Avex Trax
Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1988, and was the first label by the Group.
History
Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from other countries, he and his two Avex co-founders, Tom Yoda and Ken Suzuki, decided to found their own label. Aiming to compete with more established labels such as Nippon Columbia, Nippon Crown, BMG Victor, Victor Musical Industries, Toshiba-EMI, CBS/Sony, Teichiku Records, King Records, Nippon Phonogram and PolyGram K.K., they created the Avex Trax label.The first artist to sign to the label was the band TRF, which became a success. This led to Avex Trax becoming a "house of refuge" for artists who had left their former labels. It also appealed to artists not content with their current labels.
Formerly distributed by until 1992 and then by the Nippon Crown label from 1992 on, in 1997 Avex became a self-distributed label together with Cutting Edge, which was formerly distributed by Toshiba-EMI.
Sub-labels
Current
- B-ME – joint venture with
- Bluestar Records – formerly a sub-label of Cutting Edge
- Love Life Records – Hitomi's private label
- motorod – formerly a sub-label of Cutting Edge
- - joint venture with Level-5
- 影別苦須 虎津苦須 – Kishidan's vanity label
Defunct
- J-Friends Project – joint venture with Johnny & Associates
Notable artists
;Groups- @onefive
- Boku ga Mitakatta Aozora
- Bridear
- Chō Tokimeki Sendenbu
- DA-ICE
- Do As Infinity
- Every Little Thing
- Exo
- GENIC
- Kamen Rider Girls
- Ketsumeishi
- kolme
- lol
- Mameshiba no Taigun
- NCT
- Red Velvet
- SKE48
- Super Junior
- TRF
- Tohoshinki
- Tokyo Girls' Style
- Aina the End
- Shinjiro Atae
- Beverly
- BoA
- Che'Nelle
- Ayumi Hamasaki
- Chiaki Ito
- Hitomi Kaji
- Keiko
- m.c.A.T
- Michael Fortunati
- Nissy
- Seiko Oomori
- Ai Otsuka
- Pikotaro
- Shuta Sueyoshi
- Misako Uno
- Naoya Urata
- Takuro Yoshida
Labels
B-ME
Bluestar Records
*Love Life Records
motorod
影別苦須 虎津苦須
Former artists
;Groups;Soloists
;Duos