Key Sounds Label
| Key Sounds Label | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Parent company | Key |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | VisualArt's |
| Distributor(s) | Pony Canyon |
| Genre | J-pop, Video game music |
| Location | Osaka, Japan |
| Official website | http://key.soundslabel.com/ |
Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company VisualArt's. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under VisualArt's, known for developing such titles as Kanon and Air. Excluding two albums and one single that were released by Key and VisualArt's before the label's formation, the majority of releases on the label all have a basis from one of Key's titles. There are other albums and singles on the label not directly related to the visual novels, such as two singles by Lia and one album by Riya. Unlike typical record labels, Key Sounds Label does not license any of the artists featured on albums and singles released on the label.
When Key Sounds Label formed, Jun Maeda, Shinji Orito, and Magome Togoshi were Key's signature composers and have continued to produce the majority of the music on the label, though Togoshi is no longer affiliated with Key or VisualArt's. Key often sells albums and singles on this label at the convention Comiket. Key Sounds Label is not under contract with JASRAC, or any other Japanese copyright collecting agency. As such, the releases on the label are not sold in Japanese stores with other music albums and singles, but are still widely available for online purchase.
Key Sounds Label has its origins in 1999, two years before the first album on the label was released. When the visual novel company Key, under the publisher VisualArt's, was about to release their debut title Kanon, Key produced the arrange album Anemoscope and bundled it with the first-print release of Kanon released in June 1999. The second music release, a single, occurred in November 1999. The third release, another arrange album, followed in September 2000 bundled with the first-print release of Key's second title Air, and was the first music release by Key to bear a catalog number, KYCD-0303. Each of these three were released in limited editions, and thus were not widely sold.
...
Wikipedia