Island in Discogs

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

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.

Following is how Island labels are accounted for in Discogs (as of 2006-05-27). It has a number of problems, most notably the strange sublabels of Island Records (US), most likely from when "Island Records" was renamed to "Island Records (US)":

• Universal Music Group
  • Universal Island Records
  • Universal Music (UK)
    • Island Records - started as Island Records (UK) after rename of Island Records to Island Records (US)
      • 4th & Broadway
      • Al's Records
      • Apollo Recordings
      • Black Swan
      • Blue (Island)
      • Blunted
      • Boogie Food - not yet confirmed to be a sublabel of Island - mjb
      • Island Jamaica
        • Island Jamaica Jazz
      • Island Masters
      • Island Records (Germany)
      • Island Studios
      • Mango Records
      • Sense
      • Trade 2
      • Tuxedo Music Ltd. - not yet confirmed to be a sublabel of Island - mjb
  • Universal Music (Germany)
    • Island Mercury Labelgroup
    • Polydor Island Group
    • Universal Music Domestic Division
  • Island Def Jam Music Group
    • Island Records (US) - renamed from Island Records a long time ago
      • Island Records (Australia)
      • Island Records (Canada)
      • Island Records (France)
      • Island Records (Japan)
      • Island Records (Portugal) - see note about Dacapo below
      • 4th & B'Way Records - renamed from 4th & Broadway (US)
      • Axiom
      • Dancin' Music
      • Great Jones
      • Island Black Music
      • Island Independent
      • Island Red Label
      • Smash
      • Supreme Recordings
• Island Records (Netherlands) - was merged into Island Records
• Island Records (Italy) - was merged into Island Records
• Antilles - a child of Verve Records now due to ownership changes

In addition, Island-branded records are filed under

• Dacapo - I'm trying to push for getting Island-branded Portuguese releases listed under both Dacapo and Island Records (Portugal). Usually they have only a Dacapo cat#, but there are some 1983 releases with Island-style numbers, so it's still uncertain what's best - mjb
• Festival Records - Kind of an odd duck in that Island branding takes a backseat - mjb
• Phonogram GmbH
• Phonogram (France)
• BMG
  • Ariola (Germany)
  • BMG Ariola München GmbH (and perhaps other Ariola divisions listed on the BMG page)
• PolyGram (and various divisions listed on that page)

See also the Island Records catalogue numbers article, which includes some more details about how releases are filed in Discogs.

We need to figure out better ways of organizing things. Please use the discussion page for this article to propose and discuss changes.