133-738: Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee , Dick Green, and Joe Foster . Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although it was revived at one point in 2011 for the release of the compilation album Upside Down . Over the course of its sixteen-year history, Creation predominantly focused on alternative rock , releasing several influential indie rock , shoegaze , and Britpop records, but also featured bands performing various other styles of rock , including indie pop and post-punk , as well as some electronic , folk , and experimental artists. McGee formed Creation Records following
266-628: A record label . The distinction between major and independent labels is not always clear. The traditional definition of a major label 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
399-409: A chart race between Oasis' " Cigarettes & Alcohol " and Blur's " Girls & Boys " would have had greater merit. He also noted that he and Blur frontman Damon Albarn – with whom Gallagher had enjoyed multiple musical collaborations during the 2010s – were now friends. Both men have noted that they do not discuss their 1990s rivalry, with Albarn adding, "I value my friendship with Noel because he
532-699: 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
665-532: 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
798-585: A generation earlier with mod bands such as the Who ) and its use as a symbol of pride and nationalism contrasted deeply with the controversy that erupted just a few years before when former Smiths singer Morrissey performed draped in it. The emphasis on British reference points made it difficult for the genre to achieve success in the US. John Harris has suggested that Britpop began when Blur 's fourth single " Popscene " and Suede 's " The Drowners " were released around
931-433: 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 ,
1064-407: 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
1197-536: 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
1330-509: A media campaign prior to the 1997 general election in order to appeal to Britain's youth culture. He was largely responsible for changing government legislation in relation to musicians being able to go on the New Deal which gave musicians three years to develop and be funded by the government instead of having to take other jobs to survive. Omnibus went on to make a documentary on McGee and Creation in 1998 for BBC One . Creation Records
1463-504: A movement: as far as the lineage of British bands goes, there'll always be a place for us ... We genuinely started to see that world in a slightly different way." As Britpop slowed, many acts began to falter and broke up. The sudden popularity of the pop group the Spice Girls has been seen as having "snatched the spirit of the age from those responsible for Britpop". While established acts struggled, attention began to turn to
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#17327796320301596-676: 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
1729-583: 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
1862-439: A number of bands who shared aspects of their music, including Snow Patrol from Northern Ireland and Elbow , Embrace , Starsailor , Doves , Electric Pyramid and Keane from England. The most commercially successful band in the milieu were Coldplay , whose debut album Parachutes (2000) went multi-platinum and helped make them one of the most popular acts in the world by the time of their second album A Rush of Blood to
1995-407: 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
2128-503: A return to the staunchly independent roots of Creation, and had most notably launched the career of The Hives in the UK. In May 2007, McGee told The Independent newspaper that he was winding down Poptones for financial reasons. Upside Down, a film on Creation Records premiered at the BFI in London on 23 and 24 October 2010. It was released on DVD in the UK on 9 May 2011. Additionally,
2261-506: 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
2394-517: 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
2527-657: A solo single called "Grounded Truth" via the label. McGee also launched an indie music festival using the Creation name, set up by McGee to showcase his acts on a bill which also includes named headliners from the indie music scene. The festival, now called the Utilita Creation Day Festival, was due to be held in Wolverhampton in 2021 but was postponed until 2022. Infonet was an electronic music sublabel to Creation Records, run by Chris Abbot. It
2660-502: 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
2793-415: A soundtrack album compiled by Joe Foster featuring 34 tracks which covered the entire career of Creation Records was released. This album was released on Creation Records, which was revived for the release of the album only. In numerous interviews in 2012, McGee said he was "seriously considering" resurrecting Creation Records but took up an offer from Cherry Red Records to launch 359 Music instead. After
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#17327796320302926-460: 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
3059-480: A term applied to the more punk-derivative acts such as Elastica, S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men . While Modern Life Is Rubbish was a moderate success, Blur's third album, Parklife , made them arguably the most popular band in the UK in 1994. Parklife continued the fiercely British nature of its predecessor, and coupled with the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in April of that year British alternative rock became
3192-510: 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
3325-478: A warped Union Jack cover. Rachel Chinouriri ’s album What a Devastating Turn of Events notably incorporates Britpop influences, aiming to recreate the visual and sonic aesthetics of the Britpop movement. Chinouriri cited bands like Oasis and The Libertines as key inspirations. Artists of the genre have dismissed the "Britpop" term. Oasis bandleader Noel Gallagher denied that the band were associated with
3458-675: A weekly club called Syndrome in Oxford Street; the bands that met up were a mix of music styles, some would be labelled shoegazing , while others would go on to be part of Britpop. The dominant musical force of the period was the grunge invasion from the United States, which filled the void left in the indie scene by the Stone Roses ' inactivity. Blur , however, took on an Anglocentric aesthetic with their second album Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993). Blur 's new approach
3591-403: 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
3724-641: 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 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
3857-528: Is one of the only people who went through what I did in the Nineties." Noel Gallagher has also described Blur guitarist Graham Coxon as "one of the most talented guitarists of his generation." In the months following the chart battle, NME states, "Britpop became a major cultural phenomenon". Oasis's second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? , sold over four million copies in
3990-466: Is to 1995 what Seattle was to 1992, what Manchester was to 1989, and what Mr Blobby was to 1993." A chart battle between Blur and Oasis , dubbed "The Battle of Britpop", brought Britpop to the forefront of the British press in 1995. The bands had initially praised each other but over the course of the year antagonisms between the two increased. Spurred on by the media, they became engaged in what
4123-568: 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 ,
Creation Records - Misplaced Pages Continue
4256-521: The NME dubbed on the cover of its 12 August issue the "British Heavyweight Championship" with the pending release of Blur's single " Country House " and Oasis' " Roll with It " on the same day. The battle pitted the two bands against each other, with the conflict as much about British class and regional divisions as it was about music. Oasis were taken as representing the North of England, while Blur represented
4389-603: 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
4522-415: The independent music scene of the early 1990s. Although often seen as a cultural moment rather than a distinct musical genre, its associated bands typically drew inspiration from the British pop music of the 1960s, the glam rock and punk rock of the 1970s, and the indie pop of the 1980s. The most successful bands linked with Britpop were Oasis , Blur , Suede and Pulp , known as the "big four" of
4655-564: 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
4788-509: 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
4921-679: The "manufactured" synth pop of the era, that bore little resemblance to the work of his favourite acts including Public Image Ltd and the Sex Pistols . McGee started the label by putting out the "'73 in '83" single by The Legend! , after taking out a £1,000 bank loan. Around the same time, he started a club called The Living Room in Tottenham Court Road , through which he met several people who would go on to record for Creation, including Peter Astor and Lawrence . Distributor Rough Trade soon began funding releases. Creation
5054-420: The 1960s, a spurning of much beyond rock's most basic ingredients, and a belief in the supremacy of 'real music'". The imagery associated with Britpop was equally British and working class. A rise in unabashed maleness, exemplified by Loaded magazine, binge drinking and lad culture in general, would be very much part of the Britpop era. The Union Jack became a prominent symbol of the movement (as it had
5187-452: 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
5320-526: 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,
5453-678: 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
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5586-448: The American press and fans, may have helped a number of them in achieving international success. They have been seen as presenting the image of the rock star as an ordinary person, or "boy-next-door" and their increasingly melodic music was criticised for being bland or derivative. The cultural and musical scene in Scotland, dubbed "Cool Caledonia" by some elements of the press, produced a number of successful alternative acts, including
5719-459: The Ants . Regardless, Britpop artists project a sense of reverence for British pop sounds of the past. The Kinks' Ray Davies and XTC 's Andy Partridge are sometimes advanced as the "godfathers" or "grandfathers" of Britpop, though Davies disputes it. Others similarly labelled include Paul Weller and Adam Ant . Alternative rock acts from the indie scene of the 1980s and early 1990s were
5852-540: 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
5985-523: The Beatles , the Rolling Stones and Small Faces with American influences. Post-Britpop bands also used elements from 1970s British rock and pop music. Drawn from across the UK, the themes of their music tended to be less parochially centred on British, English and London life, and more introspective than had been the case with Britpop at its height. This, beside a greater willingness to woo
6118-759: The British-based shoegazing and American based grunge styles of music. Pre-dating Britpop by four years, Liverpool-based group the La's hit single " There She Goes " was described by Rolling Stone as a "founding piece of Britpop's foundation". Local identity and regional British accents are common to Britpop groups, as well as references to British places and culture in lyrics and image. Stylistically, Britpop bands use catchy hooks and lyrics that were relevant to young British people of their own generation. Britpop bands conversely denounced grunge as irrelevant and having nothing to say about their lives. In contrast to
6251-473: The Britpop of the 1990s. Viva Brother launched an update on Britpop, dubbed “Gritpop,” with their debut album Famous First Words , although they did not receive significant support from the music press. In 2012, All the Young released their debut album, Welcome Home. Later, bands such as Superfood and the Australian band DMA's joined the revival, with DMA’s debut album receiving favorable reviews. In
6384-561: 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
6517-608: 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
6650-519: 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
6783-507: The Head (2002). Snow Patrol's " Chasing Cars " (from their 2006 album Eyes Open ) is the most widely played song of the 21st century on UK radio. Bands like Coldplay , Starsailor and Elbow, with introspective lyrics and even tempos, began to be criticised at the beginning of the new millennium as bland and sterile and the wave of garage rock or post-punk revival bands, like the Hives ,
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#17327796320306916-552: 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
7049-534: The South. The event caught the public's imagination and gained mass media attention in national newspapers, tabloids and television news. NME wrote about the phenomenon: Yes, in a week where news leaked that Saddam Hussein was preparing nuclear weapons , everyday folks were still getting slaughtered in Bosnia and Mike Tyson was making his comeback, tabloids and broadsheets alike went Britpop crazy. Billed as
7182-485: The Supernaturals from Glasgow. Travis , also from Glasgow, were one of the first major rock bands to emerge in the post-Britpop era, and have been credited with a major role in disseminating and even creating the subgenre of post-Britpop. From Edinburgh Idlewild , more influenced by post-grunge , produced three top 20 albums, peaking with The Remote Part (2002). The first major band to break through from
7315-488: The UK – becoming the fifth best-selling album in UK chart history. Blur's third album in their 'Life' trilogy, The Great Escape , sold over one million copies. At the 1996 Brit Awards , both albums were nominated for Best British Album (as was Pulp's Different Class ), with Oasis winning the award. All three bands were also nominated for Best British Group and Best Video, which were won by Oasis. While accepting Best Video (for "Wonderwall"), Oasis taunted Blur by singing
7448-606: The United Kingdom]). According to the documentary Upside Down , McGee and Foster opted to close Creation in December 1999 after McGee began to suffer burnout and disillusionment with the label. The label's final release was XTRMNTR by Primal Scream, issued in January 2000, shortly after the label ceased functioning. The dissolution of Creation Records in 1999 led to McGee and Foster forming Poptones . The label saw
7581-725: The Vines , the Libertines , the Strokes , the Black Keys and the White Stripes , that sprang up in that period were welcomed by the musical press as "the saviours of rock and roll". However, a number of the bands of this era, particularly Travis , Stereophonics and Coldplay , continued to record and enjoy commercial success into the new millennium. The idea of post-Britpop has been extended to include bands originating in
7714-415: 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
7847-483: The album Different Class which reached number one, and included the single " Common People ". The album sold over 1.3 million copies in the UK. The term "Britpop" arose when the media were drawing on the success of British designers and films, the Young British Artists (sometimes termed "Britart") such as Damien Hirst , and on the mood of optimism with the decline of John Major 's government, and
7980-562: 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
8113-404: 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
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#17327796320308246-568: The bands grouped under the Britpop term have in common. Britpop bands show elements from the British pop music of the 1960s, glam rock and punk rock of the 1970s, and indie pop of the 1980s in their music, attitude, and clothing. Specific influences vary: Blur drew from the Kinks and early Pink Floyd , Oasis took inspiration from the Beatles , and Elastica had a fondness for arty punk rock, notably Wire and both incarnations of Adam and
8379-409: The burgeoning dance and acid house scene starting in the late 1980s. Those scenes had influenced Creation mainstays such as Primal Scream and Ed Ball , as well as newer arrivals such as My Bloody Valentine . Creation Records' releases at this time tended to be critically acclaimed, without being major commercial hits. Creation had run up considerable debt that was only held off until McGee sold half
8512-408: 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
8645-423: 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
8778-429: The charts, and Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop , a 2003 documentary film written and directed by John Dower. Both documentaries include mention of Tony Blair and New Labour's efforts to align themselves with the distinctly British cultural resurgence that was underway, as well Britpop artists such as Damien Hirst . At the beginning of the 2010s, a wave of new bands emerged that combined indie rock with
8911-427: The chorus of the latter's " Parklife " and changing the lyrics to "shite life". Oasis' third album Be Here Now (1997) was highly anticipated. Despite initially attracting positive reviews and selling strongly, the record was soon subjected to strong criticism from music critics, record-buyers and even Noel Gallagher himself for its overproduced and bloated sound. Music critic Jon Savage pinpointed Be Here Now as
9044-438: 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
9177-420: The company to Sony Music in 1992. There were reports of McGee's escalating drug use, as well as numerous and conflicting reports of the label being nearly bankrupted after funding the two-year-long recording of My Bloody Valentine's 1991 Loveless . After selling to Sony, Creation signed Oasis , whose debut album Definitely Maybe became a huge critical and commercial success. The band went on to epitomise
9310-419: The culmination of various projects, including fanzine Communication Blur, his own rock outfit The Laughing Apple (with future Primal Scream guitarist and long-time friend Andrew Innes ), and his running of the venue The Communication Club. Initially, McGee wished to provide an outlet for like minded musicians and an opportunity for young bands to see their work on vinyl. Primarily the label was in opposition to
9443-564: The cultural Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. The success of Oasis was unprecedented for an act on an independent label. Their second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? became the biggest selling British album of the decade. In the 1990s, Creation launched the subsidiary Rev-Ola Records , which was formed by Joe Foster. Rev-Ola is now a part of the PoppyDisc group of labels. The revitalised Labour Party took note of McGee's accomplishments with Creation. They got McGee to spearhead
9576-518: The darker lyrical themes and soundscapes of the US-led grunge music and the UK's own shoegaze music scene. The movement brought British alternative rock into the mainstream and formed the larger British popular cultural movement, Cool Britannia , which evoked the Swinging Sixties and the British guitar pop of that decade. Britpop was a phenomenon that highlighted bands emerging from
9709-585: The direct ancestors of the Britpop movement. The influence of the Smiths is common to the majority of Britpop artists. The Madchester scene, fronted by the Stone Roses , Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets (for whom Oasis's Noel Gallagher had worked as a roadie during the Madchester years), was an immediate root of Britpop since its emphasis on good times and catchy songs provided an alternative to
9842-447: The dominant rock genre in the country. That same year Oasis released their debut album Definitely Maybe , which broke Suede's record for fastest-selling debut album; it went on to be certified 7× Platinum (2.1 million sales) by the BPI . Blur won four awards at the 1995 Brit Awards , including Best British Album for Parklife (ahead of Definitely Maybe ). In 1995, Pulp released
9975-402: The dourness of grunge, Britpop was defined by "youthful exuberance and desire for recognition". Damon Albarn of Blur summed up the attitude in 1993 when after being asked if Blur were an "anti-grunge band" he said, "Well, that's good. If punk was about getting rid of hippies, then I'm getting rid of grunge." In spite of the professed disdain for the genres, some elements of both crept into
10108-423: 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
10241-508: 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
10374-572: 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
10507-413: 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
10640-432: 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
10773-406: 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),
10906-515: The greatest pop rivalry since the Beatles and the Rolling Stones , it was spurred on by jibes thrown back and forth between the two groups, with Oasis dismissing Blur as " Chas & Dave chimney sweep music", while Blur referred to their opponents as the "Oasis Quo " in a deriding of their alleged unoriginality and inability to change. In what was the best week for UK singles sales in a decade, on 20 August, Blur's "Country House" sold 274,000 copies against "Roll with It" by Oasis which sold 216,000,
11039-527: The history of the UK. In April 1993, Select magazine featured Suede's lead singer Brett Anderson on the cover with a Union Flag in the background and the headline "Yanks go home!" The issue included features on Suede , the Auteurs , Denim , Saint Etienne and Pulp and helped start the idea of an emerging movement. Blur were involved in a vibrant social scene in London (dubbed " The Scene That Celebrates Itself " by Melody Maker ) that focused on
11172-423: 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
11305-498: 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 the early days. Indies release rock , soul , R&B , jazz , blues , gospel , reggae , hip hop , and world music . Music appearing on indie labels
11438-591: 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
11571-408: 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
11704-512: 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 ",
11837-466: The late 1990s, many Britpop acts began to falter commercially or break up, or otherwise moved towards new genres or styles. Commercially, Britpop lost out to teen pop , while artistically it segued into a post-Britpop indie movement, associated with bands such as Travis and Coldplay . Though Britpop has sometimes been viewed as a marketing tool and more of a cultural moment than a distinct musical genre, there are musical conventions and influences
11970-604: The likes of Radiohead and the Verve , who had been previously overlooked by the British media. These two bands – in particular Radiohead – showed considerably more esoteric influences from the 1960s and 1970s that were uncommon among earlier Britpop acts. In 1997, Radiohead and the Verve released their respective albums OK Computer and Urban Hymns , both widely acclaimed. Post-Britpop bands such as Travis , Stereophonics and Coldplay , influenced by Britpop acts, particularly Oasis, with more introspective lyrics, were some of
12103-499: 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. Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British -based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness . Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock , in reaction to
12236-523: 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
12369-500: 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
12502-466: 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
12635-451: 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,
12768-492: 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
12901-411: The mid-2020s, a new group of artists began drawing inspiration from the energy and iconography of mid-90s Britain. Notable examples include Nia Archives , whose debut album Silence Is Loud features a Union Jack on its cover, and Dua Lipa , who explored Britpop influences in her album Radical Optimism . AG Cook ’s triple album Britpop reimagines the genre’s aesthetic, featuring Charli XCX and
13034-431: The moment where Britpop ended; Savage said that while the album "isn't the great disaster that everybody says", he commented that "[i]t was supposed to be the big, big triumphal record" of the period. At the same time, Blur sought to distance themselves from Britpop with their self-titled fifth album , assimilating American lo-fi influences such as Pavement . Albarn explained to the NME in January 1997 that "We created
13167-587: The more enduring facets of Britpop. Noel Gallagher has since championed Ride and once stated that Nirvana 's Kurt Cobain was the only songwriter he had respect for in the last ten years, and that he felt their music was similar enough that Cobain could have written " Wonderwall ". By 1996, Oasis's prominence was such that NME termed a number of Britpop bands (including The Boo Radleys , Ocean Colour Scene and Cast ) "Noelrock", citing Gallagher's influence on their music. Journalist John Harris described these bands, and Gallagher, as sharing "a dewy-eyed love of
13300-433: The most commercially successful acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. These bands avoided the Britpop label while still producing music derived from it. Bands that had enjoyed some success during the mid-1990s, but were not really part of the Britpop scene, included the Verve and Radiohead. The music of most bands was guitar based, often mixing elements of British traditional rock (or British trad rock), particularly
13433-446: The most successful rock acts of the late 1990s and early 2000s. After Britpop the media focused on bands that may have been established acts, but had been overlooked due to focus on the Britpop movement. Bands such as Radiohead and the Verve , and new acts such as Travis , Stereophonics , Feeder and particularly Coldplay , achieved wider international success than most of the Britpop groups that had preceded them, and were some of
13566-417: The movement. The timespan of Britpop is generally considered to be 1993–1997, and its peak years to be 1995–1996. A chart battle between Blur and Oasis (dubbed "The Battle of Britpop") brought the movement to the forefront of the British press in 1995. While music was the main focus, fashion, art and politics also got involved, with Tony Blair and New Labour aligning themselves with the movement. During
13699-476: 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
13832-562: The new millennium, including Razorlight , Kaiser Chiefs , Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party , seen as a "second wave" of Britpop". These bands have been seen as looking less to music of the 1960s and more to 1970s punk and post-punk, while still being influenced by Britpop. Retrospective documentaries on the movement include The Britpop Story – a BBC programme presented by John Harris on BBC Four in August 2005 as part of Britpop Night, ten years after Blur and Oasis went head-to-head in
13965-416: The partnership with Cherry Red came to an end, McGee launched label specialising in releasing 7 inch vinyl records. This label was called Creation23 and was seen as the new incarnation of Creation Records. Acts who had singles released by the label included The K's, Shambolics, Rubber Jaw, Young Garbo and Juggs. On 1 February 2021, McGee relaunched Creation23 as the "It's Creation Baby" record label and became
14098-427: The post-Britpop Welsh rock scene, dubbed " Cool Cymru ", were Catatonia , whose single " Mulder and Scully " (1998) reached the top ten in the UK, and whose album International Velvet (1998) reached number one, but they were unable to make much impact in the US and, after personal problems, broke up at the end of the century. Other Welsh bands included Stereophonics and Feeder . These acts were followed by
14231-461: 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
14364-711: 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
14497-411: 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
14630-526: The return of Britishness." John Harris wrote in an NME article just before the release of Modern Life is Rubbish : "[Blur's] timing has been fortuitously perfect. Why? Because, as with baggies and shoegazers, loud, long-haired Americans have just found themselves condemned to the ignominious corner labelled 'yesterday's thing'." The music press also fixated on what the NME had dubbed the New Wave of New Wave ,
14763-656: The rise of the youthful Tony Blair as leader of the Labour Party . After terms such as "the New Mod" and "Lion Pop" were used in the press around 1992, journalist (and now BBC Radio 6 Music DJ) Stuart Maconie used the term Britpop in 1993 (though recounting the event in a BBC Radio 2 programme from 2020, he believed it may have been used in the 1960s, around the time of the British Invasion ). However, journalist and musician John Robb states he had used
14896-556: 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
15029-422: The same time in the spring of 1992. He stated, "[I]f Britpop started anywhere, it was the deluge of acclaim that greeted Suede's first records: all of them audacious, successful and very, very British." Suede were the first of the new crop of guitar-orientated bands to be embraced by the UK music media as Britain's answer to Seattle's grunge sound. Their debut album Suede became the fastest-selling debut album in
15162-502: 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
15295-476: The sole owner of the company. The label would now sign acts and put out albums as well as 7 inch singles, with Astrid's Charlie Clark releasing a solo album called Late Night Drinking as the label's first album release. By December 2021, McGee had overseen releases by acts such as Marquis Drive, Shambolics and The Illicits (bands who had been previously part of Creation23) as well as singles by Caterina Speranza's band CAT SFX and Cast member John Power, who released
15428-560: The songs charting at number one and number two, respectively. Blur performed their chart topping single on the BBC's Top of the Pops , with the band's bassist Alex James wearing an 'Oasis' t-shirt. However, in the long run Oasis became more commercially successful than Blur, at home and abroad. In a 2019 interview, Oasis bandleader Noel Gallagher reflected on the chart battle between the two songs, both of which he saw as "shit", and suggested that
15561-401: The start of 1995, bands including Sleeper , Supergrass and Menswear scored pop hits. Elastica released their debut album Elastica that March; its first week sales surpassed the record set by Definitely Maybe the previous year. The music press viewed the scene around Camden Town as a musical centre; frequented by groups like Blur, Elastica, and Menswear; Melody Maker declared "Camden
15694-503: The term in an interview with Stephen Merchant on BBC Radio 4 's Chain Reaction in 2010, describing it as a "horrible, bitty, sharp sound." In 2020, with attention turning to all "landfill indie" acts of the 2000s, Mark Beaumont of the NME argued that the term Britpop had been devalued, ignoring all the cultural aspects that had made the scene so important, with the term becoming a "catch-all" for "any band that played guitars in
15827-510: The term in the late 1980s in Sounds magazine to refer to bands such as the La's , the Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets , though many of these acts would be grouped under the Baggy , Madchester and indie-dance genres at the time. It was not until 1994 that Britpop started to be used by the UK media in relation to contemporary music and events. Bands emerged aligned with the new movement. At
15960-418: The term: "We're not Britpop, we're universal rock. The media can take the Britpop and stick it as far up the back entry of the country houses as they can take it." Blur guitarist Graham Coxon stated in the 2009 documentary Blur – No Distance Left to Run that he "didn't like being called Britpop, or pop, or PopBrit, or however you want to put it." Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker also expressed his dislike for
16093-524: 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
16226-485: 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,
16359-476: The weekly music media, and he was able to get a growing underground following. In their early days, he was able to project a notorious image of The Jesus and Mary Chain , which had often courted violence and loutish behaviour. The early years of Creation feature prominently in 2017 documentary, Teenage Superstars . Following an unsuccessful attempt to run an offshoot label for Warner Brothers ( Elevation Records ), McGee regrouped Creation and immersed himself in
16492-536: 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
16625-469: 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
16758-548: Was a sublabel to Creation Records, Richard Norris was the label's A&R Consultant. It was active between 1996 and 1999. Acts include Wamdue Project , among others. Independent record label An independent record label (or indie label ) 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
16891-401: Was a sublabel to Creation Records, run by Saint Etienne . It was active between 1992 and 1994. It released ten singles (by Shampoo and Earl Brutus , among others) and a compilation, We Are Icerink . Ball Product was a short-lived Creation sublabel, run by Edward Ball . It released four albums during 1992–1993, by Link Wray , The Dentists , Further , and Brenda Kahn . Eruption Records
17024-512: Was active between 1992 and 1997. Main bands on the label were Bandulu (with various aliases) and Reload . Infonet also released records with Andrea Parker and David Morley , Eddie Fowlkes , Sulphuric , Syzygy , among others. August Records was a short-lived Creation Records offshoot A&R'd by former Fire Records boss Dave Barker. It was active between 1992 and 1994. Acts included 18 Wheeler (later transferred to Creation), Eugenius (ex-Fire Records), Shonen Knife and Ween . Icerink
17157-464: Was among the key labels in the mid-1980s indie movement, with early artists such as The Jesus and Mary Chain , The Membranes and Primal Scream . The Jesus and Mary Chain went to record for Warner Brothers in 1985, yet McGee remained as their manager. With the profits he had made from the band, he was able to release singles by label acts such as Primal Scream , Felt , and The Weather Prophets . McGee had enthusiasm and an uncanny ability to attract
17290-613: Was awarded 'Independent Label of the Year' every year between 1995 and 1998 by Music Week , and McGee was awarded the NME 'Godlike Genius' award in February 1995. In the United States and Canada, some of Creation's catalogue was licensed to various non-Sony record labels such as A&M Records (Swervedriver), DGC Records (Teenage Fanclub [outside Europe]), Reprise Records (Oasis), SBK Records (Adorable, Slowdive), and Sire Records (My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, Ride [outside
17423-404: 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
17556-569: Was inspired by a tour of the United States in the spring of 1992. During the tour, frontman Damon Albarn began to resent American culture and found the need to comment on that culture's influence seeping into Britain. Justine Frischmann , formerly of Suede and leader of Elastica (and at the time in a relationship with Albarn) explained, "Damon and I felt like we were in the thick of it at that point ... it occurred to us that Nirvana were out there, and people were very interested in American music, and there should be some sort of manifesto for
17689-404: 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
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