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Creator / Reprise Records

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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Reprise_Label_661.jpg
The letter R with two dots resembling a gramophone sound recording set-up.

Reprise Records is a record label owned by the Warner Music Group and currently its largest sub-label. It was founded as an independent vanity label by Frank Sinatra in 1960 with the aim of giving him greater artistic freedom than what he had under Capitol Records, consequently birthing his nickname "Chairman of the Board." After struggling early on, the label was bought by Warner (Bros.) Records three years later (they called it a "rescue takeover"), with Sinatra owning a third of its shares.note 

Sinatra's main philosophy when he founded the label was that all artists would be given full creative control of their work, and eventually ultimate ownership of their catalog. This means that most of Reprise's earliest artists now distribute under different labels.

After the Warner takeover, Reprise's new owner, Mo Ostin, would lead the label away from the swing roster that Sinatra had built (including his Rat Pack buddies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.) and into the pop direction for which it became famous (starting with securing American rights to The Kinks). The roster during the label's late 1960s and early '70s heyday included such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart, Tom Lehrer, Neil Young (who's stayed with the label to this day, except during a brief, ill-fated switch to Geffen Records), Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Gordon Lightfoot, Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, and The Beach Boys.

Fleetwood Mac's internal conflict and dwindling sales led to them being moved up to the parent label, where they would record the massively popular and critically acclaimed Rumours; this didn't bode well for Reprise's future. Reprise had been struggling to maintain good sales after coming down from the success they'd had in the early 1970s, and from 1976 to 1987, almost all of its artists were moved up to Warner. The exceptions were Sinatra, who kept the Reprise name alive for his own releases, later briefly hopping over to Qwest Records before moving back to Capitol, and Neil Young, who moved over to Geffen before joining the relaunched Reprise. From the label's revival in '87 onward, Ostin has worked to elevate Reprise into the incarnation it's recognized as being today. Most of the label's (many) former artists still distribute their work from that era through the label. Reprise currently holds the place of a secondary parent to Warner, hosting many small labels that Warner can't handle.

Finally, if you've ever had a Warner-licensed song taken down from YouTube, it probably belonged to Reprise — they're very serious about that. Despite this, unlike Warner, Reprise has a good relationship with videogames: they have a track pack on Guitar Hero III and were completely supportive of Green Day: Rock Band.

Keep in mind that most of the artists listed here are officially under Warner management, but distribute heavily through Reprise — only a few of them are officially signed Reprise artists.

List of current artists:

List of former artists:

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