Lava Records
Lava Records (Lava Music, LLC.) is an American record label owned by Jason Flom in partnership with Universal Music Group.[1]
Parent company | Lava Music LLC |
---|---|
Founded | 1995 |
Founder | Jason Flom |
Distributor(s) | Republic Records (United States) Universal Music Distribution (Worldwide) Rhino Entertainment (Reissues of pre-2005 catalog) |
Genre | various |
Country of origin | United States |
Company history
In 1995, Flom launched Lava Records in partnership with Atlantic Records.[2] For the next decade, he continued to discover and champion artists under the Lava label who went on to sell over 100 million records globally, including Matchbox 20, Kid Rock, The Corrs, Simple Plan, The Blue Man Group, Edwin McCain, Sugar Ray and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
In 2004, Flom sold Lava Records to Atlantic Records Group, where he was named Chairman and CEO of the Atlantic Records Group.[3] In this role, he oversaw a resurgence of the storied label where he had once worked in the mailroom, and continued to sign and break major artists, including Hayley Williams’ band Paramore.[4]
After over 15 years of record-setting success at Atlantic and his label Lava, Flom was tapped in 2005 as Chairman and CEO of Virgin Records. In 2007, he led a merger with Capitol Records to create the Capitol Music Group, where he was named Chairman and CEO.[5] During Flom’s tenure, he oversaw successful releases from established superstars including Lenny Kravitz, Coldplay, and the Rolling Stones. In keeping with his track record of identifying and supporting new talent, under Flom’s leadership eleven new artists rose to gold, platinum and multi-platinum status, including Jared Leto’s band Thirty Seconds to Mars, and in 2007 he signed Katy Perry and personally A&R’d her international #1 smash hit debut album, One of the Boys.[6]
In 2008, Flom departed Capitol Music Group to re-launch his own Lava Records label, this time in partnership with Universal Music Group’s industry-leading Republic Records.[7] There he signed Jessie J, whose 2011 singles under the Lava banner "Do It Like a Dude" and "Price Tag" featuring B.o.B, topped the singles charts in the UK and 17 other countries.[8] Her multi-platinum debut album Who You Are sold over three million copies worldwide.[9]
In 2013, Flom identified Lorde, a then-unknown artist from New Zealand, and Lava released her ground-breaking debut single, "Royals," which reigned at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for eight weeks,[10] becoming the biggest alternative radio hit by a female artist in history.[11] Lorde went on to win two Grammy Awards including Song of the Year for “Royals” at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.
Following successful Lava rock releases from Black Veil Brides and their frontman, Andy Black, Flom signed breakthrough rock band Greta Van Fleet to Lava in 2017, who revitalized the global rock scene with multiple #1 rock hits and over 1 million albums sold, all while nonstop touring over the last several years. When Robert Plant was asked about Greta Van Fleet in an interview with Australia's Network Ten, he proclaimed, "They are Led Zeppelin I," and described 21-year-old Josh Kiszka as "...a beautiful little singer. I hate him.”[12] Elton John lauded the band in the LA Times: "Whoever says rock music is dead is completely wrong. When I first saw them, they knocked me out...They are going to be one of the biggest bands of the year."[13] The band picked up four nominations at the 2018 Grammy Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for their Lava debut From the Fires.[14][15]
Flom founded Lava Publishing in 2014, which includes among its roster of writers break-out alternative rocker Evan Konrad,[16] writer/performer Maty Noyes,[17] and all four members of Greta Van Fleet.
Label roster
Current Artists[18]
- Greta Van Fleet
- The Warning
- Lorde
- Jessie J
- Andy Black
- Evan Konrad
- Stanaj
- Hero the Band
- South of Eden
- JunkBunny
- Leo The Kind
- somegirlnamedanna
- Kat Cunning
Past artists
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra
- Black Veil Brides
- Maty Noyes
- The Royal Concept
- Travis Mills
- Carah Faye
- Clairity
- G4SHI
- Liam Lis
- Jetta
- Katy Tiz
- The Atomic Fireballs
- Authority Zero
- Bel Canto
- Bif Naked
- The Boondock Saints
- CIV
- Course of Nature
- Cold
- The Corrs
- The Cult
- Egypt Central
- Willa Ford
- Grade 8
- Hot Action Cop
- Little-T And One Track Mike
- Matchbox Twenty
- Edwin McCain
- Nonpoint
- Needtobreathe
- Franky Perez
- Porcupine Tree
- Smile Empty Soul
- Jill Sobule
- Sugar Ray
- Unwritten Law
- Vanessa Williams
- Antigone Rising
- Blue Man Group
- Joe Brooks
- John Butler Trio
- Cherie
- The Click Five
- Embrace
- Kid Rock
- Toby Lightman
- O.A.R.
- Simple Plan
- Skillet
- Skindred
- Uncle Kracker
- Vaux
- Fountains of Wayne
References
- "Jason Flom is heading back to Warner Music Group". pagesix.com. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- "History of Elektra Entertainment Group – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- Gallo, Phil (2004-04-01). "Flom flows to Atlantic post". Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "TAXI Transmitter November 2005 Industry News: music industry news, reviews and observations". www.taxi.com. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- Leeds, Jeff (2007-01-26). "EMI Merging Record Labels and Ousting Capitol's President". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "Katy Perry on the Cover of PAPER in 2009". PAPER. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "LAVA Records Renews Partnership with Republic Records". www.businesswire.com. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "LAVA Records Renews Partnership with Republic Records". www.businesswire.com. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "Jessie J Aims for Stadium Status with 'Who You Are'". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "From Lorde to Jessie J, the Hits Keep Coming for A & R Superstar Jason Flom". Observer. 2014-10-01. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "Lorde Doesn't Have A Bentley, But The Charts Will Do". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- Scott Alderman (2018-03-31), Robert Plant talks about Greta Van Fleet, retrieved 2019-05-07
- Lewis, Randy. "Elton John's 26th Oscars viewing party raises $5.9 million for his AIDS Foundation". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- Leimkuehler, Matthew. "Grammys 2019: Greta Van Fleet Scores First Rock Win". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- Staff, Loudwire. "Greta Van Fleet Win Best Rock Album at 2019 Grammys". Loudwire. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "Evan Konrad Signs to Lava Records, Debuts New Song 'Long Way Out': Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "Kobalt, Jason Flom Deal for Lava Music Publishing". Music Connection Magazine. 2015-05-22. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "Lava Records website".