Reprise Records facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Reprise Records |
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| Parent company | Warner Music Group |
| Founded | 1960 (original) 1987 (relaunch) |
| Founder | Frank Sinatra |
| Defunct | 1976 (original) |
| Status | Active |
| Distributor(s) |
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| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
Reprise Records is an American record label. A record label is a company that manages the production, marketing, and distribution of music. Famous singer Frank Sinatra started Reprise Records in 1960.
Today, Warner Music Group owns Reprise Records. It works through Warner Records, which is one of its main labels. Many popular artists are signed to Reprise Records. These include Green Day, Enya, Michael Bublé, Eric Clapton, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, and My Chemical Romance.
Contents
Company History
How Reprise Records Started
Frank Sinatra created Reprise Records in 1960. He wanted more artistic freedom for his own music. This meant he wanted to control how his songs were made and released. Because of this, he earned the nickname "The Chairman of the Board."
Sinatra was the CEO of Reprise. He invited many other artists to join the new label. These included his friends Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.. Other early artists were Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, and Sinatra's daughter, Nancy Sinatra.
The first Reprise records had different logos. A riverboat was for Pop music. A cherub was for Jazz music. An owl was for spoken word or comedy records. And a picture of Sinatra was for his own songs.
One main idea of Reprise was giving artists creative freedom. Artists could control their own work. They could even own the rights to their music. This is why some early Reprise songs are now sold by other labels.
Selling to Warner Bros.
In 1963, Warner Bros. bought Reprise Records from Frank Sinatra. Reprise had been losing money. But Sinatra still owned a part of the company.
Many older artists left the label after the sale. However, Mo Ostin, the president of Reprise, stayed on. He became very important to Warner Bros. for many years.
Warner-Reprise started looking for younger artists. They began by distributing music for the Kinks in America. They also signed teen pop groups like Dino, Desi & Billy. Nancy Sinatra, Frank's daughter, also became a big pop star. By the late 1960s, Reprise mostly focused on rock music. Frank Sinatra, however, kept recording for the label until the 1980s.
By the 1970s, Reprise had many famous artists. These included Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Jethro Tull, T. Rex, and Fleetwood Mac.
A Quiet Period
In 1976, Warner Bros. stopped actively using the Reprise label. Most of its artists moved to the main Warner Bros. label. Only Frank Sinatra and Neil Young continued to release new music on Reprise. For several years, there were almost no new songs released on Reprise Records.
Reprise Comes Back (1985–Present)
In the mid-1980s, Reprise Records started to become active again. In 1987, Warner Bros. Records officially brought Reprise back. It even got its own separate team to promote music.
Since then, Reprise has become a very important label again. Many other smaller labels have released music with Reprise.
As of 2017, Reprise Records is home to many popular artists. These include Enya, Michael Bublé, Eric Clapton, Green Day, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, and Josh Groban.
Reprise used to handle the music catalogs for Jimi Hendrix and the Barenaked Ladies in the U.S. In the 2000s, the Bee Gees' older music was re-released under the Reprise label.
In 2010, Reprise started a country music section. It signed artists like Blake Shelton. In 2017, Reprise released some of Enya's albums on vinyl. Some of these were available on vinyl for the very first time.
Reprise Records Artists
See also
In Spanish: Reprise Records para niños
- List of record labels
- Warner Records
