The Echo Label was a British

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, ...

started by Chrysalis Group in 1994, and linked with

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

in Japan. The Chrysalis Group were the original owners of Chrysalis Records, which they sold to EMI. In 2005, The Echo Label recorded a loss of over £2.0 million. The decision was taken to restructure the business at the beginning of the 2006 financial year, into an "incubator" for developing writer-artists with the intention of "upstreaming" them to a major label. The signings which resulted from this included Bat for Lashes, Steven Lindsay, Rosalie Deighton, Jacob Golden and Sarabeth Tucek. They would continue to release records for their established artists Feeder and Morcheeba. However, in a Chrysalis Group report dated 15 August 2008, it was stated that The Echo Label had performed below management's expectations and had not upstreamed any artists in this period, other than Bat For Lashes, who were transferred to

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

in early 2007. In May 2013,

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 ...

purchased the distribution rights to Echo material and was re-issued in July under the label. In March 2017, Sony's distribution rights expired, and

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...

(which acquired the Chrysalis Music publisher in 2010) transferred the distribution to

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

's Alternative Distribution Alliance division. Since 2023, BMG (including The Echo Label) is distributed by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. The Echo imprint now exclusively sits within BMG, which also administers much of the publishing through the Chrysalis catalogue. Similar to its sister label, Sanctuary Records, Echo continues to exploit a number of artist catalogues, including Feeder, Bat for Lashes, and several artist catalogues acquired from Warner Music (including

Supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, ...

, The Subways, Sigue Sigue Sputnik,

White Town Jyoti Prakash Mishra (born 30 July 1966), better known by his stage name White Town, is a British-Indian singer, musician, and record producer, producer. He is best known for his 1997 hit song "Your Woman". Early life Jyoti Prakash Mishra was ...

, Devildriver,

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

and

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

). Echo only exist on Companies House as a legal entity to maintain the copyrights on their releases.

Former artists

* 666 * Marc Almond * Ash (acquired in 2017) * Babybird * Bat For Lashes (still signed to Echo/Parlophone) * Big Yoga Muffin * Black Rebel Motorcycle Club *

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

* Dark Flower * Deichkind (acquired in 2017) * Rosalie Deighton *

Denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more Warp (weaving), warp threads. This twill weave produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. Denim, as it is recognized today, was f ...

Devildriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, bassist Jon Miller, guitarist Alex Lee and drummer Davier Pérez. The b ...

(acquired in 2017) * D'Influence *

(acquired in 2017) * Anne Dudley *

Engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

* Feeder * Fred & Roxy * Jacob Golden * I Am Kloot * Ray Lamontagne * LHOOQ * Steven Lindsay * George Martin *

(acquired in 2017) *

Moloko Moloko () were an English-Irish electronic music duo formed in Sheffield, England, consisting of vocalist Róisín Murphy and music producer, producer Mark Brydon. Blending elements of electronica and dance music, they are best known for their ...

* Mono * Morcheeba * Mr. Phillips * Róisín Murphy * Nio * Nitzer Ebb * Nyack * .O.rang * Pranksters * The Psychedelic Waltons * Sigue Sigue Sputnik (acquired in 2017) * Jean Jacques Smoothie * Spek * Subcircus * TBC * The Stands * The Subways (acquired in 2017) *

(acquired in 2017) * Fuzz Townshend * Sarabeth Tucek * Utah Saints * The Vacation * Zu * Nerina Pallot *

(acquired in 2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Echo Label, The British record labels Record labels established in 1994 Indie rock record labels Electronic music record labels

Former artists

See also

References

External links