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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warner_records_logo.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:The new logo introduced in 2019. ''“We are Warner Records: Born in the UsefulNotes/{{California}} sun, at home everywhere on UsefulNotes/{{Earth}}.”'']]
3
4[[quoteright:350:[[Music/TheDoobieBrothers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wb_records_9484.jpg]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:The mid-70s "Burbank label". The street doesn't exist, at least not in Burbank; the painting was inspired by art from a 1920s orange crate.]]
6
7->''"Whenever a mystique forms around a corporation, as it has with Apple or Microsoft, and as it did around Warner/[[Creator/RepriseRecords Reprise]], I always think it's excessive, because it's still a corporation. And when you dealt with Warners on business, you may as well have been dealing with a mortgage broker. They were tough. Mo [Ostin], Joe Smith, whomever you dealt with. Though not on record budgets -- I never heard that I couldn't use an orchestra, for instance. The main thing about the label, though, is that they gave you the chance to fail. They put up with you if what you were doing was good in, let's say, an aesthetic way. There was no A&R department that passed judgment. If it felt like somebody was doing something -- they'd let you fail, and fail again, and fail again. And fail forever. Like me, and [Ry] Cooder, and [[Music/BonnieRaitt Bonnie [Raitt]]], for a time. Now that's gone. You can't find it. And that's a very big thing."''
8-->--'''Music/RandyNewman''' on his old employer
9
10Warner Bros. Records, now known as [[https://warnerrecords.com Warner Records]], began in 1958 as an offshoot of the [[Creator/WarnerBros film studio]]. Like many of its artists, it was given "the chance to fail" until it emerged not only as a successful label, but a major force in the music industry.
11
12Warners had dabbled in the record business as early as the late [[TheRoaringTwenties 1920s]], when the company bought Brunswick Records and several music publishers. Like the rest of the record industry, Brunswick suffered due to both TheGreatDepression and the introduction of broadcast radio, so WB sold the label in 1931. Warners stayed out of music, licensing film soundtrack albums (and Creator/MelBlanc's ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' discs) to other labels, for the next 27 years.
13
14By the late [[TheFifties 1950s]], the film industry was in decline thanks to TV and other factors. Meanwhile, the music industry was on an upswing in the wake of post-war innovations in audio technology, including the LP and 45 rpm vinyl record formats, tape recording, the transistor radio, FM radio, high fidelity, and stereo sound. Movie studios wanted a piece of the action. Creator/MGMRecords had been successful for years; Creator/{{Paramount}} had just bought Dot Records; Creator/UnitedArtistsRecords, Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox Records, and Creator/ColumbiaPictures' Colpix label (one of the corporate ancestors of Creator/AristaRecords) were entering the fray; even Creator/{{Disney}} had a small pop label, Buena Vista, and way-past-its-prime Creator/RKOPictures had a short-lived attempt with the RKO Unique label. (Creator/{{Universal}} reversed the pattern -- they were owned ''by'' a record company, [[Creator/DeccaRecords US Decca]].) [[note]](It's interesting to note that the movie studios' then-arch-enemies, the TV networks, were also involved, with RCA owning both Creator/{{NBC}} and [[Creator/RCARecords RCA Victor]], Creator/{{CBS}} owning Creator/ColumbiaRecords, and Creator/{{ABC}} having recently started their [[Creator/ABCRecords ABC-Paramount]] label.)[[/note]] The final impetus was provided by Tab Hunter, a Warners contract player who moved into music and had several hit singles -- for Dot. After a failed attempt to buy the Imperial label, WB took the plunge; on 19 March 1958, Warner Bros. Records opened for business.
15
16The label's formative years provided a lot of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. Besides the expected soundtrack [=LPs=], there were stereo demonstration records, {{Concept Album}}s with titles like ''Terribly Sophisticated Songs (A Collection Of Unpopular Songs For Popular People)'', and musical excursions by actors like ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' creator/star Creator/JackWebb, who released an album where he ''recited'' love songs in his Sgt. Friday monotone. In addition, many of the early releases on the label were by Warner Bros. contract actors; whether they could sing or not was beside the point. Space Age GenreMotif/{{Jazz}} and GenreMotif/EasyListening ruled, and RockAndRoll was almost non-existent. Unsurprisingly, only a handful of WB's releases charted. The few hits it managed were tied to the studio's popular TV series ''Series/SeventySevenSunsetStrip''; the soundtrack album sold well, and actor Edd Byrnes (who played the show's BreakoutCharacter Kookie) had a fluke novelty hit with "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)". Still, the successes were far outweighed by the failures. Warner Bros. Records was losing money, and the company was almost shut down -- but fortunately, it was given one more chance to fail. And as with society in general, TheSixties changed everything.
17
18Warner Bros.' salvation began with another group of siblings -- Music/TheEverlyBrothers, who had been consistent hitmakers for the independent Cadence label. Warners wooed them away with an unprecedented million-dollar contract in 1960, and while the hits dried up after a while, the Everlys sold well enough to stay on the label for years afterward. WB's next major act was Creator/BobNewhart, whose chart-topping debut album established Warner Bros. as ''the'' label for RecordedAndStandUpComedy for decades to come. The next big signing was FolkMusic trio Music/PeterPaulAndMary, whose numerous hits included "Music/PuffTheMagicDragon".
19
20In 1963, Warners bought Music/FrankSinatra's struggling indie label Creator/RepriseRecords, just in time for Ol' Blue Eyes to begin a CareerResurrection. A few years later, Reprise manager Mo Ostin helped bring both labels into the PsychedelicRock era by signing Music/JimiHendrix to Sinatra's imprint. Music/TheGratefulDead were already part of the Warner Bros. stable, and these two acts became the wave of Warners' future, attracting the new generation of GenreMotif/{{Rock}} musicians with their combination of artistic credibility and high sales. Around this time, WB started releasing its "Loss Leaders", a popular set of label samplers with detailed liner notes (often by Barry "Creator/DrDemento" Hansen) that were sold through the mail for a dollar a disc. The company also developed a reputation for clever, witty advertising, although punk-era imprints like Stiff and Creator/SubPop took this even further.
21
22By TheSeventies, Warners had become one of the biggest labels in the music business, with a diverse roster ranging from soft rock performers like Music/JamesTaylor and Music/{{America}} to HeavyMetal bands like Music/BlackSabbath and Music/DeepPurple. It also became part of WEA Records (now Creator/WarnerMusicGroup), an entity formed when Warners' corporate parent bought two more record labels, [[Creator/ElektraRecords Elektra]] and [[Creator/AtlanticRecords Atlantic]]. The company purchased half of reissue label Creator/RhinoRecords in 1992, acquiring the other half of the company in 1998. While the founders of Rhino later departed to found Creator/ShoutFactory in 2003, Rhino handles reissues of catalog titles from Warner and its subsidiary labels.
23
24Warner's artist-friendly ethos would continue into the '80s as it and other WMG-owned labels would become outlets for AlternativeRock as it was getting mainstream recognition, with the signing of bands such as Music/HuskerDu, Music/TheFlamingLips, Music/JanesAddiction, the Music/RedHotChiliPeppers, and Music/{{REM}}, and securing U.S. distribution deals with British bands like Music/NewOrder (on Music/QuincyJones' Qwest imprint) and Music/TheJesusAndMaryChain throughout the decade. Warner's signing on R.E.M. was particularly notable, as they were the only label to guarantee total creative control for the band, something the Georgia quartet adamantly prioritized. Despite this, Warner would also see its artist-friendly reputation decline considerably over the decades, as the likes of Music/FrankZappa in the 70's, Music/{{Devo}} in the 80's, and especially Music/{{Prince}} in the 90's publicly and relentlessly mocked the label's more restrictive practices. Retrospective analysis of Warner generally leans towards characterizing the label as subject to a dichotomy of being willing to take risks with less commercially viable artists while simultaneously getting cold feet if those risks look like they'll stop paying off.
25
26Today, the company remains an industry leader, despite the decline of record labels in general and the loss of key executives and artists during corporate shakeups in the 2000s. After Time Warner sold Warner Music Group in 2004, Warner Bros. Records was no longer under the same corporate umbrella as the Creator/WarnerBros film studio, but it still had a 15 year royalty-free license to use the name and trademarks, including the WB shield. When the license expired in May 2019, the label rebranded as "Warner Records," swapping out the old Warner Bros. iconography with a minimalist sunset logo, similar to how Creator/UnitedArtistsRecords changed its name back to Creator/LibertyRecords after being purchased by Creator/{{EMI}}, to much derision from music fans. (The movie studio now uses [=WaterTower=] Music, the former [[Creator/NewLineCinema New Line]] Records, for soundtrack releases. This label happens to be distributed by Warner Music.)
27
28For an exhaustive look at the company, read Warren Zanes' 2008 book ''Revolutions in Sound: Warner Bros. Records -- The First Fifty Years'', source of the Randy Newman page quote. Another book about the company, Peter Ames Carlin's ''Sonic Boom: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records from Hendrix to Fleetwood Mac to Madonna to Prince'', was published in 2021.
29
30Like its then parent company, the label was known as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records between 1967 and 1970.
31
32Also see Creator/SireRecords, which Warner distributes.
33
34!!Warner (Bros.) Records performers, past and present, with Website/TVTropes pages:
35[[index]]
36* Music/TenCc*
37* Music/{{aha}}++
38* Music/{{Aespa}}
39* Music/AirSupply
40* Music/AlBSure* [[note]]His first two albums were released under Creator/{{MCA}}'s Creator/UptownRecords imprint, but Warner Bros. retained the distribution rights. Sure!'s third album was released exclusively under the Warner Bros banner.[[/note]]
41* Music/AliceCooper
42* Music/{{Alphabeat}}
43* Music/{{Alphaville}}
44* Music/{{America}}
45* Music/LaurieAnderson
46* Music/Apollonia6
47* Music/{{Ashnikko}}
48* Music/{{Auryn}}
49* Music/AvengedSevenfold
50* Music/TheB52s *++[[note]]plus Latin America and ANZ; when the band transferred to Reprise, their new contract with that label became worldwide[[/note]]
51* Music/{{Badfinger}}
52* Creator/LongJohnBaldry
53* Music/TheBand
54* Music/TheBeeGees++
55* Music/BiffyClyro
56* Music/BigAndRich
57* Music/BizMarkie
58* Music/TheBlackKeys
59* Music/BlackSabbath*++
60* Creator/MelBlanc
61* Music/TheBlueNile
62* Music/{{Blur}}*
63* Music/BensonBoone
64* Music/DavidBowie*[[note]]He issued one early single, "Can't Help Thinking About Me", on the label in 1966; it was his first American release. His 1992 single [[Film/CoolWorld "Real Cool World"]] was also distributed on Warner, and the American CD single release holds the distinction of being the only David Bowie CD release to feature the distinctive [[https://img.discogs.com/Nl2VUxEryrgQVWySUt-kiJhRqtY=/fit-in/599x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-1012924-1184710749.jpeg.jpg "banner" label]] characteristic of early Warner Records [=CDs=].[[/note]]
65* Creator/CharlesBoyer[[note]]When Warner bought Valiant Records it reissued ''Where Does Love Go'', an album of Boyer reciting love songs (a la Jack Webb) that he recorded for Valiant[[/note]]
66* Music/MichelleBranch[[note]]In partnership with WMG subsidiary Maverick, Madonna’s management and vanity label[[/note]]
67* Creator/LennyBruce[[note]]through Warner-Spector records, a short-lived joint venture with Music/PhilSpector[[/note]]
68* Music/MichaelBuble+
69* Music/TimBuckley
70* Music/BuiltToSpill
71* Music/DavidByrne[[note]]In partnership with Luaka Bop.[[/note]]
72* Creator/HamiltonCamp
73* Music/CaptainBeefheart*+
74* Creator/ShaunCassidy
75* Music/RayCharles
76* Music/CheapTrick
77* Creator/CheechAndChong
78* Music/{{Cher}}
79* Music/KennyChesney
80* Music/{{Chic}}
81* Music/{{Chicago}}
82* Music/TheChurchBand
83* Music/{{Ciara}}
84* Music/EricClapton++
85* Music/PetulaClark*
86* Music/PaulaCole
87* Music/LeonardCohen[[note]]US only, for all of [[Music/DeathOfALadiesMan one album]][[/note]]
88* Creator/BillCosby
89* Music/ElvisCostello
90* Music/BingCrosby++
91* Music/{{Crosses}}
92* Music/SherylCrow
93* Music/DanAndShay
94* Music/MilesDavis
95* Music/DeathFromAbove1979*
96* Music/DeepPurple*[[note]]plus Japan[[/note]]
97* Music/{{Devo}}
98* [[Music/RonnieJamesDio Dio]]*
99* Music/DireStraits*
100* Music/TheDoobieBrothers
101* Creator/DrDemento[[note]]Besides his work on the Loss Leaders albums, his first novelty compilation, ''Dr. Demento's Delights'', was released by Warner[[/note]]
102* Music/DuranDuran
103* Creator/JimmyDurante
104* Music/{{E40}}
105* Music/EarthWindAndFire
106* Creator/ClintEastwood
107* Music/{{Echosmith}}
108* Music/TheElectricBananaBand
109* Music/ElectricLightOrchestra[[note]]not in America, but in some international markets[[/note]]
110* Creator/BillEngvall
111* Music/BrianEno
112* Music/TheEverlyBrothers
113* Music/{{Faces}}
114* Creator/JimmyFallon
115* Music/AgnethaFaltskog
116* Music/FlamingLips
117* Music/FleetwoodMac+
118* [[Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival John Fogerty]]
119* Creator/JeffFoxworthy
120* [[Music/GeorgeClinton Funkadelic]]
121* Music/GangOfFour*
122* Music/TerriGibbs
123* Music/{{Glassjaw}}
124* Music/GooGooDolls
125* Music/{{Gorillaz}}*
126* Creator/LouisGossettJr[[note]]Two late 60s singles as Lou Gossett[[/note]]
127* Music/TheGratefulDead
128* Music/GreenDay+
129* Music/JoshGroban++
130* Music/VinceGuaraldi
131* Music/GuntherSinger
132* Music/{{Guy}}[[note]]Signed to Creator/{{MCA}}[=/=]Creator/UptownRecords, but Warner internationally distributed their first two albums[[/note]]
133* Music/BillHaleyAndHisComets [[note]]His signing in 1960 was the label's first attempt, before the Everly Brothers, to break into the rock-and-roll market. It failed miserably because Haley was past his prime by then.[[/note]]
134* Music/HerbieHancock
135* Music/FrancoiseHardy
136* Music/GeorgeHarrison[[note]]His Dark Horse label was distributed by Warner Bros. after its deal with Creator/AAndMRecords expired, and his output remained distributed by Warner until EMI acquired his catalog in the early 2000s.[[/note]]
137* Music/YoshikiHayashi
138* Music/FaithHill
139* Creator/ParisHilton
140* Music/{{Hopsin}}
141* Music/HuskerDu
142* Music/IronAndWine*
143* Music/TheIsleyBrothers
144* Music/JanAndDean
145* Music/JanesAddiction
146* Music/TheJesusAndMaryChain*
147* Music/JoanJett
148* Music/JoJo
149* Music/AntonioCarlosJobim
150* Music/SpikeJones
151* Music/CledusTJudd
152* Music/WizKhalifa
153* Music/{{Kimbra}}
154* Creator/SamKinison
155* Music/KingCrimson*
156* Music/RahsaanRolandKirk
157* Music/{{Kraftwerk}}*
158* Music/AdamLambert
159* Creator/LarryTheCableGuy
160* Music/TracyLawrence
161* Music/JennyLewis
162* Music/GordonLightfoot+
163* Music/{{Lights}}
164* Music/LilJon
165* Music/LilPump
166* Music/LinkinPark
167** Music/FortMinor
168* Music/DuaLipa
169* Music/LittleFeat
170* Music/{{Madonna}}[[note]]In partnership with Maverick, her agency and management company; transferred from Sire from ''Music/RayOfLight'' onward[[/note]]
171* [[Music/ManfredMann Manfred Mann's Earth Band]]*
172* Creator/LauraMarano
173* Music/JohnnyMarr [[note]]UK only[[/note]]
174* Music/TheMarsVolta
175* Creator/SteveMartin
176* [[Music/JohnMartyn John and Beverley Martyn]]*
177* Music/JohnMcLaughlin
178* Music/MeekMill
179* Music/MegAndDia
180* Music/JohnMellencamp[[note]]Several albums on Riva, a vanity label run by his manager Billy Gaff in partnership with WB; all were distributed by WB outside North America, where he had a separate deal with [=PolyGram=][[/note]]
181* Creator/IdinaMenzel
182* Music/{{Metallica}}*
183* Creator/BetteMidler
184* Creator/DennisMiller
185* Music/MacMiller
186* Music/{{Ministry}}
187* Music/JohnMichaelMontgomery
188* Music/VanMorrison
189* Music/MrBungle*
190* Music/MysterySkulls
191* Music/NapoleonXIV
192* Creator/BobNewhart
193* Music/RandyNewman+
194* Series/TheNewMonkees
195* Music/NewOrder*
196* Music/TheOakRidgeBoys
197* Music/RitaOra
198* Music/RoyalBlood
199* Creator/PattonOswalt
200* Music/JohnOtway
201* Music/BuckOwens
202* Music/VanDykeParks
203* Music/PeterPaulAndMary
204* Music/TomPetty++
205* Creator/SidneyPoitier[[note]]A spoken-word album in which Poitier read from the works of Creator/{{Plato}}[[/note]]
206* Music/DanielPowter
207* Music/{{Pretenders}}
208* Music/ThePrettyThings
209* Music/{{Prince}}
210** Music/PrincesAssociates
211** Music/SheilaE
212** Music/TheTime
213* Music/TheProdigy*
214* Creator/RichardPryor+
215* Music/PublicImageLtd*
216* Creator/GildaRadner
217* Music/BonnieRaitt
218* Music/TheReadySet
219* Music/RedHotChiliPeppers
220* Music/LouReed++
221* Creator/CarlReiner
222** Creator/MelBrooks
223* Music/{{REM}}[[note]]now owned by Concord Music Group[[/note]]
224* Music/{{Renaissance}}[[note]]British and European releases of the group's Sire albums in the late 1970s[[/note]]
225* Music/BebeRexha
226* Music/CliffRichard*
227* Creator/DonRickles
228* Music/KennyRogers
229* Music/DavidLeeRoth
230* Music/RoxyMusic*+
231* Music/ToddRundgren[[note]]Several albums through Bearsville, a vanity label run by his manager Albert Grossman[[/note]]
232* Music/TheRutles
233* Music/SaintEtienne*
234* Creator/AdamSandler
235* Music/XimenaSarinana
236* Music/ScrittiPolitti*
237* Series/SesameStreet
238* Music/SexPistols*
239* Music/BlakeShelton
240* Creator/AllanSherman
241* Music/CarlySimon
242* Music/PaulSimon
243* Music/{{Slade}}*+
244* Music/{{Slayer}}[[note]]When WB distributed Creator/GeffenRecords[[/note]]
245* Music/SleepingWithSirens
246* Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone
247* Music/SonVolt
248* Music/{{Sparks}}[[note]]''Sparks / Halfnelson'' and ''A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing'' were released by Albert Grossman's joint venture with WB, Bearsville; WB released the ''Music/No1InHeaven'' album in France[[/note]]
249* Music/PhilSpector[[note]]see note for Lenny Bruce above[[/note]]
250* Music/ReginaSpektor[[note]]Transferred from Sire[[/note]]
251* Music/RayStevens
252* Music/JohnStewart
253* Music/RodStewart[[note]]see note for John Mellencamp above, but unlike him, Stewart was also signed to Warner directly in North America[[/note]]
254* Music/DonnaSummer (non-USA)
255* Music/ColeSwindell
256* Music/TakingBackSunday
257* Music/JamesTaylor
258* Music/TeganAndSara[[note]] Transferred from Sire[[/note]]
259* Music/ThinLizzy*
260* Music/RichardThompson*
261* Music/ThrowingMuses
262* Music/AshleyTisdale
263* Music/AllenToussaint
264* Music/TheTravelingWilburys
265* Music/RandyTravis
266* Music/TravisTritt
267* [[Music/TinaTurner Ike and Tina Turner]]
268* Music/ConwayTwitty
269* Music/UriahHeep*
270* Music/FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons
271* Music/VanHalen
272* Music/ClayWalker[[note]]from Giant Records[[/note]]
273* Music/WakaFlockaFlame
274* Music/DionneWarwick
275* Creator/JackWebb
276* Music/TheWhiteStripes*
277* Music/TheWho*
278* Music/HankWilliamsJr
279* Music/{{Wire}}*
280* Music/RoyWood
281* Creator/StevenWright
282* Music/WuTangClan
283* Music/TheYardbirds*
284* Music/ZappAndRoger
285* Music/FrankZappa+
286* Music/ZZTop
287[[/index]]
288
289[=*=] Signed in the US and Canada only\
290[=+=] Transferred from Creator/{{Reprise|Records}}\
291[=++=] Transferred ''to'' Reprise

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