Hollywood Records

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Hollywood Records
Parent company	The Walt Disney Company
Founded	1989
Distributing label	Universal Music Distribution
Genre	Various
Country of origin	United States
Location	Burbank, California
Official Website	Hollywood Records

Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by The Walt Disney Company focused in pop and rock music.

Company history

Hollywood Records was created in 1989 as an attempt by Disney to develop new pop and rock artists to diversify the music group, besides launching non-Disney soundtrack. During the first fifteen years, Hollywood Records failed in its attempt to launch a successful artist, except for the benefits obtained of the Queen catalog. It was not until 2003 with the launch of Hilary Duff that Hollywood Records has a hit, Duff's first album, Metamorphosis, registered triple platinum in just one year. It was the beginning of a series of artists who follow the business model of the Disney Channel which works best with artists like Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato.

Upon its launch in 1989, the label was initially distributed by Elektra Records in the US and Canada. Distribution in North America switched to PolyGram (later taken over by Universal Music Group) in 1995. Hollywood Records also releases many film soundtracks from films made by Disney, or Disney-owned, film studios. Its roster tends to be heavily made up of young stars and performers prominently featured on the Disney Channel, however experienced artists such as Duran Duran, Queen and Danzig have been signed to the label. Today (along with Lyric Street Records, Carolwood Records, Mammoth Records, and Walt Disney Records) the label operates as a unit of the Disney Music Group.

Current artists

• 78violet (formerly Aly & AJ)
• Allstar Weekend, also known as Allstar
• Alpha Rev
• Atreyu
• Ballas Hough Band
• Corbin Bleu
• Breaking Benjamin
• Capra
• Curwin
• Miley Cyrus
• Marie Digby
• Selena Gomez
• Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
• Honor Society
• Jonas Brothers
• Demi Lovato
• Anna Margaret
• Jesse McCartney
• Nick Jonas and the Administration
• Plain White T's
• Jordan Pruitt
• Queen
• Selena Gomez & The Scene^[1]
• Alexa Vega

Former artists

• 3rd Strike (Reunited, recording new material)
• Matthew Dieu Allen (Active, currently unsigned)
• Apartment 26 (Disbanded)
• BBMak (Disbanded)
• Big Kenny (Performing as part of Big & Rich)
• Austin Butler (Active, currently unsigned)
• Butthole Surfers (Announced plans to disband)
• Caroline's Spine (Active, with 7th Kid Entertainment)
• The Cheetah Girls (Disbanded; members now performing solo)
• The Crosswalk (Disbanded)
• The D4 (Indefinate Hiatus; members now in The Rock n Roll Machine, Shocking Pinks, Luger Boa and The True Lovers)
• Danzig (Active, with Evilive Records)
• Morris Day (Active, currently unsigned)
• The Dead Milkmen (Reunited, currently unsigned)
• Diffuser (Active, with Chamberlain Records)
• Hilary Duff (Active, currently unsigned)
• Duran Duran (Active, currently unsigned)
• Elefant (Active, currently unsigned)
• Evans Blue (Active, with Sounds + Sights Records)
• Everlife (Active, with 97 Records)
• Fashion Bomb (Active, with Full Effect Records)
• Fastball (Active, currently unsigned)
• Fishbone (active, with Ter A Terre Records)
• Gran Bel Fisher (Inactive)
• Hans Fjellestad (Active, with Accretions Records)
• Flashlight Brown (Inactive)
• Flipp (Inactive; members have moved on to side projects)
• Forty Foot Echo (Active, with Echoman Music)
• Matt Goss (Active, with U&L Records)
• Hi-C (Inactive)
• Vanessa Hudgens (Active, currently unsigned)
• Human Waste Project (Disbanded)
• Indigo Girls (Active, with IG Recordings/Vanguard Records)
• Ingram Hill (Active, currently unsigned)
• Insane Clown Posse (Active, with Psychopathic Records)
• Into Another (Disbanded)
• Samantha Janus (Currently pursuing a career in acting)
• Seu Jorge (Active, with Cafuné Gravadora)
• Josh Kelley (Active, with DNK Records)
• Leftover Salmon (Reunited, currently unsigned)
• Lil' J (Currently pursuing a career in acting)
• Loudmouth (Active)
• Liz McClarnon (Active, with 3 Beat Records; also performs as a celebrity chef)
• Idina Menzel (Active, with Warner Bros. Records)
• George Michael (Active, with Sony BMG)
• The Minus 5 (Active, with Yep Roc Records)
• Motorpsycho (Active, with Rune Grammofon)
• Myra (Active, with Southern Signal Records/EMI
• Natural Life (Disbanded; members now in M People)
• Nobody's Angel (Disbanded; members went on to perform solo and pursue acting careers)
• Organized Konfusion (Reunited; members still performing solo)
• Jeannie Ortega (Active, currently unsigned)
• Jennifer Paige (Active, with Glor Music Production
• Hayden Panettiere (Active, currently unsigned; also stars as Claire Bennet on Heroes)
• Patrick Park (Active, with Curb Appeal Records)
• The Party (Disbanded)
• Caleigh Peters (Retired)
• Pharoahe Monch (Active, with Street Records Corporation; also back in Organized Konfusion)
• The Polyphonic Spree (Active, with TVT Records)
• Prozzäk (Disbanded)
• Rattlebone (Disbanded)
• Raven-Symone (Active, with Coalition Media Group/Universal Motown Republic Group)
• Jessica Riddle (Changed name to Jessica Jacobs, currently unsigned)
• Nydia Rojas (On Hiatus)
• Roman Candle (Active, with Carnival Music)
• Patrice Rushen (Active as a session musician; currently a professor at Berklee College of Music)
• Sacred Reich (Disbanded)
• Scapegoat Wax (Disbanded; members went on to form One Block Radius)
• The Scream (Disbanded; members went on to join Mötley Crüe and form DC-10)
• Seaweed (Active, currently unsigned)
• Simon Says (Changed name to Key To Arson, then disbanded)
• Sy Smith (Active, with Lola Waxx Records)
• Sprung Monkey (Active, with Black Cat Do Records)
• Stryper (Active, with Big 3 Records)
• Tina Sugandh (Active, with Razor & Tie
• The Suicide Machines (Disbanded)
• T-Ride (Disbanded)
• Tsar (Active, currently unsigned)
• Kyle Vincent (Active)
• World War III (Active, with Sony Records)
• Youngstown (Disbanded)
• Z-Trip (Active, with Hard Left Records)

Controversy with Insane Clown Posse

In 1997 the rap-metal group Insane Clown Posse had been under the label at the time of the release of their album The Great Milenko. The album had been pulled off of the shelves within six hours of the release. Hollywood Records said that "the album slipped through the cracks of Hollywood Records and the lyrics were not family friendly." The album had references to rape in the song "The Neden Game", child abuse in the song "Halls of Illusions", murder in the songs "Halls Of Illusions", "Boogie Woogie Wu" and "House of Horrors" and disrespect to women in the song "The Neden Game". Rapper Violent J replied "We showed them the lyric sheets months prior to the release, they gave us the OK and we recorded it. It is fucking bullshit that they pulled it off the shelves".

Hollywood Records in Europe & Australia

In Europe and Australia, Hollywood Records currently releases acts such as Jesse McCartney, Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, Aly & AJ as well as soundtracks through EMI, but all other artists are distributed through Universal Music Group. However, in the past, it was distributed independently through Edel Records for Duran Duran's Pop Trash can album and had a sub-label called Tr1be in the early 1990s.

In Latin America Hollywood Records releases are distributed since 2006 by Universal Music Group, before the label was distributed by Warner Bros. Records.

Hollywood BASIC

Hollywood BASIC [sic] was Hollywood’s short-lived hip-hop subsidiary, run by Dave Funkenklein, which existed from 1990 to 1995. It did not survive the distribution transition its parent made to PolyGram Records, and all of its recordings were deleted, save for those by Organized Konfusion, which were repressed under the new deal. It was the first label to record DJ Shadow, releasing his "Lesson 4" (a reference to Double Dee and Steinski) as the B-side of a 1991 single by Lifers' Group, a hip hop group composed of convicts serving sentences at Rahway Prison in New Jersey. It also released his Legitimate Mix on the B-side of a single by the group Zimbabwe Legit in 1992.^[2] Other notable releases came from Organized Konfusion; its challenging second album, Stress: The Extinction Agenda (1994), was widely acclaimed.^[3] The label was also home to Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf, although, following the shooting death of Charizma in 1993, the music the duo recorded for the label was not released. This would later inspire Peanut Butter Wolf to found Stones Throw Records in order to make this music available.^[4]

Hollywood BASIC artists

• Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf
• Lifers' Group
• Organized Konfusion
• Raw Fusion
• Zimbabwe Legit

Hollywood Records executive bios

• Founder- Richard B. Wattson I

• President - Bob Cavallo

• SVP/General Manager - Abbey Konowitch
  • Abbey Konowitch is currently General Manager of Hollywood Records. Before joining MCA, Konowitch was General Manager at Maverick Records. He was formerly associated with the artist Alanis Morissette. Before Abbey was formerly employed by cable network MTV as its Senior Vice President of Music & Talent. In his current role, Abbey has worked to create and cultivate a roster of pop and rock acts.

• SVP Marketing - Ken Bunt

• SVP Of Promotion - Justin Fontaine

See also

• List of record labels
• Hollywood Pictures
• CDVU+

External links

• Official Site
• Video Interview with Bob Cavallo, President of Hollywood Records
• Hollywood Records extends deal for Senior Management

References