Fearless Records is an American

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 ...

that was founded in 1994. Fearless is based in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

, and is best known for its early

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

moments captured in the ''Fearless Flush Sampler'' and ''Punk Bites'' releases, as well as additional releases by bands such as Bigwig and Dynamite Boy; and later

Sugarcult Sugarcult was an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1998. The band consisted of Tim Pagnotta (vocals, rhythm guitar), Airin Older (bass), Marko DeSantis (lead guitar), and Kenny Livingston (drums). History Formation ...

;

Plain White T's The Plain White T's are an American pop rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground followin ...

;

The Aquabats The Aquabats are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California, in 1994. Throughout many fluctuations in the group's line-up, singer Christian Jacobs, the MC Bat Commander and bassist Chad Larson, Crash McLarson have ...

; Amely; and

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

releases by

At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (drums ...

and Anatomy of a Ghost. However, the label has experimented with different styles in recent years. Acts such as

Blessthefall Blessthefall (stylized as blessthefall or BLESSTHEFALL prior to 2013) is an American metalcore band from Phoenix, Arizona, signed to Rise Records. The band was founded in 2004 by guitarist Mike Frisby, drummer Matt Traynor, and bassist and vo ...

, Bloodywood, The Word Alive, Ice Nine Kills, Mayday Parade,

Pierce The Veil Pierce the Veil is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 2006. It was founded by brothers Vic Fuentes, Vic and Mike Fuentes (musician), Mike Fuentes after the disbanding of Before Today, which formed out of the San Diego Pu ...

, Starset, The Pretty Reckless, Underoath and The Color Morale have showcased post-hardcore,

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

, hard rock and alternative rock bands that have emerged in recent years. Fearless Records' releases were distributed in the US by

RED Distribution RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC (Relativity Entertainment Distribution) was a Sony Music, Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard (company), The Orchard in 2017. RED previously hand ...

, but after Concord Music Group's purchase of the label in 2015, it is now distributed by Universal Music Group worldwide.

History

Bob Becker started Fearless Records when he was selling his friends records at their shows. He would also go to record stores and put their records on

consignment Consignment is a process whereby a person gives permission to another party to take care of their property while retaining full ownership of the property until the item is sold to the final buyer. It is generally done during auctions, shipping, ...

. The record label name came from Becker not knowing what he was doing at the time and "not being afraid to jump in head first." Fearless Records was officially formed in 1994. In 2000, Fearless Records released '' Punk Goes Metal,'' the first

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

from the '' Punk Goes...'' series. Since then the ''Punk Goes...'' series has expanded. It has included seven '' Punk Goes Pop'' releases, two '' Punk Goes Acoustic'' releases, '' Punk Goes 80's'' and '' 90's'', '' Punk Goes Crunk,'' '' Punk Goes Classic Rock,'' and '' Punk Goes X'' which features cover songs that were featured at the 2011 Winter X Games. '' Punk Goes Pop 5'' was released on November 6, 2012. On January 1, 2014, Fearless Records released a video on their page on YouTube announcing bands that will be releasing albums in 2014 and also announced Fearless Records' compilation of '' Punk Goes 90's 2''. In 2005, Fearless Records released the studio album '' All That We Needed'' by

, a thirteen-song collection that proved to be a breakthrough for both the label and the Illinois-based band. " Hey There Delilah", a single from that album, reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, became a success for the label and was certified as a

multi-platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

single. On November 8, 2010, Fearless announced the release of a Christmas-themed compilation album, titled '' 'Tis the Season to Be Fearless''. It would feature eight of their signed artists recording original songs. The album was available for pre-ordering on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

the same day, and was released on November 22, 2010. Three years later, Fearless Records released '' Punk Goes Christmas'' featuring original & cover tracks from

All Time Low All Time Low is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Towson, Maryland, in 2003. Consisting of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alex Gaskarth, lead guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist/backing vocalist Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson ...

, Issues, New Found Glory, and more. In 2011, Fearless Records released

Breathe Carolina Breathe Carolina are an American electronic music duo from Denver, Colorado. The duo formed in 2007 consisting of David Schmitt and Kyle Even. They later expanded to a full band whose best-known lineup included Schmitt, Even, drummer Eric Armen ...

's album '' Hell Is What You Make It''. " Blackout", a single from the album, became another success for the label. It debuted at No. 32 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was certified as a gold single. In October 2012, Fearless Records announced that they had launched a sister label called "Old Friends Records", which would sign more indie rock artists including Hellogoodbye. In November 2013, Fearless Records announced a second imprint label called " Outerloop Records", along with their first signing Ice Nine Kills. The label, with a back-catalog of about 150 albums, was acquired by

Concord Bicycle Music Alchemy Copyrights, Limited liability company, LLC, trade name, doing business as Concord, is an Privately held company, independent American music company. It develops, manages and acquires sound recordings, music publishing rights, theatrical p ...

in May 2015 for an estimated $10,000,000.

Artists

Current

* American Teeth * Archetypes Collide * Boys Like Girls * Bloodywood * Capstan * Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! *

Chase Atlantic Chase Atlantic (stylised in all caps) is an Australian R&B band from Cairns, Queensland, formed in 2014. The band consists of three members: Christian Anthony and brothers Mitchel and Clinton Cave, and have released seven EPs and four albums si ...

* chokecherry *

Don Broco Don Broco are a British rock music, rock band formed in Bedford, England, in 2008. The band consists of Rob Damiani (lead vocals), Simon Delaney (guitar), Tom Doyle (bass and programming) and Matt Donnelly (drums, lead and backing vocals). The ...

* Eat Your Heart Out * Flat Black *

I Prevail I Prevail is an American rock band formed in Southfield, Michigan, in 2013. They released their debut EP '' Heart vs. Mind'' (2014) and rose to popularity from releasing a metal cover of Taylor Swift's " Blank Space" as a single, which eventua ...

* Ice Nine Kills * Locket *

Movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

* My Enemies & I * My Kid Brother * NOT A TOY * Kill the Lights * Parting Gift *

Pierce the Veil Pierce the Veil is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 2006. It was founded by brothers Vic Fuentes, Vic and Mike Fuentes (musician), Mike Fuentes after the disbanding of Before Today, which formed out of the San Diego Pu ...

* The Plot in You * The Pretty Reckless * The Requiem * Starset * Trevor Daniel * Until I Wake *

Varials Varials is an American metalcore band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in October 2013. The band currently consists of guitarist Shane Lyons, bassist Mike Foley and drummer Sean Rauchut. History The band members, all from Philadelphia or ...

Volumes Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The ...

* Windwaker * Wind Walkers *

Wage War Wage War is an American metalcore band formed in Ocala, Florida in 2010 under the name Empires. The band consists of lead vocalist Briton Bond, lead guitarist Seth Blake, rhythm guitarist and clean vocalist Cody Quistad, bassist Chris Gaylord ...

* TSS

Old Friends Records artists

* Carousel *

Hellogoodbye Hellogoodbye (sometimes styled as hellogoodbye) is an American pop rock band that was formed in Huntington Beach, California in 2001 by singer Forrest Kline. They were signed to Drive-Thru Records and released their first full-length album '' ...

The Static Jacks The Static Jacks are an American rock band from Westfield, New Jersey, consisting of singer Ian Devaney, guitarist Henry Kaye, guitarist Michael Sue-Poi, and drummer Nick Brennan. History Formation (2007–2010) Devaney, Kaye, and Brennan star ...

* Wild Party

Former

* 30 Foot Fall * Alesana * The Almighty Trigger Happy *

The Almost The Almost is an American Rock music, rock band from Clearwater, Florida, fronted by Underoath drummer and vocalist Aaron Gillespie. Formed in 2005 as a solo project by Gillespie, the band currently includes guitarist Jay Vilardi, bassist Jon Tho ...

* Anatomy of a Ghost * Amely *

* Artist vs. Poet * As It Is * August Burns Red * A Skylit Drive * A Static Lullaby *

* Bazookas Go Bang! * Beefcake *

Bickley Bickley is a district and a local government electoral ward in South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 10.4 miles (16.7 km) south east of Charing Cross, bordering Elmstead to the north, Chislehurst to the n ...

* Bigwig *

* Blount *

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

* Brightwell * Chuck * Classic Case * The Color Morale * Cruiserweight * Dead Lazlo's Place *

The Downtown Fiction The Downtown Fiction was an American rock music, rock band from Fairfax, Virginia, Fairfax, Virginia. The Musical ensemble, band consisted of guitarist and lead vocalist Cameron Leahy, bassist and backing vocalist David Pavluk, guitarist and bac ...

* Drunk In Public * Dynamite Boy * Every Avenue *

Eve 6 Eve 6, stylized as EVE 6 or EVƎ 6, is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Southern California, best known for its hit singles " Inside Out" and " Here's to the Night". It disbanded in 2004, returned for numerous tours in 2007 with a new l ...

* Eye Alaska * Family Values * Fed Up * Follow My Lead * For All Those Sleeping *

Forever the Sickest Kids Forever the Sickest Kids (sometimes abbreviated as ''FTSK'') is an American pop punk band from Dallas, Texas. The band first signed with Universal Motown Records and released its debut album, ''Underdog Alma Mater'', on April 29, 2008. The band' ...

* The Fully Down * Gatsbys American Dream * Get Scared * Glasseater * Glue Gun * Gob * Go Radio * Grabbers *

Grayscale In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a greyscale (more common in Commonwealth English) or grayscale (more common in American English) image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample (signal), s ...

* I Dont Know How But They Found Me * Invisible Boss * Jason Lancaster * Junction 18 * Jakiro * Keepsake * The Killing Moon * The Kinison * Knockout * Let's Get It * Logan Square * Lonely Kings *

Lostprophets Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets or LOSTPROPHETS) were a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The group was founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up. They later recruit ...

* The Maine * Mayday Parade *

Milestones A milestone is a marker of distance along roads. Milestone may also refer to: Measurements *Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project *Software release life cycle state, s ...

* The Morning Light * Motionless in White * Motherfist * Near Miss * Nipdrivers *

Oceans Ate Alaska Oceans Ate Alaska are a British metalcore band hailing from Birmingham formed in 2010. The band was signed to Fearless Records and are known for "uniting boundaries between multiple genres in modern metal" and for "fusing unpredictable polyrhy ...

* The Outline * Patton Thomas * Portugal. The Man * Real Friends * Red Fish *

Rock Kills Kid Rock Kills Kid was an American art punk/alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California that consisted of Jeff Tucker (guitar and vocals), Shawn Dailey (bass), Sean Stopnik (guitar), Reed Calhoun (keyboards/vocals), and Mike Balboa (drums). ...

* RPM * Set It Off * So They Say * Sparks the Rescue * Starset *

The Starting Line The Starting Line is an American pop-punk band formed in Churchville, Pennsylvania, Churchville, Pennsylvania in 1999. They are currently based in Philadelphia. History Early years (1999–2001) In 1999, the band that would become The Startin ...

* Straight Faced *

* Superman Please Don't * The Summer Set * Sworn In * Tonight Alive * Underoath * Upon This Dawning * The White Noise * The Word Alive * Whitekaps (also known as White Caps) * Yesterdays Rising

Discography

References

External links

*
Punknews.org Entry on Fearless Records
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1994 1994 establishments in California Record labels based in California Companies based in Culver City, California Rock record labels Alternative rock record labels Punk record labels Pop record labels Heavy metal record labels Post-hardcore record labels Pop punk record labels Concord Music Group