Which record label has done the most for prog?
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Topic: Which record label has done the most for prog?
Posted By: Kashmir75
Subject: Which record label has done the most for prog?
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 20:25
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What label do you think has done the most to help prog artists get exposure in the 21st century? Roadrunner, usually a metal label, has recently signed several great metal-prog crossover bands like Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, and Opeth, giving each of these bands a new audience. Inside Out is another great label, who have distributed albums by so many great bands, including Pain Of Salvation, Spocks Beard, Threshold, Riverside, Devin Townsend, Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Transatlantic, and more. Any others come to mind? I think Inside Out are the best thing to happen to progressive music in a long time. ------------- Hello, mirror. So glad to see you, my friend. It's been a while... |
Replies:
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 20:36
| Cuneiform are a good one, Musea. |
Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 20:38
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Tzadik, by far, because of their ethos. Without John Zorn's pure awesome, Kayo Dot may never have gotten off the ground! Then Cuneiform. ReR seems to have stopped releasing things these days so they don't count. Dream Theater did not get a boost from being signed to Roadrunner, they're on of the most famous metal bands of all time! Opeth was also signed after their most famous albums. The only one I think you could make a case for helping is PT, but that still doesn't make them a prog label.
You got me on Inside Out, but I just don't care about the people who are signed to them. ;-) ------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: chefrobb
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 21:08
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Famous Charisma, by far ------------- chefrobb |
Posted By: chefrobb
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 21:09
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My bad.....you did say 21st, now didn't you, but still....... ------------- chefrobb |
Posted By: Finnforest
Date Posted: November 10 2009 at 21:22
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Musea, Mellow, BTF, Black Widow, Lizard
------------- https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sQD8uhpWXCw" rel="nofollow - It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...Road Rage Edition |
Posted By: friso
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 06:54
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ELP's Manticore label did a lot for the Italion progressive scene. They introduced it to northern Europe. A special collecter's lable for prog would be Vertigo Swirl.
Famous Charisma printed a lot of prog, bands suchs as Genesis and related and VdGG and related. It's not my favourite record producer however, the high notes on the end of the lp's are always destorted. |
Posted By: friso
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 06:55
| Owh.. I skipped on the 21th century part of the story... sorry |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 07:05
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I vote for "The Internet" - the world's biggest independant record label. The key part of the 21st century has been the rise of self-released and single-artist independant labels. Without the Intermess labels like Burning Shed, Musea, Cyclops, RēR Megacorp, Toff, etc and the niche distributors such as CD-Baby could not survive. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 09:14
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Musea and Tzadik, two of the strongest labels.
Also Cuneiform.
BTW how did Zorn do to maintain a very wide of catalog, is he rich? -------------  |
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 09:24
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Global answer: I think $LABEL because they signed $MY_FAVORITE_BAND_1 and $MY_FAVORITE_BAND_2 |
Posted By: Vibrationbaby
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 09:31
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Wounded Bird is always releasing titles which have been lost to time. mailto:www.woundedbird.com/ - ------------- |
Posted By: Ivan_Melgar_M
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 10:07
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Famous Charisma Label and the owner Tony Stratton Smith, they took the risk with a band like Genesis that nobody knowed or liked, also with VDGG, The Nice (In 1970 when Emerson had leftt), Refugee, etc
That means a lot, when Prog was young, they took the risks.
Iván ------------- 
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Posted By: TheGazzardian
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 10:12
Hilariously true. XD I think ATLANTIC because they signed YES and PROBABLY ANOTHER BAND I LIKED. |
Padraic wrote:Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 10:15
 ------------- What? |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 10:21
This does raise the supplemental question, are record labels even relevant to prog these days? I do have to give a thumbs up to CD Baby, which isn't a record label as far as I know, but CD Baby loves me.  Have to put in a good word for Caroline, Cuneform, Wounded Bird (I'm probably leaving some other important guys out) for releasing old stuff that I thought would never see the light of CD.  ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: snobb
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 10:38
| Yes, Tzadik are very important, but I think more in RIO/Avant |
Posted By: Alberto Muñoz
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 10:42
As Musea in Symphonic. ------------- |
Posted By: Trademark
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 11:31
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Atlantic/Atco By bringing prog to the states (Yes, Genesis, ELP) in the 70's these labels have ensured that there is still a 21st century prog scene to discuss.
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Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 11:41
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Atlantic is quite obvious. Of course they were more of a general rock label back in the 70s, but seriously, they launched a lot of classic careers. Prog definitely wouldn't gotten as far without the ones Trademark just mentioned. Seriously Trademark, I was about to post Atlantic first, and I was dissapointed that you had already posted.   ------------- 
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Posted By: Kotro
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 11:54
------------- Bigger on the inside. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 12:16
Yeah man, but are they schizoid? ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 13:16
------------- if you own a sodastream i hate you |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 14:26
Roadrunner is a sub of Atlantic Records Group  ------------- What? |
Posted By: CPicard
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 14:31
What? Since when? I thought Roadrunner was independant since its foundation! In fact, it appears that Atlantic is just distributing Roadrunner in the USA. But Roadrunner is now a part of the Warner group since December of 2006. |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 15:12
)------------- What? |
Posted By: CPicard
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 15:29
Still, Roadrunner wasn't part of the Warner group until 2007. As I wrote, Atlantic was only distributing this label. "Distribution" doesn't mean that the distributed label belongs to the other label, au contraire ! |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 15:34
doesn't matter that much who distributes them, they are owned by Warner and assigned to Atlantic, as I said, Roadrunner is a sub of Atlantic:
"Atlantic Records Group is an umbrella label founded in 2004 by Warner Music Group to oversee the labels assigned to its Atlantic Records unit." ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Records_Group - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Records_Group ------------- What? |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 15:42
| god bless Ahmet Ertegun for all the musicians he gave a chance to, and for his keen ear for talent |
Posted By: CCVP
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 19:14
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I don't know THAT much about world-wide labels, but in Brazil the biggest prog label is Rock Symphony.
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Posted By: Trademark
Date Posted: November 11 2009 at 23:01
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"Roadrunner is a sub of Atlantic Records Group" This shouldn't have surprised me. Poor Derek Shulman would sell his brother and his mother these days if he thought there was a dollar and a half in it for him.
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Posted By: SaltyJon
Date Posted: November 12 2009 at 00:09
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I think Cuneiform has done a great job with everything, and Soleil Zeuhl is a good one, if a bit small/specialized.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Salty_Jon" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: November 12 2009 at 01:05
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Cherry Red, Cuneiform, and Greg Walker's SynPhonic for his outstanding restoration work
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Posted By: b_olariu
Date Posted: November 12 2009 at 07:42
| Musea, InsideOut, Lion, Charisma, etc |
Posted By: TronFlutes
Date Posted: November 12 2009 at 08:27
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Greg Walker's Syn-Phonic and Ken Golden's Lazer's Edge come to mind, since they were the first ones I discovered online. The early days of both were the most exciting and Ken's enthusiastic yet sometimes blunt reviews were always a treat to read. I took a chance on Knight Area, Riverside and The Watch solely upon his honest, personal impressions and have been a devoted supporter of these bands ever since. Besides, who else would pursue releasing everything in one package by such an obscure band as Germany's SFF? Cheers, TronFlutes |
Posted By: BigBoss
Date Posted: November 12 2009 at 13:42
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well I'm bummed no one mentioned us, but for me it was Magna Carta that got things rolling again for prog in the US in the 90's and then was followed by Inside Out.
------------- Best Regards, Shawn Gordon President ProgRock Records www.progrockrecords.com www.mindawn.com |
Posted By: Walker
Date Posted: November 12 2009 at 23:01
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It's amazing how many people don't read the question, nor some of the comments of the other people before posting...
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: November 13 2009 at 16:06
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Hi,
Only one ... and it did not do it for "prog" ... it did it for MUSIC ... and that is way more important than anything out there ... that label is ECM ...
And ECM is still doing it ... give people a white room, no ideas and leave them alone and let's see the result ... and it rarely fails ... and there is more beauty and creation there ... than almost all the "prog" labels out there ... that are so formulaic as to be boring and ... not even musical.
Greatest disappointment I have had is the stuff from Wayside/Cuneiform ... 20 years ago they had a lot of good things and original ... and when I bought something recently they sent me a sample with 10 or 12 things on it ... and you know what? ... they sounded the same to my ear .. washed out lounge lizard cheap zappa music ... very New York ... if a band is not that good in the clubs it's not gonna do anything anyway ... and no one will care.
Of all the labels when I think back to history ... I really think that HARVEST is the best of them all ... from Roy Harper to Kevin Ayers to Mike Oldfield in all those albums, to Lol Coxhill, to Capability Brown to Edgar Broughton Band and so many others ... they still are so far and above in inteligence and even if not "progressive" per se ... it is at least quite inteligent and literary ... and deserves mention ... and later on they were instrumental in giving us some of the european stuff that was as good if not better than Focus at the time, and gave us Kayak, Triumvirat, Eloy ... and so many others ...
Another label .. Vertigo in the early days started with a lot of strange things.
Sadly, when we think of "labels" we tend to forget and check out some other scenes ... OHR is by far the most progressive and experimental label ever ... but we're never gonna even give them credit for it. And the French music scene is quite fragmented, but the Heldon/Henri and that whole group also deserves mention but I am not sure that a label had anything to do with teir work at all ...
Progressive labels these days are horrendous ... and so copycat from band to band that it's an embarassment to the creativity that we cherish as fans of this music ... it's too much ... "it's prog music" ... and not "music" ... with individuals and people in them ... and doing something that will rival anything as any of the bands that we love ever did! ... with labels like wayside/cuneiform, it will never happen ... since they only can hear one thing from one place ... that new york bar jazz sound and style.
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Posted By: Adams Bolero
Date Posted: November 13 2009 at 16:16
| Esoteric Records for remastering and re-releasing countless prog rock masterpieces. |
Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: November 13 2009 at 16:18
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They were probably already around in the 20th century but who cares : SPV, Wounded birds, Spalax, rhino, Enja (if only for Rabih Abou-Khalil), One way (David Sancious for example), CMP (Trilok Gurtu, Chad Wackerman...), BGO... ------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood) |
Posted By: flaxton
Date Posted: November 14 2009 at 09:03
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from what was known as progressive rock in the late sixties early seventies i would say ISLAND RECORDS. ------------- flaxton |
Posted By: progger7
Date Posted: November 14 2009 at 15:08
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i just heard that symphony x signed with nuclear blast a couple of days ago. that should give the label a HUGE step up.
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Posted By: Dick Heath
Date Posted: November 16 2009 at 09:22
With the rider: as long as the back catalogue makes money. Now think of the prog bands of the 70's that have disappeared into the the label's archives and only gathering dust. ------------- The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS. CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php - http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php Host by PA's Dick Heath. |
Posted By: Dick Heath
Date Posted: November 16 2009 at 09:24
Also notorious for not issuing CD versions of their album back catalogue apart from the obvious - needed a WEA buy out to make that happen. ------------- The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS. CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php - http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php Host by PA's Dick Heath. |
Posted By: LOUDTRAX
Date Posted: November 16 2009 at 15:41
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no one mentioned Magna Carta? I am not sure they've done the most, but surely worth a mention! Antonio ------------- www.Loudtrax.com |
Posted By: BigBoss
Date Posted: November 16 2009 at 15:45
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I mentioned Magna Carta.
------------- Best Regards, Shawn Gordon President ProgRock Records www.progrockrecords.com www.mindawn.com |
Posted By: LOUDTRAX
Date Posted: November 16 2009 at 16:37
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Hey Big Boss, sorry about that I did not see it. Well, we agree then! Antonio ------------- www.Loudtrax.com |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: November 17 2009 at 13:34
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The Ozrics' signing with the Magna sure threw everyone for a loop! ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: Silverbeard McStarr
Date Posted: November 17 2009 at 16:45
I mean, Van Der Graaf Generator and Genesis. That's impressive seeing as neither bands really made any money.
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: November 17 2009 at 18:22
I'm still often pleasantly surprised at some the albums from the LP era that actually have made it to a CD release. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: November 17 2009 at 19:51
I would say that is an incorrect statement ... it has been said more than once ... that all bands left that label because they were seriously ripped off! And some of them were never paid at all!
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Posted By: Dick Heath
Date Posted: November 20 2009 at 11:09
I would agree, though it has taken time. When I bought my first CD player about 1985/6, I created a list of ~110 favourite albums I would like to hear without surface noise and so wanted a CD copy. The last two on that list were released by Wounded Bird, 2-3 years ago, i.e. Don Elllis's Live Filmore and Jan Hammer Group's Oh Yeah?. Further the one's I thought would never get released, Touch and T2's Boomland, were released about 1992 on CD - although I'm still waiting for a decent remaster of Boomland. But then we only got the first two Soft Machine studio albums in remastered form summer this year.
However, looking at the back catalogue of several UK labels renown for progressive rock releases, then you do discover albums have been either licensed out or not released at all - Island Records admitted they couldn't afford to release all their back catalogue, only those albums that would steadily sale. Charisma Records back catalogue also still awaits a lot of CD issues.
BTW Island Records acted as distributor in the UK for smaller labels from the late 60's, e.g. EG (e.g. King Crimson), Chrysalis (e.g. JethroTull) - although Chris Blackwell bought out Joe Boyd's Witchseason label, having already previously released their artists (e.g. Fairport, Nick Drake) under the Island emboss. ------------- The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS. CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php - http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php Host by PA's Dick Heath. |
Posted By: the dragon
Date Posted: November 26 2009 at 07:40
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Famous Charisma Label
------------- Still alive... |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: November 27 2009 at 16:30
Island Records was probably more influential for bringing out Reggae than it was for progressive ... and eventually they went after a lot of African folks ... some of whom ended up playing with Traffic ... and later Rebop played with Can for a few albums even ... when Can was not quite "Can" ... as we knew it, but it was trippy.
I also never thought of Traffic as "prog" ... they were a fairly good rock jam band ... and the stuff they did was quite conventional musically.
I'm scratching my head ... I can not remember a single "progressive" band on the Island Records label ... jethro Tull was Chrysalis ... KC was a part of the A&M stuff in the early days, which was Mangione and Albert's label ...
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: November 27 2009 at 16:42
WEA was a distribution conglomerate, not a record company ... it was designed by Warner, Elektra and Atlantic to combine their delivery services ... the problem was they ended up concentrating on the big ones where they could make easy money, and killed all the smaller bands along the way.
That stuff is left behind and not handled ... you should see my record collection ... I'm at about 500 of those albums right now ... all English and European ... and the English are the worst ... at least in America it's dead anyway since radio and the arts don't help ... but in England, even the BBC doesn't have an excuse ... just jerks ... and they waited until the Goons were dead before they went on releasing their stuff ... that's called greed and making sure they keep the money!
All the more reason why ALL bands, need to own their material ... and never sign a piece a paper that you do not own ... when you "make it" you can call your price ... besides, why would you want to pay someone else to do nothing for you?
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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: November 27 2009 at 16:55
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Oh, I dunno.
Seems like Inside Out has the widest recognition now. If they went under now, the prog world would suffer greatly. ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: Dean
Date Posted: November 27 2009 at 19:51
Hmm, let me think....
Prog & Prog Related (many on the famous Island "Pink Label"):
Renaissance, Fairport Convention, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Fotheringay, McDonald & Giles, King Crimson, Quintessence, If , Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Nirvana (UK), Blodwin Pig, Tir Na Nog, Jade Warrior, John Cale, Automantic Man, Roxy Music, Eno, Kevin Ayres, Dr. Strangely Strange, Nick Drake, Clouds, The Incredible String Band, Amazing Blondel, Ian Gillan Band, Catapilla.
Associated through Bronze or Crysalis (both Island "imprints"): Procol Harum, Colosseum, Manfred Manns Earth Band, Uriah Heep, Paladin.
Rock/Not Reggae: Juicy Lucy,, Cat Stevens, Spooky Tooth, Free, Spencer Davis Group, Mountain, Sparks, Robert Palmer, McGuiness Flint, Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, Heavy Jelly, Mott The Hoople, Sandy Denny, Vinegar Joe, The Smoke, Claire Hamill. ------------- What? |
Posted By: Rottenhat
Date Posted: November 28 2009 at 02:20
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Cuneiform Records. They are Close to the Edge. :) ------------- Language is a virus from outer space. -William S. Burroughs |
Posted By: Windhawk
Date Posted: November 28 2009 at 04:01
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As I see it, Musea is the most important of the labels existing today. No disrespect to other labels, but Musea has taken a stand and signed artists covering a wide spectrum of the genre. They were among the first to really give a go for Japanese artists (many in cooperation with Poseidon), their sub-labels for experimental music of various kinds should be a treasure grove for RIO-fans, they've even signed and released prog blues. Inside Out are a good second on the list. Safer signings, but in terms of getting prog talked about and commercially viable - at least for some - their importance is second to none. A good third for Magna Carta, who in their heyday combined some of the features mentioned for both labels above. ------------- Websites I work with: http://www.progressor.net http://www.houseofprog.com My profile on Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/haukevind/ |
Posted By: mrcozdude
Date Posted: November 28 2009 at 04:07
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Difficult question.All I know is that it definitely isn't Def Jam records.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/cozfunkel/" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: November 28 2009 at 08:56
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When it comes to re-releases, I'm going to have to put in the good word for Cuneform, Caroline, and Wounded Bird Records.
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Bj-1
Date Posted: November 28 2009 at 09:26
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Inside Out and Magna Carta obviously!
Special mention to Cuneiform and Musea though!
------------- RIO/AVANT/ZEUHL - The best thing you can get with yer pants on! |
Posted By: Garion81
Date Posted: December 03 2009 at 16:34
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My experience would say in the 21st Century Magna Carta, Cuneiform and more recently Prog Rock Records. All of these companies have signed up and coming bands, released rare material and helped established artists get a record out again. All great companies. Almost all of my favorite CDs have come from these three in this decade with the exception of some independent releases. ------------- 
"What are you going to do when that damn thing rusts?" |