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| Chrysalis Records Ltd | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1968; 57 years ago (1968) |
| Founder | Chris Wright Terry Ellis |
| Status | Europe: Independent record company, owned byReservoir Media Management Rest of the world: defunct, merged into Universal Music Group |
| Distributors | U.S. and Canadian catalogues, as well as those ofRamones,Robbie Williams,Billy Idol andBelinda Carlisle:Universal Music Group
Most non-North American catalogues, plus the rights to artists not originally signed to Chrysalis:Blue Raincoat Music/Reservoir Media Management
Catalogues ofSpandau Ballet,Jethro Tull, Ramones andthe Proclaimers:Warner Music Group
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| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Official website | blueraincoatmusic |
Chrysalis Records (/ˈkrɪsəlɪs/) is a Britishindependent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to thepupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names,Chris Wright andTerryEllis.[1] It started as theEllis-Wright Agency.[2]
Chrysalis entered into a licensing deal withChris Blackwell'sIsland Records for distribution, based on the success of bands such asJethro Tull,Ten Years After, andProcol Harum, which were promoted by the label. Jethro Tull signed withReprise Records in the United States, which led Chrysalis to an American distribution deal with Reprise's parent company,Warner Bros. Records. This lasted from 1972 until U.S. Chrysalis switched to independent distribution in 1976.PolyGram handled international distribution andFestival Records covered Australia and New Zealand. In 1973, it signed British rock bandUFO. Towards the end of the 1970s, the label began to extend its range of music, incorporating acts from thepunk rock scene such asGeneration X. The Chrysalis offshoot2 Tone Records brought in bands such asthe Specials andthe Selecter.[3]
In 1979, Chrysalis bought and distributed U.S. folk labelTakoma Records, naming manager/producerDenny Bruce as president, who signedthe Fabulous Thunderbirds andT-Bone Burnett.Jon Monday, who was vice president ofTakoma Records prior to the acquisition, continued as general manager,[4] later becoming director of marketing of Chrysalis Records.
In the 1980s, Chrysalis was at the forefront of the Britishnew romantic movement with bands such asGen X,Ultravox, andSpandau Ballet. The 1980s proved to be the most successful time for the label, whose roster then includedBilly Idol,Pat Benatar,Blondie, andHuey Lewis and the News.[5] Chrysalis also distributed Animal Records, the short-lived label founded by Blondie guitaristChris Stein. In 1983, after the label re-established itself in New York, Eric Heckman, formerly of Atlantic and Epic Records promotion, took over as senior director of promotion and marketing. Also in 1983,Daniel Glass moved to Chrysalis as director of new music marketing, advancing later to senior vice president. During the next two years, Chrysalis broke Huey Lewis and the News, Billy Idol, and Spandau Ballet in the United States, whilst Pat Benatar continued to find success on both the traditional and dance music charts.
In 1984, Chrysalis boughtEnsign Records, a record label Nigel Grainge started in 1976 (with the label's name coming from the idea that 'N. signs' as in 'Nigel Signs'). Ensign Records would go on to have The Waterboys, World Party, and Sinéad O'Connor on its roster in the late 1980s.[6][7][8] Ensign joined TV marketing/compilations companyDover Records and dance labelCooltempo[9][10][11] as part of the Chrysalis family,[12] with Grainge staying on to run the label that he founded.
In 1989, 50% of the Chrysalis Records label was sold, then the remaining half in 1991 toThorn EMI,[5] with theChrysalis Group (primarily a music publisher with other interests in radio and television production) setting up new indie labels such asEcho andPapillon in the mid-1990s.[13] Chrysalis Records was folded into EMI subsidiary and flagship labelEMI Records in 2005, with catalogue and artists such asStarsailor being shifted toEMI's main imprints. In 2010,BMG Rights Management boughtChrysalis Music's assets (the publishing division and The Echo Label),.[14]
In September 2012, after acquiring EMI's record labels,Universal Music Group offered to divest several record labels, including EMI's Chrysalis andParlophone, to meet theEuropean Commission's demands.[15] The deal did not include Chrysalis' North American catalogue (which was folded intoCapitol Records in 2007) orRobbie Williams (who was transferred toIsland Records).
In February 2013,Warner Music Group announced that it would acquire many of EMI's European record labels, including Chrysalis and Parlophone, for £487 million. In July 2013, WMG completed its purchase of the Parlophone Label Group.[16]
Two weeks after announcing its acquisition of Parlophone, Warner Music agreed to sell roughly 30% of its own catalogue to independent record labels.[17]
Chrysalis Records was bought in May 2016 from WMG in a deal led by Blue Raincoat Music'sJeremy Lascelles andRobin Millar. The agreement had the co-founder and original owner of Chrysalis, Chris Wright, reunited with the label as non-executive chairman, 27 years after selling the company to EMI.[18] FormerVirgin Media boss Robert Devereux was also part of the original consortium.[19]
In 2018, the Cooltempo label was relaunched by Blue Raincoat Music[20][21][22] with the release of theEye Ring EP byFrancesca Lombardo[23] andInfinity Ink's debut albumHouse of Infinity.[24] In August 2019, music rights company, Reservoir, partnered with Blue Raincoat, to make the Chrysalis record label part of Reservoir's extended global infrastructure and network.[25]
Chrysalis Records relaunched itself as a front-line label in February 2020, marking a return to releasing new music for the first time in over two decades.[26] The first signing was in partnership with award-winning independent labelPartisan Records.[27] The labels came together to sign British singer/songwriterLaura Marling in a fully co-branded global release. As the first project released on Chrysalis' relaunched frontline label, Marling's album,Song for Our Daughter, debuted in April 2020 to critical acclaim and aMercury Prize nomination.[28]
In September 2020, Chrysalis signed the indie singer-songwriterLiz Phair.[29] Phair's first album in a decade,Soberish, came out later in 2021.[30][31]
On 6 August 2021, the second album from Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay's project Lump (styled in all caps),[32] titledAnimal[33][34][35] charted at number 65 on theUK Albums Chart,[36] and was one of the Top 20 selling albums for that week (6–12 August 2021).[37] Chrysalis also reissued the first six albums byDe La Soul on physical, digital and streaming platforms in early 2023;[38] those albums were originally released byTommy Boy, which, like Chrysalis, is also owned by Reservoir Media.
In July 2023,The Endless Coloured Ways was released under the Chrysalis Records label. It is a collection of songs by singer/songwriterNick Drake, performed and recorded by 30 artists, includingFontaines D.C.,Guy Garvey,Aurora,Feist,Self Esteem, andDavid Gray.[39]
