About Me
Founded 20 years ago on a cocktail napkin at MIDEM by four young guns of the music business, Ryko's early business model centered on licensing CD rights from artists who had vinyl and cassette deals with other (usually major) labels, but were eager to release their material on the cutting edge new digital compact disc format. Taking their name from a Japanese word meaning "sound from a flash of light," the original partners-entertainment lawyer and producer Arthur M. Mann, record importer Rob Simonds, Japanese CD manufacturing expert Doug Lexa, and indie label owner Don Rose-began digitally remastering the music, writing new liner notes and adding bonus material, importing spools of their newly-manufactured CDs from Japan to the US, and selling the stock to pay for their next release.
From its first release, Jim Pepper's Comin And Goin in 1984, the company expanded quickly, releasing the first re-mastered CDs from artists including Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Devo, Elvis Costello, Big Star, Yoko Ono, Mission of Burma, Meat Puppets and Arthur Lyman, as well as atmospheric and experimental CD releases ranging from "A Day On Cape Cod" to Mickey Hart's 360 Degrees collection, including "Supralingua" and "Planet Drum."
Rykodisc also works with credible well-known and developing artists who have been signed to its roster over the past 20 years, including Sugar (and later solo material from Bob Mould), Throwing Muses (and later solo material from Kristin Hersch), Morphine, Lloyd Cole, Robert Wyatt, Boosty Collins, Bruce Cockburn, Robert Cray, Kelly Willis, Tom Tom Club, Joe Jackson, Josh Rouse, Kelly Joe Phelps, The Fire Theft, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Peter Bruntnell, Jess Klein, Matthew, Catie Curtis, and many more.
Through the years Ryko also acquired other catalogues and labels and integrated them into the family of Ryko Psychos. These labels include seminal English folk and world music label Hannibal Records, jazz, blues, bluegrass and traditional music label Tradition, new jazz and experimental label Grammavision, and West Coast punk and 80s/90s indie label Restless Records. Ryko now has over 1200 titles in the catalogue.
The London outpost, Rykodisc Ltd., opened in 1987 with the goal to develop Ryko's US repertoire outside the United States as well as sign non-US artists for worldwide release. Ryko distributes CDs in more than 40 countries worldwide via the London-based international department. Labels to which Ryko holds ex-US rights include Artemis, Arena Rock, and Ropeadope; with artists including Warren Zevon, Steve Earle, Calla, Pilot to Gunner, Mink Lungs, The Carlsonics, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, DJ Logic, Bullfrog, Tin Hat Trio, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Carl Cox's Detroit Experiment, and many more.
One of the last of the truly independent labels, we have built our business and our reputation through extraordinarily high standards of quality in sound, packaging and most importantly, the music itself.
