Janis Ian
Folk / Alternative
Rude Girl Records was unofficially formed in 1992, when Janis leased portions of her masters catalogue (then consisting of only seven titles) to Toshiba EMI Japan for release in that territory. Realizing she needed a name for her new independent record company and publishing company, Janis chose “Rude Girl”. The story behind her choice is below.
From 1992 to the present, RGR has steadily grown, with its current ownership of Janis Ian masters up to twenty albums overseas, and a slightly smaller number in North America. The Rude Girl label oversees the production of Janis’ newer albums, and in the case of older work, its re-mastering and the re-creation of the original artwork.
As usual, Janis was ahead of the curve in insisting that companies her label was affiliated with not only release the product exactly as it was presented to them, but include her label name and logo on every album and piece of advertising.
Janis and her business team investigated going into the record business “for real” by signing directly with a distributor, and doing everything else themselves. It was decided that would leave Janis virtually no time for creative endeavours. Instead, the master catalogue is leased worldwide through larger independent record companies Janis trusts.
We are proud of our history with our affiliated companies (Cooking Vinyl, JVC Japan, Beaver Music Hong Kong, Bug Music, Sony Publishing Japan, Toshiba EMI Japan), and proud that when you see the Rude Girl name and logo on one of Janis’ albums, you know its content and packaging have been supervised by Janis herself, and the quality is the highest possible.
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