Wind-up Entertainment was an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

founded by

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanescence.

History

Wind-up Records was formed in 1997 by Alan Meltzer, former owner of CD One Stop, and his wife Diana Meltzer, following their 1996 purchase of Grass Records. The parent company Wind-up Entertainment also runs numerous publishing companies as well as a full-scale retail, online and tour merchandising company. The company's slogan was "Developing Career Artists". Some of the successful acts on the label included Evanescence, Creed,

Seether Seether are a South African rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion wi ...

and Finger Eleven. The label has also re-released albums from bands previously associated with Grass Records, such as

Toadies Toadies are an American rock band formed in 1989 in Fort Worth, Texas, best known for the song " Possum Kingdom". The band's classic lineup consisted of Vaden Todd Lewis (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Lisa Umbarger (bass guitar), Darrel Herbert ...

, the Wrens and Commander Venus. The label's current roster includes Civil Twilight, Jillette Johnson, The Griswolds, The Virginmarys, Young Guns, Strange Talk, The Revivalists, Five for Fighting, Crobot, Filter, SPEAK,

Genevieve Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre and ...

and Aranda. In September 2009, the label reached an agreement with EMI Music Germany and in February 2011 with EMI Music Canada. The partnership has seen EMI Music take over the marketing and distribution of artists such as Creed, Evanescence, Seether and Finger Eleven throughout the world outside of the US. In Canada, distribution was initially with

Sony Music Canada Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

as was the distribution in the United States. However, in October 2004, distribution in Canada switched over to

Warner Music Canada Warner Music Canada is the Canadian division of Warner Music Group. The label previously operated as WEA Music of Canada, Ltd. (French: ''WEA Musique du Canada, Ltée''), often shortened to WEA Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of WEA Internationa ...

with the creation of Wind-up Entertainment Canada. Distribution in Canada moved again, for a third time in February 2011, this time to EMI Music Canada. On October 31, 2011, the label's founder, Alan Meltzer, died at the age of 67. In 2012,

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

acquired the EMI music operations, making the distribution in Canada solely distributed by Universal Music Group. In October 2013, the Bicycle Music Company bought the rights to much of Wind-Up's back catalog, including the contracts to acts such as

. These artists will be distributed by Concord Music Group, which later merged with Bicycle. In May 2015, Concord bought the rest of the Wind-Up label. In 2016, Concord retired Wind-Up as a frontline label, and transferred most of Wind-Up's artists to other labels. Wind-Up's reissues are released under

Craft Recordings Craft Recordings is a record label owned by Concord. Like UMe, Legacy Recordings and Rhino Entertainment, Craft is specialized in reissues of Concord's back catalog. The imprint was founded in 2017, along with an online store by the same name of ...

, Concord's reissue label.

Artist roster

Final roster

Accurate according to Wind-up's website as of October 9, 2016. * Allday * Aranda * Civil Twilight *

Citizen Zero Citizen Zero is an American hard rock band from Detroit, Michigan. Founded in Rochester Hills in 2010 by siblings Greg (bass), John (drums), and Matt Dudley (guitar) and vocalist Josh LeMay (FMR Mayyle) the band caught the ear of Kid Rock's reco ...

* Crobot * Eclypse Records * Feenixpawl * Filter * Five for Fighting *

* Jillette Johnson * The Revivalists - transferred to

Razor & Tie Razor & Tie was an American entertainment company that consisted 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 ...

* SPEAK * Spirit Animal * Ryan Star * Strange Talk * The Griswolds * Young Guns * The Virginmarys

Previous artists

* 12 Stones * Alter Bridge * American Pearl * Atomship *

Baboon Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chac ...

* Bayside * Ben Moody * Big Dismal * Bob Guiney * Boy Hits Car *

Boysetsfire boysetsfire is an American post-hardcore band from Newark, Delaware. Formed in October 1994, boysetsfire is composed of guitarists Chad Istvan and Josh Latshaw, vocalist Nathan Gray, and bassists Chris Rakus and Robert Ehrenbrand. Lyrical theme ...

* Brainiac * Breaking Point * Bridget *

Cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mo ...

* Cauterize * CFO$ * Company of Thieves * The Crash Motive * Creed *

The Darkness Darkness is the absence of light. Darkness or The Darkness may also refer to: Film and television * ''Dark'' (TV series), a 2017 German-language TV series produced by Netflix * Darknss, a character from the film ''Legend'' (1985) * ''Darkne ...

* Ditch Witch * The Drowners *

Drowning Pool Drowning Pool is an American rock band formed in Dallas, Texas, in 1996. The band was named after the 1975 film '' The Drowning Pool''. Since its formation, the band has consisted of guitarist C.J. Pierce, bassist Stevie Benton, and drummer Mi ...

Dust for Life Dust for Life was a post-grunge band from Memphis, Tennessee formed in 1999. Formation and initial success After the dissolution of the Memphis grunge band Bacchanal, Jason Hughes recruited three members from the local Memphis rock band Spaceman ...

* Edgewater *

Emily Osment Emily Jordan Osment (born March 10, 1992) is an American actress, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Osment began her career as a child actress, appearing in numerous television shows and films, before co-starring as Gerti ...

* Evanescence *

The Exit The Exit was a New York City-based band indie/post-punk/reggae group, formed in 2000. The band's music blended 1980s dub and reggae with 1990s punk and indie rock. The band's members included Ben Brewer on lead guitar and vocals, and Gunnar Olse ...

* Finger Eleven * Godplow * Hawthorne Heights * It's Alive * James Durbin * Jeremy Fisher * John's Black Dirt * Julia Darling * Loomis * Megan McCauley * Midnight Cinema * Must *

New Radiant Storm King New Radiant Storm King was an American indie rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1990. The group released nine studio albums over its 20-year existence. Biography New Radiant Storm King formed at Hampshire College in 1990, taking its nam ...

* O.A.R. * Papercut Massacre * People in Planes * Pilot Speed *

Pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametop ...

* Push Play *

The Queen Killing Kings The Queen Killing Kings are an American rock band based out of New Haven, Connecticut. Originally a duo started in 2006 by lead singer/songwriter/pianist Coley O'Toole, the band has expanded into a four-piece with the release of their debut albu ...

* Scott Stapp *

* Seven Wiser * Slowpoke * Stars of Track and Field *

Stefy Stefy (styled as STEFY) was an American pop band from Orange County, California, United States. The group, initially known as "The Lovely", consisted of Jason Gaviati (keyboard), Stefy Rae (vocals), Sean Meyer (guitar) and Jordan Plosky (drums) ...

* Stereo Fuse *

Strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as e ...

Stretch Princess Stretch Princess were a British alternative rock band, which formed in 1996. The band consisted of Jo Lloyd (vocals, bass, and piano), James Wright (guitar), and Dave Magee (drums). They released two albums. ''Stretch Princess'' (1998) and ''Fu ...

* Submersed * Tickle Me Pink * Thriving Ivory *

Trickside Trickside was an American pop duo from New York City. History Trickside was composed of brothers Jeff Mendelsohn and Dave Mendelsohn of New York City. The name "Trickside" came from a childhood playing card game. The band's single "Under You" was ...

* The Wrens

Soundtracks

* '' 1080° Avalanche'' (video game) * '' Daredevil: The Album'' * '' Elektra: The Album'' * '' Fantastic 4: The Album'' * '' John Tucker Must Die'' * '' The Punisher: The Album'' * '' Scream 3: The Album'' * '' Walk the Line: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''

References

External links

Official site

{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1997 Sony Music