2. Fiction
• Fiction Records is a British label founded by Chris Parry in 1978 that is best
known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. Formerly
independent, the label is now owned by Polydor, a subsidiary of Universal
Music Group.
• In the early 1990s the label was bought by Polydor where it lay effectively
dormant for a decade apart from the occasional Cure release. In 1992 the
imprint achieved its first #1 record in The Cure's album Wish, which
reached the top of the charts in the United Kingdom.
• In January 2004 Joe Munns, Paul Smernicki and Beastman decided to
revive Fiction to "give Polydor a bit more of a guitar stronghold", as their
roster then consisted mostly of pop acts. The first release on the "new"
Fiction was the Snow Patrol single "Run", which entered the UK chart at #5.
The subsequent Snow Patrol album Final Straw has since gone on to sell
over 2 million copies worldwide.
3. • The current Fiction stable includes Crystal Castles, Ian Brown, Snow
Patrol, The Maccabees, Kate Nash, Athlete, Elbow, White Lies, Yuksek,
Spector and Filthy Dukes.
4. Suretone
• Suretone Records is an American record label established in 2006 as a
joint venture by Jordan Schur, former CEO of Geffen Records, and
Interscope Records, to release alternative rock music. Several high
profile bands such as The Cure, Angels and Airwaves featuring Tom
DeLonge from Blink-182, a band that is signed to Geffen, The Pink
Spiders, Limp Bizkit, and several other rock bands that were signed to
Geffen or Interscope. Also, hip hop duo, Shwayze is signed.
5. Geffen
• Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group,
which operates as one third of the Interscope Geffen A&M Records label. Today, it
is headquartered in the city of New York and is headed by Gee Roberson, who
reports to John Janick, CEO of Interscope Records.
• Geffen Records was founded in 1980 by music industry businessman David Geffen
who, in the early 1970s, had founded Asylum Records. Geffen stepped down from
Asylum in 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named a vice-president of
Warner Bros. Pictures. He was fired from Warner circa 1978, but remained locked
in a 5-year contract, which prevented him from working elsewhere. He returned
to work in 1980 and struck a deal with Warner Bros. Records to create Geffen
Records. Warner provided one hundred percent of the funding for the label's
operations and distributed the label's releases in the United States, Canada and
the United Kingdom; Epic Records handled distribution in the rest of the world
until 1985, when Warner Bros. also took over those territories. Profits were split
50/50 between Geffen and the respective distributors.
6. Polydor
• Polydor Records is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music
Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M label,
which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. In turn, Polydor
distributes Interscope releases in the United Kingdom.
• Its artists have included Cheryl Cole and Girls Aloud, Take That, Haim, James
Brown, Ellie Goulding, Duffy, James Blake, Snow Patrol, Elton John, The 1975,
Years & Years, and American artists Lana Del Rey and Azealia Banks.
• In the early 1970s, the main source of income for the label was probably the
enormously successful UK band Slade. At the time, between the 1970s and
1980s, the Polydor/PolyGram Senior VP was Jerry Jaffe, who also signed acts such
as Motörhead, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and Bon Jovi. Later, in the late 1970s
and early 1980s, the label was also home to The Who and The Jam (as well as its
successor act The Style Council), and successful British glam rock act Sweet
signed on in 1977.
7. Elektra
• Elektra Records (Elektra Entertainment Group Inc.) is an American
record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was
consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of
dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009, and
is now run by Jeff Castelaz.
8. Asylum
• Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David
Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at
the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record
contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles,
Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan for two albums. It was taken over
by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and
later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylum Records.
• After various incarnations, today it is geared primarily towards hip-hop,
along with rock and alternative metal. It is owned by Warner Music Group,
and is currently distributed through Atlantic Records.
9. Sire
• Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros.
Records.
• The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten
thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases, in 1968, were distributed by London Records. From
the beginning, Sire introduced underground, progressive British bands to the American market. Early releases
included the Climax Blues Band, Barclay James Harvest, Tomorrow, Matthews Southern Comfort and proto-
punks the Deviants. The label was distributed by Polydor Records in 1970 and 1971, during which time the now-
famous logo was introduced, and then by Famous Music from 1972 to 1974, during which the progressive rock
band Focus charted with their 1972 hit "Hocus Pocus".
• In the seventies, Sire released a number of compilation LPs, including the 3 volume "History Of British Rock"
series, and diverse artists such as the Turtles, Duane Eddy, the Small Faces and Del Shannon. ABC Records
inherited Sire's distribution contract when it acquired Famous Music in 1974. The UK signing policy was
vindicated when Climax Blues Band scored a Top 40 hit in 1977 with "Couldn't Get It Right". Also in 1977 Stein,
who had worked with the group in the 1960s, convinced the Shangri-Las to reform and return to the studio. But
the trio was unhappy with the quality of material it recorded, and opted out of its contract; the tracks have yet
to be released.
