Factory

Descrição

Independent record label from Manchester, UK, between 1978 and 1992. On 19 May 1978, the TV presenter Anthony H. Wilson started The Factory, a series of club nights at the PSV/The Russel Club in Hulme, Manchester. Among the bands billed for the four opening nights were The Durutti Column, Cabaret Voltaire, and Joy Division. The poster for the evenings was designed by Peter Saville (2), who soon became a partner of Wilson and Alan Erasmus. In October 1979, producer Martin Hannett joined as a director too, followed in 1980 by Rob Gretton (manager of Joy Division and New Order) as fifth partner. The club night was a success and led to the release of the double 7" EP "[r=11395]" in January 1979. This EP marked the beginnings of Factory as a record label and featured bands that played at The Factory. When Wilson told Saville that their EP would be FAC 1, Saville replied that his first poster for the club was FAC 1 and the EP would be FAC 2. Factory set up its first headquarters in Erasmus' flat on 86 Palatine Road, Didsbury, Manchester, where it resided until 1990 (a blue BBC plaque was erected there in June 2017). It then moved to 1 Charles Street, Manchester, and was allocated catalogue number FAC 251. The company Factory Communications Ltd. (FCL) was officially established on 24 October 1980. In 1981, Factory started to license releases to other labels/countries. In October 1989, Factory launched the label Factory Classical. In September 1991, news leaked out that Factory was near bankruptcy, and some record companies, including Mute, London Records, and Warner Bros. Records, made bids on the label. The label was not sold though, and claimed it had sorted out its finances. This proved not to be the case, and on "Black Monday", 23 November 1992, Factory Records went into receivership with a £2.5 million debt. A last-minute saving arrangement with London Records collapsed when it became clear that, thanks to their no-contract deal, New Order —and not Factory— owned the rights to their material. Factory pioneered indie label principles such as the 50/50 profit share, and most of their record deals (until the later years of the label) were done with a handshake and not a contract. Factory constructed its own history by cataloging not only records, cassettes and videos, but also important events, posters, badges, TV programmes, concerts, T-shirts, buildings, stationery, advertising campaigns, etc. (see below). Note: The label has been known on releases under differing names: starting as "Factory", then "Factory Records" and later back to just "Factory" again. For unofficial releases, use Factory (2). Post-Factory In 1994, Wilson launched a new label, Factory Too, with some releases coming out in conjunction with London Records. He also released a series of anthologies and re-releases from the Factory back catalogue via London under the name Factory Once. He then started the label Factory Records Limited, this time without a cooperation wi

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