Rykodisc

Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.

Company history

Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label in the United States, Rykodisc was founded in 1983 in Salem, Massachusetts, by Arthur Mann, Rob Simonds, Doug Lexa and Don Rose. The name "Ryko," which the label claimed was a Japanese word meaning "sound from a flash of light," was chosen to reflect the company's CD-only policy. In the late 1980s, however, the label also began to issue high-quality cassette and vinyl versions of many releases under the name Ryko Analogue.

Rykodisc had some notable successes in the CD-reissue industry, as artists such as Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Yoko Ono, Frank Zappa, Nick Drake, Nine Inch Nails, Sugar, Robert Wyatt, and Mission of Burma allowed Rykodisc to issue their catalogs on CD. Rykodisc also re-released the SST Records-era recordings by the Meat Puppets. It also was responsible for the first ever release of the "I Am the Cosmos" LP by the late Chris Bell of Big Star, another band on the label.