Rough Trade started out as a small but hip record shop, opening 20 February 1976 when a man called Geoff Travis
bought loads of record back over from America and opened an independent shop in West London. At the time the Punk genre and Rock music were very popular, Rock music dominated the music industry which led to the 'Punk Rock' era.'In the heat of the west - Punks formed alliances with the West-indian culture which then formed a collaboration of the Punk and Reggae genres. Rough Trade stood for the ‘intellectual political wing of punk’; Communism and Marxism heavily influenced them. Rough Trade were an independent company so this made them different from the larger corporate companies as they looked at and took on artists that were over-looked and ignored by the major companies. Also, Rough Trade seemed to cut out the middle man by pressing the records for artists themselves, this cut out a major part of the process which showed people that you don't need the major record labels, you could 'Do it yourself'. Records and sleeves etc.The band ‘Desperate Bicycles’ had the idea of turning record sleeves into instructions of how to make records.
‘Scritti Polliti’ carried on this trend as they printed the production budget on the record cover, showing just how cheap producing a record with Rough Trade could be. The larger companies often frowned this upon, Rough Trade had become ‘the headquarters of a revolt’ against the commercialised music industry. all being homemade which saves the cost of being under a label. This led to the expansion of the company as they were pressing records for the artist, punk magazines were being shipped over from New York. The distribution department of the company were doing well in the expansion of the company and became to mimic the major labels as they started to distribute nationwide. However, the record label decided they didn't want to become like the major labels by being so commercialised as Rough Trade had two clauses, the first was that the company and the artist would keep making records together until the relationship wasn't working any longer, (one or both of the participants weren't happy) then they would end the deal. The second statement would be that any profits made on the record sale would be split equally between the artist and the company. This ensured that the artist would have equal benefits as the company and this made Rough Trade different from the major labels as with the major labels you wouldn't have that kind of trust or relationship and you would be signed in a contract unlike with Rough Trade.
1980's
Rough Trade had a different approach to contracting artists, they didn't believe in signing the artist on hence why they decided to make their two clauses with the artists as they believed they wanted them to be equal. Without having this 'contract' Rough Trade were starting to lose artists to bigger record labels as the artists wanted to make it bigger and knew they could with the help of the major labels. This nearly happened with the likes of The Smiths as they were making a shot at fame and wanted to sign with the major label EMI but couldn't as they had signed the clauses with Rough Trade and still owed them an album worth of work. However, this After this led to the idea that The Smiths were starting to break down as a group and soon released 'Strange ways here we come' which reflected on how the band were feeling and what they were going through. ‘Strange ways here we come’ turned out to be their last album for Rough Trade and their last ever album as a band. By 1989, Rough Trade had its largest amount of artists in its history.
‘Scritti Polliti’ carried on this trend as they printed the production budget on the record cover, showing just how cheap producing a record with Rough Trade could be. The larger companies often frowned this upon, Rough Trade had become ‘the headquarters of a revolt’ against the commercialised music industry. all being homemade which saves the cost of being under a label. This led to the expansion of the company as they were pressing records for the artist, punk magazines were being shipped over from New York. The distribution department of the company were doing well in the expansion of the company and became to mimic the major labels as they started to distribute nationwide. However, the record label decided they didn't want to become like the major labels by being so commercialised as Rough Trade had two clauses, the first was that the company and the artist would keep making records together until the relationship wasn't working any longer, (one or both of the participants weren't happy) then they would end the deal. The second statement would be that any profits made on the record sale would be split equally between the artist and the company. This ensured that the artist would have equal benefits as the company and this made Rough Trade different from the major labels as with the major labels you wouldn't have that kind of trust or relationship and you would be signed in a contract unlike with Rough Trade.1980's
Rough Trade had a different approach to contracting artists, they didn't believe in signing the artist on hence why they decided to make their two clauses with the artists as they believed they wanted them to be equal. Without having this 'contract' Rough Trade were starting to lose artists to bigger record labels as the artists wanted to make it bigger and knew they could with the help of the major labels. This nearly happened with the likes of The Smiths as they were making a shot at fame and wanted to sign with the major label EMI but couldn't as they had signed the clauses with Rough Trade and still owed them an album worth of work. However, this After this led to the idea that The Smiths were starting to break down as a group and soon released 'Strange ways here we come' which reflected on how the band were feeling and what they were going through. ‘Strange ways here we come’ turned out to be their last album for Rough Trade and their last ever album as a band. By 1989, Rough Trade had its largest amount of artists in its history.
The Smiths 'This charming man'
The Smiths 'Strange ways here we come'
Towards the end of the 1980s techno made its mark on the music industry and was soon to be taking over, this is when rave clubs started to appear. This was seen as the most revolutionary movement since punk. Rough Trade was a record label but also dealt with the distribution and finances themselves.Around 90% of the £40 million turnover came from the distribution which shows that the company could run as an independent company.
1990's
In the 1990's Rough Trade had a major change within the business, on the 1st of June 1990 Rough Trade ceased trading and shortly after Rough Trade crashed to the ground at their financial peak. By December of the same year Rough Trades cash flow halted, around two thirds of their staff had been axed as a result of bad finances. Rough Trade had set the bar for Independent companies and became the most successful independent company around. Rough Trade was the inspiration of many other independent companies starting out. They were so unique and own 40% of the music industry at one point. However, the financial fall down caused the company to be sold off to others. The major companies started to look at signing artists associated with independent companies to form a relationship with the music company which led to smaller, independent companies to join together. After Rough Trade had stopped trading, Geoff Travis, the founder of Rough Trade, had joined forces with Jeannette Lee and tried to regenerate the company and began in their new office, taking on the band Pulp. The new duo were doing well managing the band as the single 'Common People' hit the charts at number two. The new Rough Trade were doing better than ever by having 5 consecutive top 10 singles which was the most that Rough Trade had ever gained.
21st Century
After Rough Trade being revived and back in business, the management team (Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee) had to show the expertise from working with Pulp to keep the company working well. They also took a slightly different approach to the way they worked. With the new team they had Travis and Lee were more lean and efficient with the way they worked. 'The Strokes' were the next band signed by Rough Trade and little did they know it was the kickstart to Rough Trades future.
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