Rough Trade

Rough Trade Records started in 1978 after growing out of the Rough Trade Record shop in Ladbroke Grove, west London which specialised in unusual and left-wing music. Seen as a mecca for punks it quickly became a success as it stood against the ideals of the major labels by sharing money equally with bands and also paying a single wage to all employees despite gender or job title.

However the lack of professionalism which had helped the company grow soon became and problem as bands decided to leave the indie label after becoming successful as they weren’t tied into a contract. In 1982 the record shop had to be shut due financial problems and sold to three members of staff, who still own the shop to this day.

In 1983 Rough Trade Records hired The Smiths and decided to put the band into a three album contract, becoming more like a music machine the company grew larger and began to spread across Europe. With this however came the board of middle mangers that dismissed the equal pay scheme, but still the record label continued to grow until in 1991 the machine grew too big and administrators were brought in. The assets, including the name were sold off and the company ceased trading.

Geoff Travis had other ideas and so began to manage the band, Pulp (with Jeanette Lee) who was signed to Island Records. In 1995 Pulp got into No. 2 in the charts and continued with a string of successes which lead to the pair rebuilding the Rough Trade label and signing the American band, The Strokes in 2000. Recently they have also signed Duffy who after 4 years of development has finally awarded the company its first No.1 chart song.