Outpost Recordings

Outpost Recordings was launched on January 26, 1996, by producer Scott Litt, former Virgin RecordsA&R head Mark Williams and artist manager Andy Gershon.^[1] According to Gershon, "The reason we chose the name Outpost is our plan is to be on the frontier of what's happening in the future."^[1] In spite of its founders' backgrounds being primarily in the alternative rock genre, Williams said that the label would not specialize in any particular genre and that they only wanted to "sign artists who make music we love. Period."^[2] Prior to its official launch, Outpost signed a five-year, multi-million dollar joint-venture deal with Geffen Records, who agreed to handle the label's marketing, promotion and distribution worldwide.^[1][2][3] Shortly after its launch, Outpost signed Veruca Salt over from Geffen.^[4]

On February 23, 1996, Outpost signed its first new act, Canadian singer/songwriter Hayden.^[5] His debut album Everything I Long For, originally released in 1995, was reissued through Outpost/Geffen in May 1996 as the label's first release.^[6] The album sold moderately well in Japan and Canada (the latter where it was instead distributed by Hayden's own label, Hardwood Records) but found little success in the United States, where it had only sold 23,000 copies by April 1998.^[7] Veruca Salt's second album Eight Arms to Hold You, released on February 11, 1997, served as the label's first original release.^[8] In January 1997, Outpost signed a deal with the independent electronic breakbeat label City of Angels to distribute its releases outside of North America, where the genre was more popular.^[9][10] The deal also gave Outpost the ability to sign some of City of Angels' artists, most notably The Crystal Method, directly to the label.^[10]

1997 saw Outpost experience its greatest commercial successes with Days of the New's self-titled debut album and The Crystal Method's Vegas,^[11] which were certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1998 and 2007, respectively.^[12] The lead single from Days of the New's album, "Touch, Peel and Stand", stayed at number 1 on Billboard'sMainstream Rock Tracks Chart for sixteen weeks^[13] and was named the "Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Song" by Billboard in 2021.^[14]

Outpost nunca se convirtió en una operación financieramente rentable. ^{[ 11 ]} Tras la fusión entre Universal Music Group y PolyGram en 1999, Geffen Records cerró y el sello se quedó sin distribuidor. ^{[ 15 ]} El sello pidió a Zach Horowitz, director de operaciones de UMG , que se asociara con MCA Records , pero las relaciones entre los dos sellos se deterioraron rápidamente cuando Outpost descubrió que UMG planeaba hacer un trato con MCA que reduciría el presupuesto de A&R del sello y mantendría a Days of the New en Interscope Records , lo que Williams consideró "inaceptable". ^{[ 11 ]} Posteriormente, Outpost intentó trabajar con Interscope, lanzando dos álbumes juntos en agosto de 1999; Hot Sauce Johnson's Truck Stop Jug Hop y el segundo álbum homónimo de Days of the New . ^{[ 11 ]} Ambos álbumes tuvieron un mal desempeño comercial, y tanto Williams como Gershon consideraron que Interscope era una mala combinación para Outpost. ^{[ 11 ]} Según Gershon:

"La razón original por la que nuestra empresa conjunta con Geffen tuvo éxito fue porque no publicaban muchos discos y necesitaban ayuda en el departamento de A&R. Interscope es todo lo contrario. Tienen un excelente departamento de A&R y publican muchos álbumes... Para ser honesto [...] en el momento en que cerraron Geffen, estábamos viviendo con el tiempo prestado." ^{[ 11 ]}

El 15 de enero de 2000, Billboard informó que Outpost había terminado su acuerdo con UMG y que probablemente cerraría a finales de mes. ^{[ 11 ]} Como parte de un acuerdo entre los dos sellos, Days of the New y The Crystal Method fueron transferidos a Interscope, mientras que el resto de los artistas de Outpost fueron transferidos a otros sellos de UMG o liberados de sus contratos. ^{[ 11 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ]} Tonight and the Rest of My Life de Nina Gordon , que estaba previsto que se lanzara a través de Outpost/Interscope, se publicó en su lugar a través de Warner Bros. Records en junio de 2000. ^{[ 18 ]} Pneumonia de Whiskeytown , que estaba en proceso de mezcla y masterización cuando Outpost cerró, se publicó a través de Lost Highway en mayo de 2001. ^{[ 15 ] [ 19 ] [ 17 ]}