Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels.

Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, Enya, Michael Bublé, Eric Clapton, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, Deftones, Lindsey Buckingham, Josh Groban, Disturbed, Idina Menzel, My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way, Dwight Yoakam, Never Shout Never, and Billy Strings.

Company history

Beginnings

thumb|"Tricolor" label, used by Reprise until 1968. (Label to [[the Kinks' Something Else.)]]

Reprise Records was formed in 1960 The first album Sinatra released on Reprise was Ring-a -Ding-Ding! Soon thereafter, he garnered the nickname "The Chairman of the Board". As CEO of Reprise, Sinatra recruited several artists for the fledgling label, such as fellow Rat Pack members Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. The original roster from 1961 to 1963 included Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, Rosemary Clooney, Duke Ellington, Nancy Sinatra, Esquivel, and stand-up comedian Redd Foxx. The original Reprise LP label had four different logos, depending on the genre: a riverboat for Pop records (pictured), a cherub for Jazz records, an owl for Spoken Word/Comedy records, and a picture of Sinatra for his records.

thumb|upright=0.5|Square Reprise Records logo used from 1968 to 2002

thumb|"Two-tone orange" label used by Reprise during the [[Warner Bros.-Seven Arts merger from 1968 to 1969. (Label to Jimi Hendrix's Smash Hits.) After the Kinney National Company took over Warner Bros. in 1969, the orange tone at the top of the label was changed to the same tone as on the rest of the label, the W7 box logo was removed and the circled :r logo (an artistic representation of a repeat symbol in music notation) became a boxed logo without the "Reprise" designation.]]

One of the label's founding principles under Sinatra's leadership was that each artist would have full creative freedom, and at some point complete ownership of their work, including publishing rights. This is the reason why recordings of early Reprise artists (Dean Martin, Jimi Hendrix, the Kinks, etc.) are (in most cases) currently distributed through other labels. In Martin's case, his Reprise recordings were out of print for nearly 20 years before a deal was struck with Capitol Records. Reprise continued to reissue the Sinatra catalog until 2013 when it was sold to Capitol.

Sale to Warner Bros.

In August 1963, as part of a film deal, Warner Bros. purchased Reprise (which had been losing money) from Frank Sinatra, who nonetheless retained a 1/3 interest in the label until the end of the year. 1986 saw releases bearing Reprise labels from the Dream Academy as well as Dwight Yoakam. In summer 1987, Warner Bros. Records chairman Mo Ostin and label president Lenny Waronker officially announced the reactivation of Reprise, including its own separate promotions department, and former Warner Bros. Vice President of Promotion Rich Fitzgerald was appointed as label vice president. In the time since, Warner Bros. has often elevated the stature of Reprise to the rank of secondary parent label, as many of its subsidiary labels (such as Straight and Kinetic) have had their records released in conjunction with Reprise.

As of 2017, it is home to such artists as Enya, Michael Bublé, Eric Clapton, Green Day, Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, Deftones, Josh Groban, Disturbed, Idina Menzel, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Gerard Way and Never Shout Never.

It was formerly home to Jimi Hendrix and the Barenaked Ladies' catalogs in the U.S. When the Bee Gees back catalog was remastered by Rhino Records in the 2000s, their CDs were issued under the Reprise label (they appeared on sister labels Atco and Warner Bros. in the past).

Neil Young stated in a documentary about his life that Charles Manson was turned down by Reprise.

In 2010, Reprise opened a country music division, operating as part of Warner Music Group Nashville, featuring Blake Shelton, the JaneDear Girls, Michelle Branch and Frankie Ballard as part of its roster.

In September 2011, several layoffs took place at Reprise Records and other Warner labels.

In 2017, Reprise released Enya's albums on vinyl. Some of them were pressed on this format for the first time.

Reprise Records artists

Labels

  • 143 Records (1999–2001)
  • Bizarre Records (1968–1972)
  • Big Brother Records (2008–present)
  • BME Recordings (2004–present)
  • Brother Records (1970–1977)
  • Chrysalis Records (1969–1972)
  • Cold Chillin' Records (1988–1993; select releases)
  • DiscReet Records (1973–1979)
  • Elementree Records (1995–2000)
  • Giant Records (1990–2001; select releases)
  • Grand Jury Records (1990–1993)
  • In Bloom Records (1998–2000)
  • Kinetic Records (1992–2000)
  • Straight Records (1968–1972)
  • Sire Records (1977–2000: select releases)
  • Vapor Records (1995–present; currently active)

Parent organizations

  • (1960–1968) Independent
  • (1968–1969) Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
  • (1969–1972) Kinney National Company
  • (1972–1990) Warner Communications
  • (1990–2001) Time Warner
  • (2001–2003) AOL Time Warner
  • (2004–present) Warner Music Group

See also

  • List of record labels
  • Warner Records

Explanatory notes

References

  • A discography of American Reprise singles from 1961 to 1970