Avex Trax | |
---|---|
Parent company | Avex Group |
Founded | 1990 |
Founder | Max Matsuura |
Distributor(s) | Avex Marketing |
Genre | Various |
Country of origin | Japan |
Location | Minato, Tokyo |
Official website | www |
Avex Trax (エイベックス トラックス Eibekkusu Torakkusu?) is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Group. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group.
Two years after Max Matsuura became busy in distributing studio albums from other countries, he and his two co-founders of Avex, Tom Yoda and Ken Suzuki, decided to operate their own label to compete with the older and more experienced labels (i.e. Nippon Columbia, Nippon Crown, Toshiba-EMI, CBS Sony, Nippon Phonogram and PolyGram K.K., etc.). This led to the birth of the Avex Trax label.
The first artist to sign for the label was TRF, which became a success. This led to the situation that the Avex Trax label became a "house of refuge" for artists that either ended contracts with their former labels (e.g. Namie Amuro), were not contented with their current labels (e.g. Gackt) or were kicked out by their former labels (e.g. Ayumi Hamasaki).
Formerly distributed by the Nippon Crown label, in 1997 it became a self-distributed label together with Cutting Edge, which was formerly distributed by Toshiba-EMI by that time.
Some of their artists include Japanese artists such as AAA, Ai Otsuka, Dream, Namie Amuro, Do As Infinity, Every Little Thing, Gackt, Wagakki Band, Girl Next Door,Ayumi Hamasaki,Mai Oshima,Seikima-II, DREAM5, SKE48, S2nd and Tokyo Girls' Style, as well as foreign artists such as BoA, TVXQ, After School, Super Junior, O-ZoneU-KISS, F(x), EXO and Lights Over Paris.