S-Curve Records is an American
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 in 2000 by former
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...
executive
Steve Greenberg. It is based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. In 2001 the label established a distribution and licensing agreement with
EMI Records
EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...
. Among the hits released by S-Curve between 2000 and 2004 were "
Who Let the Dogs Out?" by
Baha Men, "
Stacy's Mom" by
Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...
and
Joss Stone
Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...
's first two albums, ''
the Soul Sessions'' and ''
Mind Body & Soul''. All of these artists received multiple
Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
nominations, with Baha Men winning the "Best Dance Recording" Grammy in 2001.
In 2007 Greenberg relaunched the label after a two-year hiatus, during which he served as President of
. In 2010, the label's distribution deal with EMI came to an end and S-Curve entered into a new U.S. distribution deal, with
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
. From 2012 to 2015,
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
distributed the label outside of North America.
The S-Curve roster and catalog include titles by
Andy GrammerJJ Rosa Leslie Odom Jr.
Leslie Lloyd Odom Jr. (; born August 6, 1981) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. He made his acting debut on Broadway in 1998 and first gained recognition for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in the musical ''Hamilton'', which earned him ...
,
We the Kings,
Yola, Rwandan star
Bruce Melodie, Bay Ledges,
Daisy the Great,
Netta Barzilai,
Rachel Crow,
Maxi Priest
Max Alfred Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an Contemporary R&B, R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. ...
, Michael Blume, Hailey Knox,
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...
,
Betty Wright
Bessie Regina Norris (December 21, 1953 – May 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul music, soul and Rhythm and blues, R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career ...
,
Fountains of Wayne
Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...
,
Baha Men,
The Beu Sisters,
Sarah Hudson,
Tom Jones,
Little Jackie,
Diane Birch,
Nikki Jean,
David Broza,
Joshua Henry,
Conkarah,
Rozzi Crane,
A Great Big World
A Great Big World is an American musical duo from New York made up of singer/songwriters Ian Axel and Chad King and signed to Epic Records. The group is best known for their single "This Is the New Year", which was performed by the cast in an epi ...
,
Swamp Dogg
Jerry Williams Jr. (born July 12, 1942), generally credited under the pseudonym Swamp Dogg after 1970, is an American Southern soul, country soul and R&B singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. Williams has been described as "one of the ...
, Night Bus,
A-WA,
Care Bears on Fire
Care Bears on Fire was a Brooklyn, New York-based band that consisted of Sophie (vocals and guitar) and Izzy (drums). The group originally formed in 2005 with the Care Bears—singer-guitarist Sophie Kasakove, 11, bassist-singer Lucio Westmore ...
,
Sinking Ships,
Tinted Windows and
Joss Stone
Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...
.
S-Curve's 2011 release by Betty Wright and
the Roots
The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...
, ''Betty Wright: The Movie'' was nominated for a
Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
in the "Best Traditional R&B Performance" category. Andy Grammer's debut album has yielded the hit singles "
Keep Your Head Up" (certified Platinum in the U.S.) "Miss Me" and "Fine By Me" (certified Gold). His follow-up album, ''
Magazines or Novels'', contained the triple-platinum selling single "
Honey, I'm Good" and the gold-certified "Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)". Grammar's 2016 release "
Fresh Eyes" has been certified Platinum in the US, Canada, and Australia. In July 2012, S-Curve released Joss Stone's ''the Soul Sessions Vol. II'', a sequel to her 2003 debut album, produced by Greenberg, who also produced Stone's first two albums during the label's initial incarnation. That album achieved Top 10 statues on both the
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 ...
album chart and the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. AJR has earned five platinum singles on the S-Curve label, they are no longer on the label. Maxi Priest was nominated for a 2021 Grammy in the "Best Reggae Album" category for his S-Curve release "It All Comes Back To Love."
Besides releasing music, S-Curve's business interests include music publishing and the company's equity stakes in online media companies Vydia,
Eko (formerly Interlude),
YouNow, Stationhead, Selectable Media (formerly Nabbr), Hyperactivate (creators of Hashtag Art) and Soomla. In 2011 and 2012, music videos released by S-Curve using Eko's interactive video technology won
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
"
O Music Awards" for "Most Innovative Video": Grammer's "
Keep Your Head Up" and We the Kings's "Say You Like Me."
The record label and publishing company were acquired by
BMG Rights Management
BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label.
BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...
in November 2015, with Greenberg continuing at the helm. S-Curve continues to independently own stakes in its portfolio of tech companies.
In 2021, the label relaunched in a partnership with
Disney Music Group
Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording and publishing arm of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The div ...
.
As of 2024, the label entered into a distribution deal with
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
's
The Orchard. S-Curve's back catalog remains with BMG.
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
{{Authority control
Record labels established in 2000
Pop record labels
Disney Music Group
Labels distributed by Universal Music Group
Record labels based in New York (state)