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| Giant Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Warner Music Group Warner Music Sweden for Swedish releases since 2015 |
| Founded | 1990 (1990) |
| Founder | Irving Azoff |
| Defunct | 2001 (2001) (US) |
| Distributors | Warner Bros. Records Rhino Entertainment (re-issues) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Official website | www |
Giant Records was an Americanrecord label launched in 1990 as ajoint venture betweenWarner Bros. Records and record executiveIrving Azoff. Currently, this name is used as a Swedish label owned byWarner Music Sweden, a Swedish branch ofWarner Music Group.
In 1990, Giant became a subsidiary label forWarner Music Group. Its first release, in early 1991, was theGulf War all-star tribute song "Voices That Care," assembled by producerDavid Foster. That spring, "Hold You Tight" byTara Kemp was released and went on to become a Top 5 single. In the months that followed, Giant Records released the soundtrack album for the filmNew Jack City, selling 16 million copies worldwide. The label signed such acts asMC Hammer,Jade,Lord Finesse, and teen pop starJeremy Jordan. Giant also signed established acts such asSteely Dan,Warren Zevon,Oingo Boingo,Chicago,Deep Purple,Morbid Angel,Brian Wilson, andKenny Rogers. The label also operated acountry music division in Nashville; the first act signed wasDennis Robbins.[1]
In 1992, Irving Azoff expanded the Giant brand into film production. Giant Pictures only produced one film,The Inkwell, in 1994, before shutting down a year later.[2]
In 1993, Giant became dissatisfied with Warner Music Group's practice of international affairs, so it made a deal withBMG to distribute its recordings outside the U.S. By the mid- to late 1990s, the company had replaced most of its staff and launched a subsidiary label called Revolution Records;Brian Wilson signed with the new label in 1997.[3]
The company later reverted to its original name and distributed Paladin Records, which included singer-songwriterSteve Forbert. In 2001, Warner Music Group ended its joint venture with Giant, which was absorbed into Warner Bros. Records. Since then, BMG no longer repressed and distributed any previous releases of Giant. Distribution of current reissues are done by Warner Music's reissue division,Rhino, in conjunction with Warner Records, and many reissues still include Giant logo on packaging.
In February 2015, Warner Music Sweden announced that it would reactivate Giant's name; the first single released under the new Giant Records banner was Simon Erics' "Waiting for the Sun."[4]
On June 9, 2022, Azoff relaunched a rebranded and independent version of the label with no connections to Warner calledGiant Music.[5]
