REPUBLIC RECORDS
Republic Records is an American record company that operates as a division of Universal Music Group. The label was endowed by Monte Lipman and Avery Lipman in 1995; it was later paired into the Universal Motown Republic Group in 1999. After the separation of Motown Records from Universal Motown Records, the Universal Motown Republic Group was shuttered; the label was temporarily reincarnated as Universal Republic Records in 2006, until it was re-activated in late 2012. Since Republic’s contraction to a mainly rightsholder role, Republic Records has long been a stand-alone label under UMG and is one of the group’s premier labels, with Interscope Records and Island Records. According to Mediabase, Republic Records was 2012’s top charting U.S. label. (More from Wikipedia)
It has been a long time since a record grabbed me the way the Invisible Eyes did. I was reminded of the first time that I heard “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down (the most successful rock band from the Mississippi Gulf Coast region) on the local alternative-rock radio station WCPR: I cranked the radio up full blast after I heard the first four or five notes, and I bet I hadn’t done that for at least 20 years. Word was passed around, and they were flown up for a concert at the legendary CBGB club in New York, and they were signed by Republic Records on the spot. Their debut album, The Better Life (also the name of a foundation that the band established not long after) was released in 2000 and was the 11th best selling album that year, with worldwide sales of more than 6 million copies.
(December 2012)
