Razor & Tie
| Razor & Tie | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Parent company | Concord Bicycle Music |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Founder | Cliff Chenfeld, Craig Balsam |
| Distributor(s) | Universal Music Group |
| Genre | Hard rock, alternative rock, heavy metal |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | New York City |
| Official website | www |
Razor & Tie is an American entertainment company which consists of a record label and a music publishing company. It was established in 1990 by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld. Based in New York City (with additional offices in Los Angeles and Nashville), Razor & Tie releases are distributed by Universal Music Group.
Razor & Tie initially focused on compilation albums and re-issues. Directly marketed through television spots, the label had early success with 70s, 80s and 90s-themed albums, beginning with Those Fabulous 70s in 1990. A retail label was launched in 1995 to release new albums from established and developing artists, including Dar Williams, Graham Parker and Marshall Crenshaw. Razor & Tie continued to expand their rock signings, and by 2016, with releases by artists including the Pretty Reckless, Starset, All That Remains and Red Sun Rising it had become a leader in the genre.
In 2001, Balsam and Chenfeld created Kidz Bop, a series of albums with young singers covering pop hits. As of 2016, Kids Bop had sold more than 16 million albums, 22 of which debuted in the 22 Top 10 debuts on the Billboard charts, Kidz Bop holds the title for the most Top 10 debuts of any artist this century. Releases on Razor & Tie have cumulatively exceeded sales of 45 million physical and digital albums, singles, videos and DVDs.
A music publishing division was founded in 2007, and in 2014 Razor & Tie launched Washington Square Records, an alternative leaning label. In 2015 Concord Bicycle acquired an undisclosed percentage of Razor & Tie, which now operates as Razor & Tie Enterprises LLC, a joint venture.
Razor & Tie was founded by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld, who met while in law school at NYU. Musicians as well as music fans, they played and wrote songs together while pursuing their degrees and continued to collaborate after they had begun working as lawyers. Following several years of practicing separately at large, corporate firms, Balsam and Chenfeld began to explore the idea of releasing records from the 70s. "We really didn’t enjoy practicing law as much as we enjoyed music. So we began to think about ways we could maybe change our careers," Chenfeld said in 2010. In 1990, they founded Razor & Tie, naming the company after a song they had written while working as lawyers.
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