Commmons is a Japanese

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

founded by Japanese musician

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

Avex Group is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...

, Japan's biggest independent record label, is its official parent company.

History

Commmons was founded in 2006 by Sakamoto with the help of Avex and its founder and president,

Max Matsuura , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese record producer and businessman. He is the founder of Avex Group, one of the largest music labels. He is known mainly for discovering and developing new artists into stars (most notably Ayumi Hamas ...

. The word Commmons has three M's because the 3rd M stands for music. On the initiative's "About" page, the label is described as a project that "aims to find new possibilities for music, while making meaningful contribution to culture and society."

Distribution

It is distributed by

Rhythm Zone (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music. History The label was founded in 1999 by Max Matsuura with a focus on urban music, signing M-Flo as its first artist, then followed by Exile. In 2000, ...

, Avex's urban and R&B record label, and uses the catalog code "RZCM-4****". It also serves as a distributing label for

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

and

Raster-Noton Raster-Noton was a German electronic music record label. It was established in 1999 in Chemnitz, Germany. It emerged from the fusion of Rastermusik, founded by Olaf Bender and Frank Bretschneider in 1996, and Noton (''Archiv für Ton und Nich ...

in Japan.

Artists

Aoki Takamasa (sometimes stylized as AOKI takamasa) (born 1976), is a Japanese electronic musician and producer. Biography Aoki Takamasa was born in Osaka in 1976. He began experimenting as a musician in 1993 when he was 17, when he recorded music on a ...

Asa-Chang & Junray ASA-CHANG & Junray is a band founded by Japanese percussionist ASA-CHANG, who was the founder and original bandmaster of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. After leaving the group in 1993, he formed ASA-CHANG & Junray in 1998 with programmer and guitar ...

Boredoms Boredoms () (later known as V∞redoms) is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise (Japan’s noise music scene), though their more recent records have moved towar ...

Christian Fennesz Christian Fennesz (born 25 December 1962) is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited simply by his last name. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated samples ...

Kotringo Rieko Miyoshi (三吉里絵子; ''Miyoshi Rieko''; born 17 July 1978), better known by her stage name Kotringo (コトリンゴ), is a Japanese J-pop singer-songwriter and pianist. In 2005, she sent in a demo tape to Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Radio Sak ...

OOIOO OOIOO is a Japanese experimental rock band. The four-piece ensemble was founded by Yoshimi P-We (also known as Yoshimio), the drummer and occasional trumpeter for Boredoms. The band's origin lie in a photo shoot that Yoshimi was asked to do for a ...

(Founder) *

Penguin Cafe Orchestra The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) were an avant-pop band led by English guitarist Simon Jeffes. Co-founded with cellist Helen Liebmann, it toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s. The band's sound is not easily categorized, having elemen ...

Sōtaisei Riron is a Japanese rock band formed in Tokyo in September 2006. Summary The band consists of Etsuko Yakushimaru ( lead vocals, producer, original instruments, artwork), Seiichi Nagai (guitar), Masaru Yoshida ( bass), Motoki Yamaguchi ( drums). The ...

(Mirai Records/commmons) *

Takeshi Ueda is the bassist, programmer, additional vocalist and songwriter for The Mad Capsule Markets.Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is conside ...

Slogan

Commmons' official

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

is Think Global, Act Local.

References

External links