance of
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#17328771192292882-512: A small but loyal audience. They relied less on mass sales and were able to provide artists much more opportunity for experimentation and artistic freedom . In the late 1940s and into the 1950s, the American music business changed as people began to more quickly learn the industry. Several companies set up their own recording studios , and the number of label owners began to increase. Many of these owners realized that whichever label first publishes
3013-1788: A software synth, but the great thing about the latter is that you can do far more complex modulation, both within the synth itself and on the keyboard. To emulate any of those really complex modulations on an analogue ... well, you'd need a mile of cable." " As of 2009, Clarke has installed his analogue synthesisers alongside his Logic Pro-based workstation in a custom-built commercial studio called "The Cabin" in Maine. Current & past studio equipment: Dave Smith Instruments Mopho, Roland System 700 , Roland System-100M , Roland Jupiter-8 , Roland Jupiter-4 , Roland MKS-80 , Roland SH-1, Roland VP-330 , Roland JP-8000 , Roland Juno-60 , Roland Juno-106 , Roland Super JX , Roland D-550, ARP 2500 Modular, ARP 2600 , PPG Wave 2.2 , Waldorf Microwave, Waldorf Pulse, Moog Modular , Minimoog , Moog Source , E-Mu Modular System, Buchla 100 series Modular, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 , Sequential Circuits Pro-One , Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar, Synton Syrinx, Korg MS-20 , Korg MS-10 , Korg 700, Korg M1 , Korg DVP, Serge Modular , Polyfusion Modular, Oberheim Xpander , Oberheim SEM System, RSF Kobol, Casio CZ-101 , Casio CZ-1000 , Electronic Music Studios VCS 3 , Matten and Wiechers x2 48 track sequencers total 96 track, Sennheiser Vocoder VSM201, Apple iPad 2 , Apple Power Mac G5 , Apple MacBook Pro . Current & past software: Apple Logic Pro , Cycling '74 Max/MSP , Arturia ARP 2600 V, Arturia Minimoog V, Arturia Moog Modular V, GForce impOSCar, GForce Oddity, LinPlug Octopus, Muon Tau Pro, Native Instruments Absynth, Native Instruments Reaktor , Native Instruments FM7, Native Instruments FM8, Vienna Symphonic String & Choir Libraries . Clarke
3144-502: A song is legally entitled to receive compensation for every record sold. Jazz musicians pioneered a new subset of independent labels, companies operated by the artists themselves. Following the original pioneers of the music industry, many new labels were launched over the following decades by people with industry experience. From the 1940s to 1950s, R&B indie labels such as Savoy, Apollo, King, Modern, Mercury, Imperial, Specialty, Red Robin, Duke and Vee-Jay Records were founded. During
3275-510: A song, I start programming up the arrangement on the BBC UMI sequencer, which lets me run 16 synths simultaneously. That way you get a better idea if parts are working together or not. Then we start refining the individual sounds. And finally the whole lot is transferred to my Roland MC4 , piece by piece, so it's being run in CV and Gate. Once we've got that, it's a case of Andy sketching out vocal ideas – in
3406-576: A songwriter on the album, written and recorded along with Gahan's friend, Knox Chandler . Mute released another Depeche Mode solo project that year, Counterfeit² by Martin Gore , a collection of cover songs recorded at Gore's home studio. The eleven tracks on the album included songs that were recorded originally by Iggy Pop , John Lennon , and Brian Eno . Goldfrapp released their fifth album, Head First , in March 2010. Recorded in 2009 in Bath and London ,
3537-457: A specific genre , and the chart featured a diverse range of music, from punk to reggae , MOR , and mainstream pop , including many songs in the late 1980s by artists like Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan on the PWL label. Even though PWL 's releases were mainly Hi-NRG -influenced disco-pop the label was independently distributed and did have a music fan ( Pete Waterman ) at its helm, of which
3668-528: A successful solo career. Yazoo reformed in 2008/2009 for a series of live dates to celebrate 25 years since the duo's split. Clarke teamed up with Eric Radcliffe in 1983. Their idea was to collaborate with different artists on each new single, under the name the Assembly . With singer Feargal Sharkey , former lead vocalist of the Undertones , they scored the top 5 UK hit " Never Never ". Meanwhile, Clarke founded
3799-446: A supporting act. They had already released two singles with Mute before releasing their debut album, That Total Age , in May 1987. Mute released Mark Stewart 's album, Metatron , in May 1990, which included the single, "Hysteria". Stewart continued working with producer Adrian Sherwood. Mute signed Goldfrapp in 1999, consisting of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory . The duo began recording their debut album, Felt Mountain , in
3930-501: A valuable marketing tool (especially when targeting readers of the NME, Select and various student publications) and so the Britpop-era gave rise to the idea of the 'fake indie'. The 'fake indie' would be a record label owned by a major company but whose distribution did not go through the parent company's distribution arm, going through an independent in order for those records to be eligible for
4061-621: Is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels ; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise , or SME. The labels and artists are often represented by trade associations in their country or region, which in turn are represented by the international trade body, the Worldwide Independent Network ( WIN ). Many of the labels started as producers and distributors of specific genres of music, such as jazz music , or represent something new and non-mainstream, such as Elvis Presley in
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4192-403: Is a challenge to this orthodoxy: George McKay's argument in the article 'Was punk DIY? Is DIY punk?' that, because it relied on existing commercial record manufacturing companies, [n]o punk band ever made its own singles . Further, only recently has the early 1970s pub rock scene has been re-evaluated by cultural historians and in rock documentaries such as Sky Arts' Trailblazers series, with
4323-489: Is a label that owns its distribution channel . Some independent labels, particularly those with successful artists, sign dual-release, or distribution only agreements with major labels. They may also rely on international licensing deals and other arrangements with major labels. Major labels sometimes fully or partially acquire independent labels. Other nominally independent labels are started and sometimes run by artists on major labels but are still fully or partially owned by
4454-567: Is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter for several groups, including Depeche Mode , Yazoo , and the Assembly . In Erasure, he is known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bell 's animated and hyperactive frontman antics. Erasure have recorded over 200 songs and have sold over 28 million albums worldwide. Clarke
4585-561: The 13th Floor Elevators and began distributing releases from local rock bands. In the United Kingdom during the 1950s and 1960s, the major labels EMI , Philips , and Decca had so much power that smaller labels struggled to establish themselves. Several British producers launched independent labels, including Joe Meek ( Triumph Records ), Andrew Loog Oldham ( Immediate Records ), and Larry Page ( Page One Records ). Chrysalis Records , launched by Chris Wright and Terry Ellis ,
4716-581: The Official Charts Company when he released Weltschmerz on 25 September 2020, an album self-funded, marketed and distributed from his home in Scotland. As he did not partner with a record label like BMG, he missed out on a top ten album chart placing when early sales revealed that he would have been number 2 on the UK midweek charts behind that week's chart topper, the Partisan-signed band IDLES. On
4847-478: The Recording Industry Association of America , indie labels produce and distribute about 66% of music titles, but only account for 20% of sales. Many musical artists begin their careers on independent labels, hoping to further grow their career into signing with a record label . The distinction between major and independent labels is not always clear. The traditional definition of a major label
4978-541: The peak body for the independent music industry is the Australian Independent Record Labels Association , known as AIR, representing about 350 members as of 2019 . A 2017 report commissioned by AIR, titled AIR Share: Australian Independent Music Market Report , was the first market analysis of the industry in Australia. It showed that indie labels represented 30% of revenue generated by
5109-502: The post-war period in the United States . Disputes with major labels led to a proliferation of smaller labels specializing in country , jazz , and blues . Sun Records played an important part in the development of rock 'n' roll and country music, working with artists such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins , Johnny Cash , Jerry Lee Lewis , Roy Orbison , and Charlie Rich . These independent labels usually aimed their releases at
5240-452: The 1960s, rock label Elektra, R&B labels such as Motown, Stax records released singles and albums. A noted success was that of comedy artist Tom Lehrer , who sold more than 350,000 copies of his 4 albums on his own label, Lehrer Records, by the mid-1960s before moving publishing to Warner Bros. Amidst the advent of the psychedelic revolution independent record labels such as International Artists geared their attention towards bands like
5371-513: The 1980s. Early independents of the 1970s included labels such as MAM Records , set up by the Gordon Mills' Management Agency & Music company. However MAM, like many of the small independents in the United Kingdom ended up signing a distribution deal with a major to remain viable, with MAM's records being licensed and distributed by Decca until it was sold to Chrysalis. For many years,
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5502-658: The 1990s would see the founding of two independent companies who would go on to chart numerous dance music collections in the new compilations album chart, Blackburn-based All Around the World (AATW) and the Ministry of Sound . Both All Around the World/AATW and the Ministry of Sound would be founded in 1991, the former by Cris Nuttall and Matt Cadman, the latter by James Palumbo , Humphrey Waterhouse and Justin Berkmann (though initially as
5633-579: The Australian recorded music market, and that 57% of independent sector revenue was from Australian artists, which put the Australian sector in the Top 10 global list of mainly English-speaking indie music markets, according to then CEO of WIN (Worldwide Independent Network), Alison Wenham. (By comparison, the US indie market had a 34% share while the UK had 23%.) The report valued the Australian recording industry as worth A$ 399.4 million , sixth largest music market in
5764-493: The Bad Seeds . The single was a cover of the song " In the Ghetto ", by Mac Davis , previously made famous by Elvis Presley . Yazoo released the album You and Me Both that year and disbanded. Vince Clarke then began working at Blackwing Studios under the name The Assembly . The project's first single, " Never Never ", was a hit, featuring Feargal Sharkey on vocals. D.A.F. split up, and in 1983, ex-member Robert Görl released
5895-656: The Bad Seeds moved over to Miller's new independent label. October 2010 saw the release of Dust Lane by the French artist Yann Tiersen . The album incorporated vintage electronic sounds and textures recorded over two years in France and the Philippines . In November Mute released Einstürzende Neubauten 's fourth album in the Strategies Against Architecture series. The album continues with an archive compilation of
6026-460: The Bad Seeds. The resulting 1984 album, From Her to Eternity , included a cover of Leonard Cohen 's song, " Avalanche ". In 1984, Bruce Gilbert extended his field of music into dance after a commission to write music for dancer Michael Clark . Gilbert recorded with engineer John Fryer at Blackwing Studios. The recordings were documented by Mute on the album, This Way . The synth duo I Start Counting released their debut single, "Letters to
6157-547: The Disco Mix Club (DMC) for their Hit Mix series. Coming before the Acid House-era the first Hit Mix album in 1986 still had a large amount of pop hits from mainstream chart stars like Kajagoogoo, Kate Bush and Nik Kershaw, but Paul Dakeyne & Les 'L.A. Mix' Adams mixed 86 tracks onto four-sides of vinyl, while follow-up releases would start to feature more house tracks by people like Krush and Nitro De Luxe. The start of
6288-597: The FPI Project would make and release Italo dance/piano house records under many pseudonyms and license them individually to various record labels around the world (such as Beggars' Citybeat label). Instead of going down this one-by-one deal route, Cappella 's Gianfranco Bortolotti set up Media Records in Brescia, northern Italy to release his 'commercial European dance music', a set-up which included fifteen studios featuring various production teams working almost non-stop on
6419-646: The German band Einstürzende Neubauten , titled Strategies Against Architecture '80–'83 , compiled by Jim Thirlwell . Mute used Berlin as a recording location at this time. Einstürzende Neubauten member F.M. Einheit contributed on the recording of the Fad Gadget album Gag , along with Rowland S. Howard (ex-guitarist for The Birthday Party), who also contributed to the 1983 Fad Gadget single "I Discover Love". Einstürzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld began working with Nick Cave at this time, playing guitar with Nick Cave and
6550-515: The Girl , Athlete and Cockney Rebel ), while the rights to albums by Guster and Airbourne went to Nettwerk . In 2017, WMG went on to sell the catalogues of a number of other artists to independent record companies, including Domino ( Hot Chip and Buzzcocks ), Cherry Red ( Howard Jones , Dinosaur Jr. and Kim Wilde ), Fire ( The Lemonheads and The Groundhogs ) and Because Music ( The Beta Band and various French acts). Apart from
6681-690: The Human League , Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget . In the late 1970s, Clarke and schoolmate Andy Fletcher formed a short-lived band called No Romance in China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass guitar. In 1979, Clarke played guitar in the Plan, an Ultravox -influenced band, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith. In 1980, after the Plan dissolved, Clarke and Fletcher formed Composition of Sound, and were soon joined by Martin Gore . Clarke provided vocals until lead vocalist Dave Gahan joined
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#17328771192296812-481: The Masses . The album was supported by a world tour. During the promotional tour for the new album, Depeche Mode became increasingly popular in the musical mainstream. The 101st concert they performed was recorded and made into a film, documenting one of their largest attended concerts. A live album of the concert was released in 1989 titled 101 . The Music for the Masses tour saw new Mute artists Nitzer Ebb performing as
6943-631: The Mute trademark, which would be licensed by EMI and will be supported by EMI via services such as sales, licensing, and distribution. Daniel Miller was given full control of the new label, which left EMI with a minority equity interest in the company. To help fund the new label, EMI licensed part of the Mute back catalogue, also giving support in areas such as royalty administration and business affairs. Current Mute artists such as Depeche Mode , Kraftwerk , and Goldfrapp remained signed to and marketed by EMI Music. Many other bands, including Erasure and Nick Cave and
7074-537: The Official Independent Albums Chart Top 10 for 8 October, IDLES would be number one with Ultra Mono with acts from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s taking up a further seven slots (including compilations from acts like Slade and new albums from people like Hüsker Dü 's Bob Mould ). According to Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun , K-pop company Big Hit Entertainment had revenues of 484 billion South Korea won ($ 436 million US dollars) for
7205-625: The Pricks , a collection of covers including All Tomorrow's Parties and Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart . The second album released in November 1986 was Your Funeral... My Trial . Mute signed the American female singer Diamanda Galás who in her first year with Mute released The Divine Punishment and Saint of the Pit . Mute carried out a licensing deal with the Japanese company Wave. This gave Mute
7336-484: The Silicon Teens' album, titled Music For Parties . Around this time the artist Fad Gadget had begun recording new demos , including the track "Back To Nature". This was released as a single in 1980, followed by the next single " Ricky's Hand " and the album Fireside Favourites recorded at Blackwing Studios . September 1980 saw the release of the double-holed, multi-speed 7" single by Non & Smegma, one of
7467-417: The UK he began using an Apple Mac laptop with Logic Pro , Max/MSP , and various software synthesisers (many of which were analogue emulations). Since then he has continued to use Logic Pro, along with both software and analogue synthesisers: "Nowadays, you can take the best bits from digital and analogue. On certain projects – say, if I'm doing library music – where you need to have instant recall all
7598-729: The Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade , in November 1985, also produced by Sherwood, under the name Mark Stewart and the Mafia. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their second album, The Firstborn Is Dead , recorded at the Berlin recording studio, Hansa Tonstudio , co-produced by Flood . Fad Gadget began recording as Frank Tovey in 1985 and released the single "Luxury" in August that year, co-produced with Daniel Miller. Vince Clarke and Andy Bell began recording as Erasure in 1985, and released their debut album
7729-471: The White Stripes and Arctic Monkeys, the nearest to a new indie band hit is pop guitar band McFly at number 30 with their song "Happiness", only charting after a special called "McFly: All About Us" was broadcast by ITV on 14 November 2020. After having his own independent record company in the 1990s which charted a number of releases in the main UK charts, prog rock singer Fish decided not to sign up to
7860-584: The Windscreen" featuring Ane Brun . Clarke also did DJ sets in various locations in North America and Europe and also continued his production work of remixing songs for Dido and Chad Valley . On 14 July 2015, Clarke announced a collaboration with Jean-Michel Jarre called "Automatic", released as a part of the studio album Electronica 1: The Time Machine on 16 October 2015. On 10 June 2016, in collaboration with Paul Hartnoll , Clarke digitally released
7991-495: The Yugoslav band Laibach . The following year Mute released the band's album Opus Dei , which included the cover single, Life is Life . Also at the end of 1986 the band Wire returned to the studio with producer Gareth Jones . In 1987 Mute released the result of the studio sessions, the album The Ideal Copy . 1987 saw Depeche Mode recording and working with a new producer Dave Bascombe. In September, Mute released Music for
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#17328771192298122-473: The album 2 Square on his new record label, VeryRecords. Since 2017, Clarke has hosted The Synthesizer Show with VeryRecords artist Reed Hays on Maker Park Radio, a non-profit community streaming radio station from Staten Island, New York. Clarke's first solo album called Songs of Silence was released on 17 November 2023. When Clarke started making music, synthesisers were predominantly analogue; digital synthesizers were rare and would remain so until
8253-515: The album Pretentious . The duo collaborated again in 2001 for the album Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle , which was created with "3D music technology" specifically designed for listening in headphones. That same year also saw the release of the Clarke-produced album Erasure's Vince Clarke , which featured The Peter Pan Effect , an album that he and Eric Radcliffe produced for his long-time friend Robert Marlow . Clarke wrote "Let's Get Together" for
8384-465: The album included the singles " Rocket " and " Alive ". The American band Liars also released a new album in March 2010, Sisterworld , which included the single "Scissor", as a digital download. In September 2010, EMI and Daniel Miller reached an agreement in which EMI would support Miller in the establishment of a second record label. The Mute brand once again became an independent record label as Mute Artists Ltd . The new label would operate under
8515-562: The attraction of creating independent labels for the genre. MF Doom 's album Madvillainy sold over 150,000 copies, making it Stones Throw Records highest selling underground album. In 2004, Telstar Records went bankrupt in the UK after giving Victoria Beckham a £1.5 million record deal. Like Savage Records a decade earlier Telstar did not stick to their niche (they started off as a compilations label - similar to Ronco and K-Tel - before signing children's TV stars and dance acts to their XSRhythm and Multiply labels) and tried to operate in
8646-405: The band went on tour supporting the punk band Stiff Little Fingers , which had just released an album distributed by Rough Trade . In 1980, Miller released the single "Kebab-Träume" by the German band Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (D.A.F.), who had recently moved to London . The band's 1980 album, Die Kleinen und die Bösen , was the first album released by the new label. The album had
8777-475: The band's output from 2002 to 2010. In 2012, albums by Cold Specks , Liars , Crime & the City Solution , and Soulsavers were released, among others. The Germany-based BMG Rights Management acquired the original Mute back catalogue from Universal in December 2012, as part of the regulator-forced sale of European assets belonging to EMI Music that were acquired by Universal Music in September 2012. EMI kept
8908-509: The band, which was renamed Depeche Mode. At that time he adopted the stage name Vince Clarke, by which he is currently known. The band initially adopted a slick synthesised electropop sound, which produced the studio album Speak & Spell and the Clarke-penned singles " Dreaming of Me ", " New Life ", and " Just Can't Get Enough " in 1981. Clarke left Depeche Mode shortly thereafter. He commented on Depeche Mode's later material as being
9039-404: The bands got bigger the releases ended up going through major distribution channels like Arvato (its also worth pointing out that BMG would be seen as being one of the largest independent record companies of the 21st century after Sony BMG was dissolved). Richard Branson sold the independent label he co-founded with Simon Draper and Nik Powell ( Virgin Records ) to Thorn EMI in 1992 and
9170-437: The box set were carefully chosen to represent some of the most popular records sold during the past twenty five years at Rough Trade shops; these included recordings by Nick Cave , Joy Division and Stereolab . In May 2002, Mute Records was bought by EMI for £23m. The deal was finalized even though one in four acts signed by EMI faced being dropped by the label after job cuts in March 2002. Daniel Miller remained in charge of
9301-408: The case of Factory, one of Tony Wilson's beliefs was that "musicians own everything, the company owns nothing", which caused problems for the firm when it was going to be taken over by Roger Ames' London Recordings (a 'boutique' semi-independent label which followed Ames from Polygram to Warners when he became CEO). London Recordings did not have to buy Factory out right because the artists owned
9432-467: The catalogue prefix "STUMM", a play on the record label's name, meaning " mute " in German . This prefix was used through most of the label's album catalogue. Also in 1980, Miller recorded and released the cover single " Memphis Tennessee " under the name Silicon Teens . The band was Miller's realisation of a dream Mute Records group whose main instruments were synthesisers . In mid-1980, Mute Records released
9563-423: The catalogues of Echo , Infectious and Sanctuary (the biggest independent record label in the UK before it went bankrupt), while Cherry Red Records , who had a few 'heritage acts' like Hawkwind on their main label, were mainly concerned with their re-issue labels such as 7T's Records (1970s music), 3 Loop Music (indie music) and Cherry Pop (mainly chart pop from the 1980s). From 2013, Warner Music had to sell
9694-641: The catalogues of Throbbing Gristle and A Certain Ratio plus released new albums from Erasure , Goldfrapp and Ben Frost amongst others. In November 2017, the book 'Mute: A Visual Document: From 1978 – Tomorrow' was released in partnership with Thames & Hudson , the book was named Book of the Year by Rough Trade . Additionally the label relaunched the legendary techno label NovaMute with releases from Nicolas Bougaïeff and Terence Fixmer. Independent record label An independent record label (or indie label )
9825-494: The company is sometimes excluded from various lists of 'greatest independent labels' due to its association with Island Records in the 1980s (though ranked at number 7 on the NME's list from 2015). In the United States, independent labels such as Beserkley found success with artists such as The Modern Lovers . Another factor that came to define independent labels was the method of distribution, which had to be independent of
9956-521: The company's global activities. During that period, the label released eleven CDs of music by The Residents . Some CDs were rereleases of albums previously published on Ralph Records in the 70s and 80s and some new work from the San Francisco's group such as Animal Lover and The Voice of Midnight . Mute released the single " Dirty Sticky Floors " in May 2003, from Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan 's debut solo album, Paper Monsters . Gahan debuted as
10087-459: The control of his analogue instruments: "... the secret is having a good patch system – not as in patching to the mixing desk, but in patching CV and Gate. Because we don't use MIDI at all, you have to run three or four cables between each synth module – CV, Gate, Filter, Amplitude or whatever – and you've got to have a really unique system to do that." " In 1993 Clarke described his approach to songwriting: "Andy [Bell] and I get together with
10218-446: The early days. Indies release rock , soul , R&B , jazz , blues , gospel , reggae , hip hop , and world music . Music appearing on indie labels is often referred to as indie music , or more specifically by genre, such as indie hip-hop . Independent record labels are small companies that produce and distribute records . They are not affiliated with or funded by the three major records labels . According to SoundScan and
10349-423: The firm running TV channels in the 21st century based on Clubland and Universal's Now Music brands. Also in 1991 Rough Trade Distribution went bankrupt, causing a number of indie labels to stop trading (including Rough Trade itself and - indirectly - Factory, who had already spent a large amount of money on various projects such as their headquarters at Fac251 ) and others to be sold off in part to majors. In
10480-490: The first annual coordinated celebration of independent music across the world, for which the Australian Independent Record Labels Association created a list of the greatest independent records of all time. After Wenham's departure, WIN's director of Legal and Business Affairs, Charlie Phillips, was promoted to the leadership role, named as chief operating Officer. He would report directly to
10611-491: The first experimental noise releases from the label. Boyd Rice (Non) went on to release several more recordings with Mute Records. After touring with Daniel Miller as Robert Rental & The Normal , Robert Rental released his only Mute Records single, "Double Heart", a rare remaining trace of this late electronic music pioneer. Miller approached Depeche Mode in 1980, after seeing them perform in London, wanting them to record
10742-558: The first three quarters of 2020, a period which did not include the release of the Billboard album chart topping BE by BTS, but did include the period when the label bought into Han Sung Soo's Pledis Entertainment . In October 2020, Big Hit Entertainment floated on the Korean stock market with founder Bang Si-hyuk giving the members of BTS shares in the company and his stake in Big Hit making him
10873-413: The following decades, album brands such as AATW's Clubland and Floorfillers or the Ministry of Sound's The Annual and Euphoria (with the latter brand picked up from Telstar) would turn-up in the compilations top 20 so regularly that the majors became interested, with Sony taking over Ministry of Sound's record company and AATW getting into a joint-venture with Universal Music TV, which ended up with
11004-432: The general consensus was that the punk rock movement was the main turning point for independent labels, with the movement's do-it-yourself ethos creating an even greater proliferation of independent labels. Scholars of punk from Dave Laing (1985) to Matt Worley (2017) have consistently argued that independent labels were, along with self-produced punk fanzines, key to punk's influential DIY heart. Worth noting here though
11135-406: The genre being given a more prominent role in music history than it had. The pub rock scene included labels such as Chiswick Records and Stiff Records , the latter being a company known for rude slogans, bizarre releases (such as The Wit And Wisdom Of Ronald Reagan ) and tours by train. Even though Stiff Records released the UK's first punk single, ("New Rose" by The Damned on 22 October 1976),
11266-423: The indie chart. Acts promoted this way initially included Sleeper on BMG's Indolent Records and Echobelly on Sony's Fauve Records. However, at this point its worth noting that Sony owned half of Creation Records at the time (with Alan McGee too important within the scene to be labelled a 'fake'), that Fauve Records was set up as part of a labels deal between Epic and former dance music label Rhythm King and as
11397-451: The label Reset Records with Radcliffe. During 1983 and 1984 he produced four singles, " The Face of Dorian Gray ", "I Just Want to Dance", "Claudette", and "Calling All Destroyers" for his friend Robert Marlow , which were released on this label. They also produced a studio album, at first shelved but later released in 1999, under the name The Peter Pan Effect . In 1985, another collaboration took place with Paul Quinn of Bourgie Bourgie;
11528-586: The label managed to make it into the 1990s with a number of dance and hip-hop hits by artists such as Silver Bullet and A Homeboy, Hippy and A Funky Dread (issued on Savage's Tam Tam dance label). Around the time Soho had their top ten UK hit, Mimran decided that Savage would not just be a British indie, but would be an American major instead. Savage Records went on a spending spree in America, which resulted in them opening plush offices on Broadway, hiring Michael Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo and signing David Bowie to
11659-408: The label was closely associated with. Whether indie fans dismiss Stock Aitken Waterman as cheesy pop or not, this was as true for Waterman as it was for Ivo Watts-Russell (4AD), Alan Horne (Postcard), Daniel Miller (Mute), Alan McGee (Creation) or Tony Wilson (Factory). The UK Indie Chart became a major source of exposure for artists on independent labels, with the top ten singles regularly aired on
11790-503: The last two spent as CEO . As a driving force in helping indie labels being able to compete worldwide with bigger companies, Wenham featured in Billboard ' s "Top Women in Music" every year since publication. She stepped down from her role at WIN in December 2018, the following year taking on a non-executive director 's role at Funnel Music. On 4 July 2008, WIN ran " Independents Day ",
11921-548: The launch of the Yamaha DX7 in 1983. In order to connect analogue synthesisers , analogue drum machines and analogue sequencers together, multiple CV/gate cables were required between each device. This system was not standardised, so inter-operability between instruments from different manufacturers was not always straightforward. In addition, some manufacturers used their own proprietary interfaces. When an industry-wide standard called MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
12052-412: The lowest share of the total music market, at only 16%. In 2017, South Korea's indie market showed the healthiest share of the total music market, 88%. In 2017, the UK indie market had a 23% share of the total music market. In 2017, the US indie market had a 34% share of the total music market. Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke ,
12183-514: The major label. These labels are frequently referred to as vanity labels or boutique labels, and are intended to appease established artists or allow them to discover and promote newer artists. According to the Association of Independent Music , "A 'major' is defined in AIM's constitution as a multinational company which (together with the companies in its group) has more than 5% of the world market(s) for
12314-493: The major labels for records to be included in the UK Indie Chart , with labels such as Industrial and Factory retaining full independence (though Beggars was excluded as they had a deal with Warner Brothers for Gary Numan at the time). The late 1970s had seen the establishment of independent distribution companies such as Pinnacle and Spartan, providing independent labels an effective means of distribution without involving
12445-462: The major labels. Distribution was further improved with the establishment of 'The Cartel', an association of companies such as Rough Trade Records , Backs Records, and Red Rhino , which helped to take releases from small labels and get them into record shops nationwide. The UK Indie Chart was first compiled in 1980, with the first number one being "Where's Captain Kirk?" by Spizz and his band (billed on
12576-444: The major record labels' predictions of failure, Depeche Mode became successful worldwide, even after the departure of principal songwriter Vince Clarke . Martin Gore took over the main songwriting role, opening the band up to different influences and sustaining their creativity. Mute continued to support other experimental artists, such as NON, releasing an album of Boyd Rice 's pre-NON recordings, titled Boyd Rice . 1982 began with
12707-447: The majors at their own game. David Mimran's Savage Records (known for British band Soho and their Smiths-sampling indie-dance hit "Hippychick" in 1991) was set up by the Swiss teenager in 1986 and funded by his multi-millionaire father. Due to the almost endless financing of his father and the fact their A&R manager (a Swiss record shop owner called Bernard Fanin) had industry experience,
12838-492: The masters and so London could pick and choose which acts they wanted, dealing with them directly (though due to problems with the administration, London did not get the rights to New Order's catalogue for a couple of years and so a company called CentreDate Co Ltd was set up to license them back to London). However, not all indie record labels failed in this era due the problems with Rough Trade Distribution, some failed because they did not stick to their niche and tried to take on
12969-456: The music will never sound as good as it did in the good old Futurist days. That's why our tracks sound the way they do." For Erasure's fifth studio album Chorus (1991), he gathered together his collection of analogue synthesisers from various recording studio locations in London and set up a small studio in Amsterdam. This led Clarke to assemble an intricate patch system to more easily enable
13100-596: The name Dome ), teamed up with Daniel Miller to form a project known as Duet Emmo, an anagram of Mute and Dome. They released an album and 12-inch single, both titled Or So It Seems . Miller also secured the rights to the back catalogue of the experimental bands Throbbing Gristle , Cabaret Voltaire and Richard H. Kirk During 1983, the Australian band The Birthday Party transferred from 4AD to Mute Records. The band broke up after releasing their final 12-inch EP, "Mutiny". Birthday Party's singer, Nick Cave , stayed with Mute and released his debut single as Nick Cave and
13231-577: The name The Normal . He recorded the tracks "T.V.O.D." and " Warm Leatherette " and distributed them through Rough Trade Shops under the label name Mute Records. The label was formed initially just to release the one single. "T.V.O.D."/"Warm Leatherette" became a cult hit ensuring the future of the label. "Warm Leatherette" was later covered by Grace Jones and Chicks on Speed as well as Rose McDowell. After meeting Robert Rental (who had previously worked with Thomas Leer ), Miller began recording and playing live as Robert Rental & The Normal. In 1979
13362-476: The national television show The Chart Show . By the late 1980s, the major labels had identified that there was an opportunity in indie music and so teamed up with many of the main figures of the indie scene to launch indie music record labels. WEA (Warner/Elektra/Atlantic) teamed up with Geoff Travis and él Records' Mike Alway to launch Blanco y Negro , followed a few years later by Alan McGee's Elevation label (even though some indie fans viewed this development in
13493-409: The next year. Frank Tovey released his first album under his own name after leaving his Fad Gadget moniker behind him. The new album was titled Snakes and Ladders . The initial release included a twelve-inch single containing four Fad Gadget tracks. To celebrate five years of Depeche Mode , Mute released a compilation album of the band's singles, The Singles 81→85 . A remastered edition
13624-446: The pop girl group Girl Authority for their second and final studio album Road Trip (2007). The song was originally meant to be for Depeche Mode but was never recorded by them. Clarke also co-wrote "What Do I Want from You?" with Freeform Five , for their debut studio album Strangest Things (2005). Clarke participated in a 2000 project called Family Fantastic . They produced the album Nice! . In 2008 Family Fantastic released
13755-455: The pre-Now days of Open Top Cars and Girls in T'Shirts , Raiders of the Pop Charts and Chart Encounters Of The Hit Kind . In fact, apart from a few soul music compilations billed as Dance Mix - Dance Hits on Epic and a few throwback disco collections, Khan's company was the only label regularly charting with music that could be classed as with club or dance until Stylus Music teamed up with
13886-707: The recently elected chair, Justin West, of Canadian company Secret City Records. As of August 2019 other member organisations of WIN included A2IM (USA), ABMI (Brazil), ADISQ (Canada – Quebec only), AIM (UK), AMAEI (Portugal), A.S.I.A.r (Argentina), Audiocoop (Italy), BIMA (Belgium), CIMA (Canada), DUP (Denmark), FONO (Norway), HAIL (Hungary), IMCJ (Japan), IMICHILE (Chile) IMNZ (New Zealand), IMPALA (Europe), indieCo (Finland), IndieSuisse (Switzerland), Liak (Korea), P.I.L. (Israel), PMI (Italy), Runda (Balkans), SOM (Sweden), stomp (Netherlands), UFI (Spain), UPFI (France), VTMOE (Austria) and VUT (Germany). Particularly active are
14017-411: The record as Spizzenergi ). "Where's Captain Kirk?" had been a constant seller for Geoff Travis' Rough Trade Records , but never got into the chart compiled by BMRB (British Market Research Bureau) as a lot of independent stores were not chart return shops and because a more accurate way of collating sales via EPOS (electronic point-of-sale systems) had yet to be introduced. The chart was unrelated to
14148-547: The release of the 12-inch single , "Rise", by Boyd Rice, released under the name NON. Fad Gadget released his third album for the label, titled Under the Flag , influenced by the current Falklands War and the feeling of being British in the most unseemly of times. The album spawned the singles "For Whom the Bells Toll" and "Life on the Line". Mute Record's big commercial success of 1982
14279-643: The result was the single " One Day " by Vince Clarke & Paul Quinn. However, the project never took off, and Clarke moved to other projects. In early 1985, Clarke placed an advertisement in Melody Maker for a singer, and one applicant was Andy Bell , who was a fan of his earlier projects. He teamed with Bell to form the group Erasure , and the duo became one of the major selling acts in British music with international hits like " Oh L'amour ", " Sometimes ", " Chains of Love ", " A Little Respect ", " Drama! ", " Blue Savannah ", " Chorus ", " Love to Hate You ", " Take
14410-655: The rights of the Mute archives when Miller took the company independent in 2010. In May 2013, the EC approved the catalogue acquisition. Months after acquiring the Mute catalogue, BMG selected INgrooves to distribute the catalogue in North America, PIAS Recordings for all other territories, and Sony Music Entertainment to distribute Depeche Mode. In the aftermath of the Universal's acquisition of EMI, in February 2014, Mute left Caroline Distribution, once part of former parent EMI, and signed
14541-499: The rights to release the Japanese financed album titled Oben Im Eck by Holger Hiller ; the album was released in November 1986. Crime & the City Solution released new material in 1986 including the album Room of Lights and the twelve inch single Kentucky Click/Adventure . The new album won the band acclaim in the European press showing the Australian band's growing popularity across Europe. The end of 1986 saw Mute Records sign
14672-547: The sale of records or music videos. The majors are currently Sony , Warner Music (WMG) and the Universal Music Group (UMG), with EMI and BMG (RCA/Ariola International) being the other two majors that made up the 'Big 5' of the 1980s and 1990s. If a major owns 50% or more of the total shares in a company, that company would (usually) be owned or controlled by that major." Independent labels have historically anticipated developments in popular music , beginning with
14803-497: The single "Mit Dir" on Mute. He recorded the album Night Full of Tension the following year, including the single "Darling Don’t Leave Me", featuring Annie Lennox . In 1984, Depeche Mode had one of their biggest hits in the UK with the single " People Are People ". Their album that year, Some Great Reward , reached number one in Germany and became their first hit in the United States . Mute released an album of archive material from
14934-476: The situation." Clarke was replaced by musician Alan Wilder . Clarke then teamed with lead vocalist Alison Moyet (at the time known by the nickname of Alf) to form the popular synth-pop duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in the US), which produced two studio albums and a string of hits, including " Only You ", " Don't Go ", " Situation ", " The Other Side of Love " and " Nobody's Diary ". Yazoo disbanded in 1983, and Moyet had
15065-498: The sixth richest person in Korea. The international peak body for the indie music industry, Worldwide Independent Network, was founded in 2006. WIN is a coalition of independent music bodies from countries throughout the world. Alison Wenham spent 17 years leading the UK's Association of Independent Music (AIM), which she launched in 1999. During this time she also helped to found WIN in 2006, remaining at WIN for twelve years, with
15196-531: The studio we use two 48 track digital tape machines, which gives Dinger 24 tracks just for his voice!" " Clarke continued to expand his collection of analogue synthesisers and in 1994 set up "37B", a recording studio built adjacent to his custom-made home, "Ammonite", in Chertsey, Surrey. From 1994 to 2003, all Erasure studio albums were either wholly or in part recorded at "37B". In 2004 Clarke moved to Maine. While waiting for his studio equipment to be shipped from
15327-514: The time were signed and saw great commercial success with independent labels. These included Hep Stars ( Olga Records ), Tages ( Platina Records ) and Ola & the Janglers ( Gazell Records ). According to Företagskällan , these three artists secured an interest for minor record labels, a situation which otherwise would've led to 'the big five' having full control of the Swedish music scene during
15458-511: The time, then it's obviously much more convenient to use the computer. When it comes to writing a new song, though, I still like to have the old analogue gear there, too. But, a lot of soft synths have a character of their own, too; the Moog Modular V is just crazy! I think that analogue has an inherent sound to it – it's like the old argument over vinyl versus CD. It seems that you hear more frequencies coming from an analogue synth than you do from
15589-485: The trade associations in countries and regions with well-established music markets: AIM (UK), A2IM (USA), AIR (Australia), CIMA (Canada), VUT (Germany), IMNZ (New Zealand), UFI (Spain); IMICHILE (Chile), ABMI (Brazil), and IMPALA (Europe). In 2016, WIN's WINTEL report, an analysis of the global economic and cultural impact of the indie sector, showed the share of the global market as 37.6%. The sector generated worldwide revenues of US$ 5.6 billion in 2015. In Australia,
15720-536: The world in terms of revenue and ahead of countries with higher populations such as Canada and South Korea. Digital revenue, at 44%, had overtaken that coming from physical sales, at 33%. A spokesperson from the company Unified Music Group said that governments were beginning to recognise the financial and cultural worth of a thriving music industry, but there was still a big challenge for the independents to compete with well-funded tech companies that have an anti- copyright agenda. In 2017, Finland's indie market share had
15851-464: The world, with V2 Records Benelux founded in 1997, a record company which continues to operate to this day. In 2001, Daptone Records records would be founded in New York, a funk and soul label known for Sharon Jones , Charles Bradley and a lot of the musicians who would appear on Amy Winehouse 's Back to Black album in 2006. As the indie hip hop or underground hip hop scene began to grow, so did
15982-633: Was a collaboration with Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs . On 21 May 2009, Clarke was awarded with an "Outstanding Song Collection" prize, during the Ivor Novello Awards ceremony of the same day, in recognition of 30 years in the music industry. Clarke was featured in the BBC Four documentary Synth Britannia (2009). In 2012, Clarke produced a cover of the Depeche Mode song "Fly on
16113-404: Was having a better time than Savage Records in the early to mid-90s American marketplace was Epitaph Records . It was Epitaph that released The Offspring 's 1994 album Smash , which would become the best-selling independent record of the 1990s. The album was certified six times platinum in the United States and sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. In the UK, the indie chart was still
16244-614: Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of Depeche Mode. Vincent John Martin was born on 3 July 1960 in South Woodford , Essex; he later moved to Basildon, Essex . He initially studied the violin and then the piano. Clarke's early musical influences included Sparks , Paul Simon , and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), who inspired his interest in electronic music . Clarke also cites electronic influences such as
16375-532: Was introduced in 1983, Clarke, like most other electronic musicians, gradually migrated to the new technology. However, he continued to prefer his older analogue instruments: "... CV and Gate is tighter. I can hear and feel that it's tighter than MIDI – we can even prove it using 'scopes'. Because everything is clocked simply, it arrives bang on the beat. The whole production starts to 'tick over'. Just look at Kraftwerk 's stuff. I think that 'feel' has been lost with MIDI sequencers. No matter what you do with MIDI,
16506-474: Was issued in October 1998 with additional tracks, including an original version of the song "Photographic", released on Some Bizzare Records . Wire member Graham Lewis launched his project in 1985, known as He Said , with Mute releasing the project's debut single, "Only One I". Lewis released his debut album the following year after two more singles. Erasure released the single " Sometimes " in 1986, and it became
16637-651: Was married to Tracy Hurley Martin (the twin sister of Tonya Hurley ) who was a booking agent and publicist to various entertainment artists. Among the musicians Tracy served as a publicist for included Prince, George Michael and Clarke's former band Depeche Mode. She also represented “Goosebumps” and the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen brand. Several films she produced were screened at the Tribeca and Edinburgh film festivals. Tracy died in January 2024 after two years of stomach cancer. She
16768-511: Was perhaps the most successful independent label from that era. Several established artists started their own independent labels, including the Beatles ' Apple Records , and the Rolling Stones ' Rolling Stones Records . These labels tended to fail commercially or be acquired by the major labels. Internationally, the situation was different. In Sweden , three of the four biggest rock bands at
16899-568: Was released worldwide exclusively on Beatport on 30 November 2011. The second EP, Single Blip , was once again first released exclusively on Beatport on 20 February 2012. Their third EP, Aftermaths , was released on 20 August 2012. In July 1984, Clarke teamed with Stephen Luscombe of Blancmange , Pandit Dinesh , and Asha Bhosle . The group, West India Company, released a four-track, self-titled EP. Clarke worked with synth-pop producer Martyn Ware (of Heaven 17 and The Human League ) in 1999 as The Clarke & Ware Experiment and released
17030-472: Was the band Yazoo , the duo of Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet . After leaving Depeche Mode, Clarke had set up a studio in the Blackwing Studios complex, where he recorded the singles " Only You " and " Don’t Go ". That year, Mute licensed the single "Fred Vom Jupiter" from the German record label Atatak. The track was recorded by Holger Hiller , Andreas Dorau and the schoolgirl Marinas. Also from Germany
17161-402: Was the single "Los Ninos Del Parque", by Liaisons Dangereuses , later released by Mute. Liaisons Dangereuses included Chrislo Hass, who had previously been in the German band DAF. After returning from a world tour in 1983, Depeche Mode released the industrial -influenced hit single " Everything Counts ". Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis , of the band Wire (who had been working together under
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