Volcano Entertainment (sometimes referred to as Volcano Records) was an American all-round music

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

founded in 1996 which released albums by

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

311 311 may refer to: * 311 (number), a natural number * AD 311, a year of the Julian calendar, in the fourth century AD * 311 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 311 (band), an American band ** ''311'' (album), band 311's self-titled album ...

, Size 14,

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and "Weird Al" Yankovic. (The latter two were former

Scotti Bros. Records Scotti Brothers Records (typically spelled Scotti Bros. Records) was a California-based record label founded by Tony and Ben Scotti in 1974. Their first success was releasing singles and albums from teen pop star Leif Garrett. They later helped ...

artists and the only artists retained from the label.) The Volcano Records catalog is owned by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

, a division of

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

History

Volcano Records was founded in 1996 by Kevin Czinger. It is essentially the continuation of Zoo Entertainment which Czinger bought from BMG in 1996. Initially, the company was meant to have two divisions ''Zoo/Volcano'' and ''Volcano'' which would be a hip-hop imprint.Jeffrey, Don. "Zoo Acquired by Start-Up Volcano; Firm Also Launches Hip-Hop Imprint" ''Billboard'' 108:34 (24 August 1996) The first album released with the new ownership was flagship Zoo artist

's album '' Ænima'' followed by actor Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar's album ''

Our Little Visionary ''Our Little Visionary'' is the debut album by rock trio Dogstar. It was primarily distributed in Japan. It was recorded and mixed at A&M Studios in Hollywood, California and mastered at Precision Mastering. Track listing # "Forgive" – 1:59 ...

''. However, the Zoo name was eventually phased out and many of Zoo artists became the cornerstone of the Volcano roster. In October 1997, Volcano merged with Dallas Austin's Rowdy Records to become Freeworld Entertainment. Freeworld was short-lived, as the label was plagued with financial trouble and the relationship with Austin faltered. Many of the label's employees were either cut or left. Additionally, the label's flagship artist

was attempting to leave the label which resulted in a lengthy lawsuit. In the spring of 1998, Freeworld was purchased and "saved" by the Zomba Label Group. Though the Zoo branding was briefly reintroduced, Zomba quickly returned the Volcano

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

, abandoning Zoo altogether. A month later, Q Prime, led by top managers Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, purchased a 50% stake in Volcano and made sure that hard-rock artist Tool would stay. They would sell their share back to Zomba in the early 2000s. 1998 also marked the year that Volcano acquired the contracts and masters of

which had just been purchased by

Pearson PLC Pearson plc is a British multinational publishing and education company headquartered in London, England. It was founded as a construction business in the 1840s but switched to publishing in the 1920s. Spender, J. A., ''Weetman Pearson: F ...

. Volcano also purchased Capricorn Records in December 2000. In 2002, Zomba was purchased by BMG, returning Volcano to the BMG umbrella it had previously been a part of as Zoo Entertainment in the early nineties. Volcano now controls the

, Capricorn Records (later) and Zoo Entertainment catalogs. With Yankovic fulfilling his Sony contract on their main label

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westin ...

, with his 2014 album '' Mandatory Fun'', Volcano functions primarily as a reissue label. Tool released its contract fulfillment album for Volcano, '' Fear Inoculum'', on August 30, 2019, completing their five-album requirement.

Artists

Releases

Volcano products were initially distributed by BMG. When Zomba purchased the label in 1998, distribution was handled through the Zomba network which, depending on the territory, may have been BMG, Virgin, Zomba itself or other smaller labels. When Zomba was purchased by BMG, BMG became the sole worldwide distributor again. Between 2004 and late 2008 distribution switched to

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

in accordance with the merger of Sony and BMG. Since early 2009, Sony Music Entertainment distributes Volcano products worldwide.

References

{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1996 Sony Music Alternative rock record labels Zoo Entertainment (record label) Zomba Group of Companies subsidiaries

History

Artists

Releases

See also

References