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Lava Records

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Lava Records
Parent companyLava Music, LLC
Founded1995; 29 years ago (1995)
FounderJason Flom
Distributor(s)Republic Records (United States)
Universal Music Group (International)
Rhino Entertainment (Reissues of pre-2005 catalog)
GenreVarious
Country of originUnited States
Official websitehttp://www.lavarecords.com/

Lava Records (Lava Music, LLC) is an American record label owned by Jason Flom, in partnership with Universal Music Group.[citation needed]

Company history

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In 1995, Flom launched Lava Records in partnership with Atlantic Records.[1] For the next decade, he continued to discover and champion artists under the Lava label who went on to sell over 100 million records globally, including Matchbox 20, Kid Rock, The Corrs, Simple Plan, The Blue Man Group, Edwin McCain, Sugar Ray, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Flom also signed his first black artist, David Josias, known for his hit single “Mindblowin”.

In 2004, Flom sold Lava Records to Atlantic Records Group, where he was named chairman and CEO of the Atlantic Records Group.[2] In this role, he oversaw a resurgence of the label and continued to sign and break major artists, most notably Paramore.[3]

Following 15 years of success at Atlantic and Lava, Flom was tapped in 2005 as Chairman and CEO of Virgin Records. In 2007, he led a merger with Capitol Records to create the Capitol Music Group, where he was named Chairman and CEO.[4] During Flom’s tenure, he oversaw releases from artists including Lenny Kravitz, Coldplay, and the Rolling Stones. In keeping with his track record of identifying and supporting new talent, under Flom’s leadership eleven new artists rose to gold, platinum and multi-platinum status, which included Thirty Seconds to Mars. In 2007 he signed Katy Perry and personally A&R’d her debut album, One of the Boys.[5]

In 2008, Flom departed from Capitol Music Group to re-launch his own Lava Records label, this time in partnership with Universal Music Group’s industry-leading Republic Records.[6] There he signed Jessie J, whose 2011 singles under the Lava banner "Do It Like a Dude" and "Price Tag" featuring B.o.B, topped the singles charts in the UK and 17 other countries.[7] Her multi-platinum debut album Who You Are sold over three million copies worldwide.[8]

In 2013, Flom identified Lorde, a then-unknown artist from New Zealand, and Lava released her debut single, "Royals," which stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks,[9] becoming the biggest alternative radio hit by a female artist.[10] Lorde went on to win two Grammy Awards including Song of the Year for “Royals” at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.

Following successful Lava rock releases from Black Veil Brides and their frontman Andy Black, Flom signed breakthrough rock band Greta Van Fleet to Lava in 2017, who revitalized the global rock scene with multiple number one rock hits and over 1 million albums sold, all while touring over the last several years. When Robert Plant was asked about Greta Van Fleet in an interview with Australia's Network Ten, he proclaimed, "They are Led Zeppelin I," and described 21-year-old Josh Kiszka as "...a beautiful little singer. I hate him.”[11] Elton John lauded the band in the LA Times: "Whoever says rock music is dead is completely wrong. When I first saw them, they knocked me out...They are going to be one of the biggest bands of the year."[12] The band picked up four nominations at the 2018 Grammy Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for their double-EP From the Fires.[13][14]

Flom founded Lava Publishing in 2014, which includes among its roster of writers break-out alternative rocker Evan Konrad,[15] writer/performer Maty Noyes,[16] and all four members of Greta Van Fleet. Flom also founded the podcast company Lava for Good.[17]

Label roster

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Current artists

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[18]

Past artists

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  • David Josias

References

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  1. ^ "History of Elektra Entertainment Group – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  2. ^ Gallo, Phil (2004-04-01). "Flom flows to Atlantic post". Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  3. ^ "TAXI Transmitter November 2005 Industry News: music industry news, reviews and observations". www.taxi.com. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  4. ^ Leeds, Jeff (2007-01-26). "EMI Merging Record Labels and Ousting Capitol's President". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  5. ^ "Katy Perry on the Cover of PAPER in 2009". PAPER. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  6. ^ "LAVA Records Renews Partnership with Republic Records". www.businesswire.com. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  7. ^ "LAVA Records Renews Partnership with Republic Records". www.businesswire.com. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  8. ^ "Jessie J Aims for Stadium Status with 'Who You Are'". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  9. ^ "From Lorde to Jessie J, the Hits Keep Coming for A & R Superstar Jason Flom". Observer. 2014-10-01. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  10. ^ "Lorde Doesn't Have A Bentley, But The Charts Will Do". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  11. ^ Scott Alderman (2018-03-31), Robert Plant talks about Greta Van Fleet, retrieved 2019-05-07
  12. ^ Lewis, Randy (6 March 2018). "Elton John's 26th Oscars viewing party raises $5.9 million for his AIDS Foundation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  13. ^ Leimkuehler, Matthew. "Grammys 2019: Greta Van Fleet Scores First Rock Win". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  14. ^ Loudwire Staff (11 February 2019). "Greta Van Fleet Win Best Rock Album at 2019 Grammys". Loudwire. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  15. ^ "Evan Konrad Signs to Lava Records, Debuts New Song 'Long Way Out': Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  16. ^ "Kobalt, Jason Flom Deal for Lava Music Publishing". Music Connection Magazine. 2015-05-22. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  17. ^ "Lava for Good".
  18. ^ "Lava Records website".
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