Island Records research

Welcome to the Island Records research area for Discogs. If you have information about Island Records, put it here, and hopefully we can sort out the true history of this label.

This article is part of the Island Records research wiki at offset.skew.org.

Island Records corporations

The Island name and brand has been associated with many different corporate entities. Details we know so far may be found in the Island Records corporations article.

Logos and label designs

There is a gallery of Island Records logo and label designs available.

Offices

On a separate page there is a small gallery of buildings that housed Island's corporate offices available.

Timeline

A comprehensive Island Records timeline is in the works.

Info sources

Some good sources of info on Island specifically:

• Island Records history at the Island UK site
• independently researched UK record label info (+Google cache) at Gowpen.biz
• Some large acquisitions by record companies, 1983 to 1993 - appendix in a report by the Competition Commisson (UK)
• Sigerson, Barbis Sail Into Top Island Posts - 1989 Variety article that says Blackwell's departure from PolyGram was acrimonious and talks about his replacements
• Chris Blackwell: From LP to DVD, still living the Island life - interview in Dec 1999 issue of Mix magazine (US)
• Chris Blackwell: Savvy Svengali - lengthy Island and Chris Blackwell career timeline through 2004
• Music Labels across the world - says "In 1975 Blackwell launched Island Records in America with Joe South and War" but this is coming from a recording studio in India...is it reliable?
• A Major Merger Shakes Up the World of Rock - Dec 1998 New York Times article about the PolyGram-Universal merger.
• New Marketing and Promotion Structure at Universal Music Germany - Jan 2003 PR about a pair of mergers within Universal Music Germany's divisions
• Music mogul optimistic - Aug 2005 Blackwell interview
• Label Mergers: bigger 'n' better 'n' rougher 'n' tougher? - transcript of a 2004 "think tank" session involving Marc Marot (former MD, Island Records)
• Misc. discographic details at black-music-collectors.com:
  • http://www.black-music-collectors.com/labels/island_us.htm
  • http://www.black-music-collectors.com/labels/island_uk.htm
  • http://www.black-music-collectors.com/labels/4th_and_broadway.htm
  • http://www.black-music-collectors.com/labels/4th_bway.htm
  • http://www.black-music-collectors.com/labels/antilles.htm
  • http://www.black-music-collectors.com/labels/mango.htm
• U2 discography with lots of scans
• Fairport Convention discography with scans and good details
• This Island label gallery has many label scans
• Island Book: 1962–1977 is a forthcoming collector's book that would probably answer a LOT of questions. Check out the sample pages (PDF)

People who might be able to give us more info:

• Rob Partridge was head of press at Island from 1975 until sometime in the 1980s. He later became a director of the company's in-house jazz label, Antilles. He now co-runs his own prestigious independent press and management company, Coalition. Email: rob@coalitiongroup.co.uk

General info

A couple of great diagrams:

industry-level supply chain

record company-level supply chain

File:Diagram2.gif

What is a label?

I've finally written up what I think is a pretty good overview. It's everything up until the 'cleanup' box in the record label article on Wikipedia - mjb

What is a label in Discogs?

This writeup is geared toward giving people an understanding of what a "sublabel" is in Discogs, but I basically touch on all the important points. - mjb

Island in Discogs

The way we file Island related releases in Discogs is kind of a mess, and is still in a state of flux. It is slowly getting better, but the label doesn't lend itself well to some of the policies that people have tried to enforce in the past.

On the Island in Discogs page you can see how things are currently filed, and suggest improvements.

Catalogue number formats

As we view and compare more and more releases, we are getting a better sense of the relationship between the formats of Island Records catalogue numbers and their corresponding labels, companies, territories, and years of release.

Packaging artifacts

Over on the Island Records artifacts page we're collecting examples of all the important info we can find on releases that are Island branded or Island related.

Hopefully we can spot trends and deduce facts about Island by transcribing, describing, and examining the catalogue numbers, countries, dates, logos, and fine print.

Questionable entries on Discogs

In Discogs there are a lot of Island related releases that are perhaps misfiled or contain incorrect data. The Island Records questionable entries article lists these and contains notes about attempts to resolve the issues with people who have the releases in question.

There are a lot of them! Much work to be done. You can help!