Epitaph Records
Epitaph Records is a
Hollywood, California based
record label owned by
Bad Religion guitarist
Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large
independent record label. Throughout the 80s and 90s Most of the bands on Epitaph were
punk rock groups, while it is now primarily made up of emo and alternative bands. Several sub-labels also exist, such as
ANTI-,
Fat Possum Records,
Burning Heart Records and
Hellcat Records that have signed other types of bands. A few of the first bands signed include
Bad Religion,
L7,
The Offspring,
Rancid, and
NOFX.
In
1987, Epitaph released its first record as a proper label. It was the band
L7's self-titled album, and it was distributed by
Chameleon. The first album that was both released and distributed by Epitaph was
Suffer by Bad Religion.
In
1994 Epitaph received widespread fame, both within and outside the
punk community, when
NOFX,
Rancid and
The Offspring all released hit records. This was a big year for punk in the mainstream; Rancid appeared on "
Saturday Night Live" the following year, playing "Ruby Soho" and "Roots Radicals". The Offspring would soon leave for
Columbia Records in a contract dispute, but their
Smash lived up to its namesake and would quickly become Epitaph's all time best selling album, with more than 11 million units sold worldwide to date.
Recently in
2003, Epitaph has sparked some controversy among its fans by signing noted
alternative rap artists
Atmosphere and
Sage Francis and
noise/
metal band
The Locust, leading to many heated debates about what constituted the true nature of "punk" music, but so far the new groups seem to feel at home on the label.
Merle Haggard has also released material on the Epitaph label (
If I Could Only Fly (2000) and
Roots Vol. 1 (2001)).
Although
Bad Religion was the founding band of Epitaph, releasing their early records through the label, they switched over to Atlantic in 1994, with
Stranger Than Fiction being their first record outside of the label. During the following two years, a lot of intra-band drama occurred, mainly between
Greg Graffin, the band's main vocalist and co-songwriter and
Brett Gurewitz, founder of Epitaph and the other songwriter for the band. This ended up with
Brett Gurewitz leaving the band in 1996. However, in 2001, Brett returned to the band and Bad Religion once again signed under Epitaph Records, releasing
The Process of Belief in 2002, and, most recently
The Empire Strikes First (2004).
In January 2002 Brett Gurewitz was quoted saying that "I had multiple offers for $50- and $100 million for half of my business". He never took any of them.
In mid-
2005 Epitaph was added to the official list of
RIAA members[
1] along with several other high-profile independent labels such as
Fat Wreck Chords. The reason for the listing is not clear, but one source points to an agreement for internet
P2P distribution [
2] ("Independent Labels Sign Deal With Snocap"). Another source claims label management joined RIAA in order to get certified sales awards (ie, official "Gold" or "Platinum" record status) for releases. This sparked some controversy as some feel they should no longer be labeled independent if they are a member of the RIAA.[
3]
However, the only source that has actually been used for these claims of membership is the official RIAA membership list, which has been disputed. [
4]As of this writing, not only are Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords listed as official members, but
Lookout! Records is once again listed, even though they were already falsely listed before.
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