Machine Shop Records, also known as Machine Shop Recordings, is a
record label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
founded by American rock band
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...
members
Brad Delson and
Mike Shinoda
Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...
in 2001. The record label has released singles and albums in genres including
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
,
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
,
underground hip hop
Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...
,
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
and
nu metal
Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop music, hip hop, funk, industrial music, industrial, and grunge. Nu ...
.
The label has signed several artists prior to their mainstream breakthroughs, including
Holly Brook (whose name was later changed to Skylar Grey),
Styles of Beyond
Styles of Beyond was an American underground hip hop group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MCs Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu) and Takbir Bashir (Tak), Colton Raisin Fisher ( DJ Cheapshot), and produce ...
,
[Styles of Beyond and Machine Shop](_blank)
No Warning and Shinoda's side project
Fort Minor.
[Fort Minor discography](_blank)
''Discogs
Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
''
History
1999–2002: Early years

The label was originally known as The Shinoda Imprint, named after
Mike Shinoda
Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...
. Machine Shop was born in drummer Rob Bourdon's living room in 1999 when the band was packing CDs and stickers into boxes to send to their very first fans. The label only had the potential to release the
extended play
An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
s for the band's fan club annually. Shinoda wanted to release albums of Linkin Park under the label, but the albums were already managed by the parent company
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
, and managing the albums on his alone basis was a difficult job. The first release under the label was for the fan club, ''
LP Underground 2.0'', which was released on November 18, 2002. The label also made available some enhanced features, such as T-shirts, sticker, key-chain, a band picture, guitar pick and membership card. The album was co produced by Don Gilmore with Shinoda. On November 17, 2003, the label released another extended play for the LPU fan club, entitled ''
LP Underground 3.0'', which featured the unreleased songs in the live album ''
Live in Texas'' (which was released on November 18, 2003, through the record label).
2003–07: Mainstream success
The label was later renamed to Machine Shop after the involvement of the band members in the work. Brad Delson took over the work as an
A&R representative of the label. The label got the breakthrough success after the release of the overnight recorded collaborative EP by
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
and Linkin Park, entitled ''
Collision Course'', which was released under the collaboration of labels,
Roc-A-Fella
Roc-A-Fella Records was an American record label and music management company founded in 1994 by record executives and entrepreneurs Jay-Z, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem Burke, Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Carter issued his debut album, ...
, Warner Bros. and Machine Shop. The EP was released on November 30, 2004. The EP was certified as Platinum in America. Later the label signed artists like No Warning, Simplistic and LNDN. ''
Suffer, Survive'' became the first non-Linkin Park album and non shared label album to be released under the label. It was released on October 19, 2004. The album featured only 10 songs. The songs like, ''Dirtier Than the Next'', ''Bad Timing'' and ''Hopeless Case'' gave a breakthrough success to the band and indirectly to the label. On November 18, 2003, the live album by Linkin Park ''Live in Texas'' was released under the label and Warner Bros. which was also certified as Platinum. It was also released as a DVD which featured
Chester Bennington
Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...
breaking Brad Delson's guitar. At the end of the concert,
Joe Hahn
Joseph Hahn (born March 15, 1977) is an American musician, DJ, director, and visual artist best known as the DJ and creative director of the rock band Linkin Park, doing the scratching, turntables, sampling, and programming for all eight of ...
threw a piece of his equipment on the stage floor.
On November 22, 2005, the label again marked its success on releasing the album ''
The Rising Tied'' by
Fort Minor which was a side project by the founder Shinoda.
Under the success of the album many artists like ''
Styles of Beyond
Styles of Beyond was an American underground hip hop group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MCs Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu) and Takbir Bashir (Tak), Colton Raisin Fisher ( DJ Cheapshot), and produce ...
'' and ''
Holly Brook'' were signed in the label. Holly Brook released two independent EPs ''Holly Brook EP'' and ''Sony CONNECT Sets'' under the label, whereas Styles of Beyond indirectly released singles in which they were featured through the project of Fort Minor. The singles by Fort Minor like
Petrified/Remember the Name gave success to S.O.B. and Fort Minor. The breakthrough single ''
Where'd You Go'' featuring Holly Brook marked number four on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
making it the best ever debut song by any ''One-Hit-Wonder''. The label meanwhile was also releasing EPs for Linkin Park Underground, and in addition it also released an EP for the fan club of Fort Minor, ''Militia''. The label also released mixtapes like ''
We Major'' and ''
Razor Tag''. The signing of S.O.B. brought the group back into the spotlight and marked success. On May 23, 2006, the label released ''
Like Blood Like Honey'' by ''
Holly Brook'' which was her debut album, which gave her the spot of #23 of U.S. Heat charts. In 2006, the label again gained spotlight after the single ''
Numb/Encore'' by Linkin Park &
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
won the
Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...
. On October 10, 2005, the label released a mixtape of its own which was named as ''Machine Shop Mixtape''. It featured Various Artists like ''
Taproot
A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...
'', ''
Papa Roach
Papa Roach is an American Rock music, rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, drummer Dave Buckner, guitarist Jerry Horton, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luth ...
'', ''
Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...
'' and many others.
Hiatus: 2007–2009
Mike Shinoda has stated on his blog that, as of January 2009, Machine Shop Recordings will be on hiatus due to disagreements between the label and its parent company Warner Bros. Records. On 23 May 2010 Shinoda stated a new release was likely, suggesting that they are looking to the UK for new releases.
The label then released the album only in America. The label then signed out artists like Holly Brook and Styles of Beyond, due to disagreements with Warner Bros. Records. Although there weren't many releases during this course of time, the label missed the release of the album ''
Out of Ashes'' by
Dead By Sunrise (a side project of Linkin Park vocalist
Chester Bennington
Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer who was the lead vocalist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, and Stone Temple Pilots at various po ...
).
After hiatus: 2009–present
The first release by the label after hiatus is ''
Download to Donate'' like ''
Download to Donate for Haiti'', ''
Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0'' and ''
Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief''. This project was handled by Shinoda and
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...
. Later the release of ''
8-bit Rebellion!'' marked the return of the label, in America. The first big release after hiatus is ''
A Thousand Suns'' by Linkin Park which was released on September 14, 2010. The album landed on the top of
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...
marking the return to the mainstream success of label. later the success was ''
Living Things'', ''
Recharged'' and ''
The Hunting Party'' which marked mainstream success in United States.
In 2013 the label again released a non-Linkin Park album ''Resurrection of the Wolf'' only in US, No Warning after the band reunited.
The label also released soundtrack album ''
Mall''. The label releases the singles by the band only in the United States, the release in other countries is released under the parent label. The label also released ''The Hunting Party'' outside the US for the first time after hiatus in Australia.
Artists
Current acts
Former acts
Current producers
*
Mike Shinoda
Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...
*
Brad Delson
*
Rob Cavallo
Past producers
*
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records.
Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...
*
Scoop DeVille
Elijah Blue Molina (born October 15, 1987), better known by his stage name Scoop DeVille, is an American record producer, rapper and DJ. DeVille has produced singles and albums for hip hop artists including Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, N ...
*
DJ Green Lantern
James Christopher D'Agostino (born July 7, 1975), professionally known as DJ Green Lantern, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from Rochester, New York. In 2002, D'Agostino was signed by American rapper Eminem, to become the official DJ for ...
*
DJ Cheapshot
*
Vin Skully
Styles of Beyond was an American underground hip hop group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MCs Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu) and Takbir Bashir (Tak), Colton Raisin Fisher ( DJ Cheapshot), and produce ...
*
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
Discography
The following is the list of all albums released through Machine Shop Records and distributed by
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
. Any additional record label involved are specified.
Upcoming releases
Crew and employees
*
Mike Shinoda
Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...
- Founder, President
*
Brad Delson - Founder, President
*Bill Silva - Chief Operating Officer
*Jessica Sklar - Chief Strategy Officer, Partner
*Ryan DeMarti - Director of Operations
*Trish Evangelista - Project Manager
*Lorenzo Errico - Digital Manager
*Kymm Britton – publicity
*Kas Mercer – publicity
See also
*
List of record labels
File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg
File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg
File:Bingola1011b.jpg
Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, ...
References
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Record labels established in 2004
American record labels
Warner Music labels
Alternative rock record labels
Vanity record labels
Mike Shinoda