J Records

J Records was an American major record label owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 2000 and was dissolved into RCA Records in 2011.

Company history

J Records was founded in 2000 by industry veteran Clive Davis with $150 million in financing from BMG, after his ousting from Arista Records the same year, and initially operated as an independently managed company distributed through BMG. Olivia was the first artist to sign to J Records, but was later dropped due to poor album sales. In 2001, the label found success with its multi-platinum record inaugural release, Songs in A Minor, the debut album of Alicia Keys, which sold over 12 million copies worldwide. The same year, Lyric signed to the label and became the first female group act under J Records. By late 2001, J Records attained another success with the platinum-selling debut album by O-Town. Later, established artists like D'Angelo, Luther Vandross, Jamie Foxx, and Monica would join the J roster, the latter three going on to find multi-platinum success with the label.

Records (album)

Records is a compilation album by American rock band Foreigner, released in 1982 to span the band's first four albums through 1981. Along with their sophomore effort, Double Vision, this album is the group's best-selling record. It has been certified 7 x platinum by the RIAA. Some notable hits, such as "Blue Morning, Blue Day" are omitted.

Track listing

All songs by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, except where noted.

With the exceptions of "Head Games" and the live version of "Hot Blooded," all tracks on this album are the 45 RPM single versions (edited and/or mixed differently from their respective album counterparts).

When this album is bought on iTunes, the track "Hot Blooded" is the studio version of the song, not live.

679 Artists

679 Artists (formally known as Sixsevenine and 679 Recordings) was a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England.

It was started by Nick Worthington who after leaving XL Recordings in 2001, started the company with Warner Music Group, and holds the position of MD and A&R Director. It is named "679" as this was the address of the Pure Groove record shop on Holloway Road.

The label's first release was The Streets' debut, Original Pirate Material (which was named The Observer's best album of the 2000s).

The label progressed with subsequent albums from artists including Death From Above 1979, The Futureheads, Kano, King Creosote and Mystery Jets, and also included the million-selling second Streets album, A Grand Don't Come for Free.

In 2011, it released Plan B's The Defamation of Strickland Banks which has sold over 1 million copies.

The founder of 679 has recently formed a new record label called 37 Adventures.

Former artists

1605 (record label)

1605 (pronounced as sixteen-o-five) is a techno and tech-house record label, founded in 2007 by a Slovenian DJ and producer UMEK. With 140 releases by more than 250 artists 1605 is the biggest label UMEK has founded since Recycled Loops and Consumer Recreation. UMEK started the label to promote tracks from talented artists, regardless of their fame and the strength of previous releases.

Creative concept

The label's creative concept is based on its sound as well as on its visual appearance.

1605's sound relies on UMEK's creative feeling as he acts as A&R manager and decides personally which tracks are signed by the label. Tracks are usually released digitally and sold online in various outlets such as Beatport, iTunes, Trackitdown, Juno and others. The only project, which was released also on a CD, was UMEK's 2010 album Responding to Dynamic.

1605's music can also be heard on the label's podcast and on websites such as Soundcloud and Mixcloud.

The label is also building its recognition by using a distinctive graphic design for artwork (release covers, promo material). Using only artwork in grayscale with occasional yellow tones, all release covers feature parts of vintage pictures from the 1930s Great Depression in the USA and personal drawings by the label's graphic designer.