What was the first record label?
For many artists, any record label tends to feel like the Boogieman when starting out. They might hold the key to everyone’s dreams, but there’s also a chance that they will have their way with you and leave you a penniless pauper if you don’t read every single bit of that contract before signing on the dotted line. Before any form of genre existed, though, the idea of the record label helped revolutionise how most people heard of musicians.
You have to remember that the record business has always been centred around the product more than the artists. Although the musicians had to eat, the genesis of printing playable records was all about manufacturing, which first came to fruition the minute that Edison Records started up in 1888.
At the time, though, no one was thinking in the terms we think of today. Compared to those who wanted to count their money and do business with music copywriters, Edison Records was more concerned with looking at the record label the same way mechanics would look at their garages, making the best quality records that they could and producing the cylinders that people could listen to around the house or at parties.
Then again, no one was going to deal with an industry where only one label had control over everything. There had to be a way to prioritise certain artists, and by most metrics, Columbia Records became the first true record label that seemed focused on the artist more than anyone else.
But when did Columbia Records officially start?
Although Edison Records had them beat by a few months, Columbia Records began in 1888 to focus on the artists on its label. Despite having a similar approach to manufacturing records, Columbia was the first label to focus on what the artists had to say, either sticking with them when putting out singles or helping launch the album format when rock and roll started to see a massive surge in the wake of The Beatles.
However, looking at the way that Columbia Records used to operate, it was a far cry from the version that it showed in every rock biopic. Whereas most businessmen would treat their talent as meat for the masses before dropping them like flies, Columbia was the first label to stick by their artists even if they tried to do something outside of the usual formula for a pop song.
For example, a label like Capitol Records had The Beach Boys under their wing, and it wasn’t uncommon for Brian Wilson to receive some pushback when making creative leaps like Pet Sounds. But with a roster that included people like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel, Columbia wasn’t afraid to stick by their artists for a while, even if they didn’t have a bonafide hit right out of the gate.
While that lesson is forgotten far too often in the music business, it’s about time that most labels start looking at the talent they have and help foster it rather than mould it into something completely different. Because at the end of the day, artists are still products, and once someone starts messing with the product, they shouldn’t be surprised when they are turned against them.
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