Beyond Music was an American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

group based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. It was founded in August 1998 by Allen Kovac. The label group operated as an arm of Kovac's Left Bank Management firm (founded in 1983), which he jointly ran with Jeffrey Sydney. The label was known for its strategy of "resurrecting" bands and artists that had decreased in popularity with unusual high-profile marketing campaigns, and its roster included

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

, Blondie, Veruca Salt,

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

Vince Neil Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist of heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, which he fronted from their 1981 formation until his departure in 1992. Neil reunited with the ...

, and others. It also signed a variety of new bands and artists, such as Lucy Pearl and 58.

History

On August 1, 1998, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine announced the formation of Beyond Music via an exclusive feature in the magazine, and unveiled a list of artists who had signed to the label. BMG signed a pressing-and-distribution (P&D) agreement with Beyond Music to distribute the label group's release internationally; outside of the United States, some of Beyond Music's releases were licensed to and distributed by a variety of labels, such as

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

for

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and

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

(SME) for Europe. Universal Music and Video Distribution took over Beyond Music's distribution from BMG in May 2001; the label's first release under the new distribution deal was '' God Bless The Go-Go's'' by

The Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American all-female Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar ...

, which was released on May 15, 2001. The label, along with Left Bank Management, went into

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...

towards the end of 2002 following a dispute between Kovac and Sydney, resulting in more than a dozen employees being laid off. Kovac later filed an

arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...

lawsuit against Sydney on December 31, 2002, alleging that he had defrauded and manipulated him, and formed a new management company, Kovac Media Group, in January 2003. Eleven Seven Music, which Kovac formed in 2006, is seen as a successor to Beyond Music. Several former artists on Beyond, such as Better than Ezra, have since reclaimed the rights to their releases on the label.

Roster

This is a list of artists who have recorded for Beyond Music and its associated labels. * 58 (Americoma){{Cite web , date=May 12, 2000 , title=Nikki Sixx on "58" , url=http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/1982/nikki_sixx.html , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102203120/http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/1982/nikki_sixx.html , archive-date=2007-11-02 , access-date=2023-02-20 , website=Petsbrugh * The Alarm MM++ *

Better Than Ezra Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with Round Hill Music. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bas ...

* Blondie * Colony * Face to Face *

The Fixx The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' ...

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

* Jill Sobule * Laidlaw * Lucy Pearl *

(Mötley) *

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

Sponge Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and a ...

* Veruca Salt *

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza ( ...

References

Record labels established in 1998 Record labels disestablished in 2002 Defunct record labels of the United States Defunct companies based in California