О лэйбле 4AD

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4AD - студия записи, основанная в 1979 году в Великобритании, основатели Иво Уоттс-Расселл и Питер Кент.

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Откуда возникло название студии:
AD was originally formed as Axis Records, but this was changed when it became apparent that the name Axis was already being used by another music company. The solution to this problem came from a promotional flyer that they had printed up to call attention to the new releases. The flyer's designer had added some typography which played on both the new year and the idea of progress:

1980 FORWARD
1980 FWD
1984 AD
4AD

Quickly scrambling for a new name, Ivo glanced at the flyer and suggested "4AD". Peter Kent agreed, and, with that split-second decision, 4AD was born.

Shortly afterwards, Kent left the company to start another label (also funded by Beggars Banquet): Situation Two Records. Watts-Russell invited the graphic designer Vaughan Oliver to create sleeve art for the label and as a result 4AD quickly acquired a visually distinctive identity. Its artists like the Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance developed substantial cult followings in the mid-1980s, but 4AD continued to evolve, and, after signing Throwing Muses and Pixies, the label increasingly concentrated on underground American rock music. In 1987, 4AD had a UK Number One hit with the collaged "Pump Up The Volume" by M/A/R/R/S.
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Периоды деятельности:
1980-начало 90-ых годов - британский период студии, когда было записано большинство легендарных команд, ставших известных благодаря 4AD, а само название студии стало нарицательным, и стало само по себе названием стиля 4AD рок.

В 90-ых годах 4AD создает оффис в Лос Анджелесе.
С середины 90-ых годов начинается второй, американский этап лэйбла. Студия переключилась преимущественно на американские группы, но продолжая обращать на некоторые наиболее интересные британские команды и на пару команд из Болгарии и Японии.

Студия работает и в настоящее время как часть Beggar Records. Хотя 2000-ые годы можно назвать уже третьим периодом студии, подбор музыкантов сегодня отличается от легенд 80 и 90-ых годов, и не в лучшую сторону. Студия, хотя и пытается, как и раньше искать таланты, скрытые жемчужины рок-музыки, но записывает явно не лучшие группы. Записи последних лет на этом лэйбле одно разочарование.

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Обозначения в каталогах и изданиях, используемые лэйблом:

Несмотря на то, что студия применяет и стандартные каталожные обозначения, такие как CD и LP, студия создала целый ряд собственных обозначений для номеров изданий по своему каталогу.

Префикс:

The first part of a catalog number is a prefix that contains a variation of "AD," based on the 4AD name. Some standards are:

* AD = single
* BAD = EP
* CAD = Full length LP
* DAD = Double LP

Some other "AD" variations have been used less frequently over the years, including (but not limited to):

* EAD = Electronic download
* GAD = reissue (usually mid-priced)
* HAD = remastered or significantly altered reissue (usually with some combination of bonus tracks, re-mastering, or new artwork)
* JAD and MAD = "mini album" that is longer than an EP but shorter than an LP
* SAD = Super Audio CD release (as in the recent Dead Can Dance 2008 remastered reissues)
* TAD = temporary release

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Числительные обозначения:

The second part of the catalog number is a number that represents the year of release (via the number of years since 1980, following the '1980 Forward' theme), and the order of release in the particular year. For example, This Mortal Coil's LP It'll End in Tears is CAD411. The "CAD" represents that the release is an LP, the "4" in 411 represents 1984, and 11 marks the 11th release that year. This is the vinyl LP release; cassette versions have "C" added to the prefix (CADC411 in this example); CD versions have "CD" added at the end (CAD411CD).

A side effect of this scheme is that it made it seem like 4AD had hundreds of releases early on. Once again using CAD411 as an example, a causal observer might assume this was the 411th release in the label's catalog, when 4AD actually had less than 100 total releases in their catalog at the time. In the 1990s, 4AD changed the first part of the number from "100s" to "1000s," temporarily making the number not correspond with the number of years since 1980. Releases in 1990 used "00" directly after the prefix (e.g., the Pixies' Bossanova, CAD0010, released in the fall of 1990); 1991 used "10" directly after the prefix (e.g., This Mortal Coil's Blood, DAD1005, released early in 1991), 1992 used "20," and so on for the rest of the 1990s.

Wanting to return to numbering with the years since 1980, 4AD had to provide a workaround for releases in the year 2000. Since the "20" numerical designation had been used in 1992, all releases in 2000 used "2K" (e.g., Mojave 3's Excuses For Travelers, released in early 2000 is CAD2K05). Since 2001, the catalog numbering scheme has finally been able to return to the original format with the first part of the number representing the years since 1980. Things haven't been too consistent since, and there have been several gaps. Also, the year 2010 will pose a problem, as it is 30 years since 1980, but the "30" designations were already used in 1993.

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Список групп, когда-либо записывавшихся на 4AD:

В скобках:
disbanded - группа распалась
active - группа работает в настоящий момент


* Air Miami (Disbanded)
* The Amps (Disbanded)
* A R Kane (Disbanded)
* Tom Baril (Photographer published by 4ad)
* Bauhaus (Disbanded)
* Bearz (Active)
* Belly (Disbanded)
* Heidi Berry (Inactive, currently a teacher)
* Bettie Serveert (Active)
* The Birthday Party (Disbanded)
* Frank Black (Active)
* Michael Brook (Active)
* Harold Budd/Elizabeth Fraser/Robin Guthrie/Simon Raymonde
* Bulgarian Voices (Active)
* Celebration (Active)
* Clan of Xymox (Active)
* Cocteau Twins (Disbanded)
* Colourbox (Inactive)
* Cuba (Inactive)
* Cupol (One-off collaboration)
* Dance Chapter (Disbanded)
* Dead Can Dance (Disbanded)
* Dif Juz (Dissolved)
* Tanya Donelly (Active)
* Electricity In Our Homes (Active)
* The Fast Set (Disbanded)
* Fifty Foot Wave (Active, on kenedik records)
* Frazier Chorus (Dissolved)
* Lisa Germano (Active, with Young God Records)
* Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke
* B. C. Gilbert & G. Lewis
* The Glee Club (Disbanded)
* Rachel Goswell (Inactive)
* Gus Gus (Active, on Pineapple Records)
* Rene Halkett & David J
* Neil Halstead (Active, on Brushfire Records)
* Kristin Hersh (Active, in Fifty Foot Wave)
* His Name Is Alive (Active)
* The Hope Blister (Disbanded)
* Rowland S. Howard & Lydia Lunch
* In Camera (Disbanded)
* Insides (Disbanded)
* Matt Johnson
* Lakuna (Inactive)
* Last Dance (Disbanded)
* The Late Cord (One-off, thus far, collaboration)
* Liquorice
* Lydia Lunch (Active)
* Lush (Disbanded)
* M/A/R/R/S (Dissolved)
* Mass (Disbanded)
* Vinny Miller (Active)
* Minotaur Shock (Active)
* Modern English (Active)
* Magnetophone (Active, on Test Conditions)
* Mojave 3 (Active)
* My Captains (Disbanded)
* Colin Newman (Active)
* Pieter Nooten/Michael Brook
* The Paladins
* Pale Saints (Disbanded)
* The Past 7 Days (Disbanded)
* Brendan Perry (Active)
* Piano Magic (Active)
* Pixies (Still active live)
* Emma Pollock (Active)
* Psychotik Tanks (Disbanded)
* Red Atkins (Active)
* Red House Painters (Disbanded)
* Rema-Rema (Disbanded)
* Richenel
* Scheer (Disbanded)
* Shox (Disbanded)
* Kendra Smith (Inactive)
* Sort Sol
* Spasmodic Caress (Disbanded)
* Spirea X (Disbanded)
* Spoonfed Hybrid (Disbanded)
* Starry Smooth Hound (An alias project of Vinny Miller)
* Stereolab (On hiatus from 2009)
* Swallow (Disbanded)
* Sybarite (active)
* Tarnation (disbanded)
* that dog. (disbanded)
* The The (inactive)
* Thievery Corporation (active)
* This Mortal Coil (Project concluded)
* Throwing Muses (Occasional live reformations)
* Tones on Tail (Disbanded)
* 23 Envelope (4AD's design regulars in the 80s/90s)
* Ultra Vivid Scene (Disbanded)
* Underground Lovers (Disbanded)
* Unrest (Disbanded)
* Vaughan Oliver and v23 (and 23 Envelope)
* Wolf & Cub (Active)
* The Wolfgang Press (Disbanded)
* Xmal Deutschland (Disbanded)

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Владельцы лэйбла:

Peter Kent, employees of the Beggars Banquet record store and label, founded Axis Records in late 1979 as a property of Beggars Banquet that was ran by the two. After the first four Axis singles in early 1980, the name was changed to 4AD. An initial idea for the label was that it would be a "testing ground" for Beggars Banquet; successful acts would graduate up to Beggars Banquet after a year at 4AD. The only band to follow this path would be Bauhaus, who were signed to Beggars Banquet in late 1980 right before Ivo and Peter purchased the label outright.

The two were the sole owners for about a year. Peter sold his share to Ivo at the end of 1981, and started a new Beggars Banquet subsidiary, Situation Two Records. Ivo would maintain ownership of the label, and act as its president, until the late 1990s.

While 4AD didn't handle any distribution outside the United Kingdom for many years, it had many willing distributors in many countries: Columbia distributed much of the label in Japan, while Polygram subsidiary Vertigo released many of the label's records in Canada. The United States had always been a tough market for 4AD, even though their records sold well there as imports. Only a few of the label's acts had deals to license their recordings in the USA, among various labels.

In 1992, Ivo signed a five-year distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records so that nearly all 4AD releases would see release in the United States. While this seemed to be a simple licensing deal, in reality executives from Warner Bros. took a lot of control during this period, as 4AD shifted focus to the US market, signing more American bands. While still president, it is clear that Ivo ceded some control during this period, and once the deal ended, he offered to sell the label back to Beggars Banquet.

The deal with Beggars was completed by early 1999, and since then it has owned 4AD and its distribution worldwide. This led to many negotiations for the label's back catalog—like getting back US distribution rights for the Pixies and the Cocteau Twins.

In 2008, the Beggars Group recognized that 4AD was its most prestigious and successful label, and re-aligned itself so that several labels (including Beggars Banquet itself) were folded up on to the 4AD label.[3] Bands like Stereolab and The National now find themselves signed to 4AD as a part of this merger.

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В качестве раскрутки своих групп, записавшихся совсем недавно, студия 4AD предлагает сборник, который можно бесплатно и легально скачать напрямую с сайта лэйбла:

http://www.4ad.com/features/2008/

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Ценный ресурс, на котором находятся все или почти все издания 4AD, расположенные по каталожному номеру.

http://www.discogs.com/label/4AD

Там вы найдете информацию по конкретному альбому: номер по каталогу, в каких форматах издавался, список песен, кто участвовал в записи.
Кроме того, многие из альбомов продаются по ссылкам на этом сайте.