Factory Records

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Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, and (briefly) James and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Like the label 4AD Records, Factory Records used a creative team (most notably record producer Martin Hannett and graphic designer Peter Saville) which gave the label, and the artists recording for it, a particular sound and image. The label employed a unique cataloguing system that gave a number not just to its musical releases, but to artwork and other objects.

Factory’s genesis was in January 1978, when Tony Wilson, a TV presenter on Granada Television, formed a partnership with Alan Erasmus, an unemployed actor and band manager. The Factory name was first used for a club in May of that year, which featured local bands including The Durutti Column (managed at the time by Erasmus and Wilson), Cabaret Voltaire and Joy Division.

The Factory label set up an office in Erasmus’s home on Palatine Road in early 1979, Joy Division manager Rob Gretton became the fifth partner in the label towards the end of the year, and the Factory club closed down (it would reopen briefly the following year).

Factory branched out, with Factory Benelux being run as an independent label in conjunction with Les Disques du Crepuscule, and Factory US organising distribution for the UK label’s releases in America.
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  • rodrix007

    Well, if you like Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division, join... http://www.last.fm/group/Unknown+Pleasures ;)

    January 2009

  • StewartIsMe

    helped some bands become as famous as they were. i salute factory!

    November 2008

  • Gconscious

    One of the first branded labels. They set a standard that will be emulated forever.

    October 2008

  • Chucklebuck

    It's a shame he died before I could get to meet him. Having watched and read a fair few things on Factory Records, the man has become a hero/idol to me. The music world's not the same without him.

    April 2008

  • peteypoo

    R.I.P. Mr Wilson. Another dead hero.

    August 2007
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