1500 RECORDS

Billboard announced the formation of a new label named 1200 Records on June 28, 1997. 1200 Records was a partnership between A&M Records and Collective Brothers LLC (Philip Blaine and Gary Richards). The deal was to be a three to five year joint venture to create electronic music in the United States and Great Britain. 1200 Records was to be headquartered at A&M Records in Los Angeles with a handful of employees. 1200 was to be part of A&M Associated Labels. When 1200 was announced, it had already signed David Holmes and God Lives Underwater. 

A&M Chairman and CEO Al Cafaro told Billboard, "Signing the right band is everything, but it very quickly becomes making the right record and knowing what to do with it, and Gary and Phil know what to do. Their continued interaction with everyone at A&M, not just in A&R but certainly with everyone in marketing, will help us develop a sense of empathy and understanding for the repertoire and a sense of the requirements that need to be met to bring this music to the marketplace." Cafaro said 1200 was to develop other new acts at the grassroots and underground levels to a point that A&M could establish in the mainstream market.

Prior to releasing its first sound or video recording the label's name was changed to 1500 Records. Van Rider was hired as the label's general manager and sales director. The first release was on October 28, 1997 the David Holmes album Let's Get Killed. The first God Lives Underwater recording was to be released in March 1998.

In November 1998 the label announced that it signed Ugly Duckling and Dub Pistols.

The label established a GM/head of sales (Van River), a GM/head of radio promotion (Todd Sievers) and a street team of 20 people.

The 1500 Records logo was first used commercially on October 21, 1997. Its trademark history was filed on December 15, 1997 and registration was approved on February 22, 2000. The trademark was abandoned on August 30, 2000.

When A&M Records was acquired by Universal Music Group in January 1999, 1500 Records established a partnership with the Interscope division. 1500 had its own promotion and marketing operations.

In July 2000 1500 Records was acquired by Riffage.com. The move to Riffage did not include the catalog that A&M Records distributed.

SOURCES:

1200 Label Marks A&M's Electronic Music Debut. D. Reece. Billboard, June 28, 1997.
www.1500Records.com (defunct web site)
1500 Cultivates an Ugly Duckling. Carrie Bell. Billboard, March 27, 1999.