Paper Bag Records is a Canadian

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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

, artist management company, and music publishing company founded in 2002 and based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

History

The label was created to focus on the Toronto-area

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

music scene. Initial signings were

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the ...

and

Stars A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of ...

with their breakthrough albums, '' You Forgot It in People'' and ''Heart''. The label helped launch the careers of controller. controller, Tokyo Police Club, and Austra, amongst many others. For two years, Paper Bag Records was given the title of 'Best Label' from Toronto's '' Now Magazine'' in ''Now''s 2008 and 2009 issues. In the August 2007 issue of U.S. publication ''

XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in S ...

'', Paper Bag Records was voted #14 for "Best Indie Label". Paper Bag Records launched their "Paper Bag Digital" online store in June 2008, which features their entire catalog for purchase and download in

mp3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

and

FLAC FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference software ...

formats. In 2009, Trevor Larocque made significant changes to the label's identity and image. In 2011, The ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' is quoted with a mention that the label is "having one of the best years of its existence" and in early 2012, Toronto's weekly paper ''

The Grid The Grid are an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal C ...

'' recognized the label as a "cornerstone of Canadian music." In September 2012, CBC Radio said the Paper Bag Records "could be the most influential label in Canada". New bands joined the label including

Elliott Brood Elliott Brood (often stylized as Elliott BROOD) is a three-piece Canadian alternative country band formed in Toronto in 2002. It consists of Mark Sasso on lead vocals, guitar, banjo, ukulele, harmonica and kazoo, Casey Laforet on guitar, lead ...

, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Born Ruffians, Young Galaxy, Cuff the Duke, and PS I Love You. In 2012, the label announced that Montreal artists Tim Hecker, Moonface ( Spencer Krug), Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, and The Luyas were joining its roster. Larocque would sell and leave the label in 2023 after 22 years of being involved. The Paper Bag Records series of

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

releases were produced in very limited quantities, each being between 300–500 copies. They were released on colored 180-gram vinyl with silk-screened artwork. Paper Bag Records played host to the first Independent Label Market event in Canada during the NXNE 2013.

Awards and nominations

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

, - , , , Broken Social Scene ''You Forgot It in People'' , , Alternative Album of the Year , , , - , , , Stars ''Heart'' , , Alternative Album of the Year , , , - , , , Tokyo Police Club ''Cheer It On'' , , Video of the Year , , , - , , , Austra ''Feel It Break'' , , Electronic Album of the Year , , , - , , , Cuff The Duke ''Morning Comes'' , , Adult Alternative Album of the Year , , , - , , , The Rural Alberta Advantage ''Stamp'' , , Video of the Year , , , - , , , The Rural Alberta Advantage , , New Group of the Year , , , - , , , Elliott BROOD ''Days Into Years'' , , Roots & Traditional Album of the Year , , , - , , , Born Ruffians , , Breakthrough Group of the Year , , , - , , , Yamantaka//Sonic Titan ''UZU'' , , Alternative Album of the Year , , , - , , , Elliott BROOD ''Work And Love'' , , Roots & Traditional Album of the Year , , , - , , , Sarah Neufeld ''The Ridge'' , , Instrumental Album of the Year , , , -

Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize. The prize was inc ...

, - , , , The Deadly Snakes ''Porcella'' , , Polaris Music Prize , , , - , , , Austra ''Feel It Break'' , , Polaris Music Prize , , , - , , , Yamantaka // Sonic Titan ''Yamantaka // Sonic Titan'' , , Polaris Music Prize , , , - , , , Young Galaxy ''Ultramarine'' , , Polaris Music Prize , , , - , , , Yamantaka // Sonic Titan ''UZU'' , , Polaris Music Prize , , , - MuchMusic Video Award , - , 2007 , , Tokyo Police Club ''Cheer It On'' , , Best Independent Video , , , - , - , 2011 , , You Say Party ''Lonely's Lunch'' , , Best Independent Video , , , - , - , 2011 , , You Say Party ''Lonely's Lunch'' , , Director of the Year - Sean Wainsteim , , , - Plug Awards , - , rowspan="2", 2007 , , Tokyo Police Club ''Nature of the Experiment'' , , Song of the Year , , , - , , Tokyo Police Club , , New Artist of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2", 2008 , , Sally Shapiro ''Disco Romance'' , , Dance/Electronic Album of the Year , , , - , , Sally Shapiro , , Female Artist of the Year , , Western Canadian Music Awards , - , 2010 , , You Say Party ''XXXX'' , , Rock Recording Of The Year , , , -

Discography

References

External links

Official site

Paper Bag Digital (online store)

Interview with founder Trevor Larocque (via Talk Rock To Me)
August 10, 2012 {{Authority control Canadian independent record labels Record labels established in 2002 Alternative rock record labels Indie rock record labels Companies based in Toronto 2002 establishments in Ontario

History

Awards and nominations

Discography

See also

References

External links