Avex Trax

Lore & Background

Two years after Max Matsuura began distributing studio albums from other countries, he and co-founders Tom Yoda and Ken Suzuki created Avex Trax to compete with major labels. The first artist signed was the band TRF, whose success established the label. Avex Trax later became known as a 'house of refuge' for artists who had left their former labels, including Bananarama from Polydor K.K., Ayumi Hamasaki from Nippon Columbia, Namie Amuro from Toshiba-EMI, and Ami Suzuki from Sony Music Japan, as well as artists discontent with their current labels, such as Gackt from Nippon Crown.

Reader's Guide

Avex Trax was distributed by Sohbi Corporation until 1992, then by Nippon Crown from 1992 onward. In 1997, it became a self-distributed label together with Cutting Edge, which had previously been distributed by Toshiba-EMI. The label developed several sub-labels, including B-ME (a joint venture with BMSG), Bluestar Records, Love Life Records (Hitomi's private label), motorod, Frame (joint venture with Level-5), and 影別苦須 虎津苦須 (Kishidan's vanity label). A defunct sub-label was J-Friends Project (1997–2003), a joint venture with Johnny & Associates. Notable artists across these sub-labels include Be First, Novel Core, Sky-Hi, MASH, Hitomi, Nanase Aikawa, and Kishidan. Former artists include groups AAA, After School, SweetS; soloists Sae Ōtsuka, Hitomi Shimatani, Namie Amuro; duo Soul Control; and motorod acts Dead End, Janne Da Arc, and Oblivion Dust.

Did You Know?

• Avex Trax was the first label launched by the Avex Group in September 1988.
• The first artist signed to Avex Trax was the band TRF.
• Avex Trax became a 'house of refuge' for artists like Ayumi Hamasaki and Namie Amuro after they left their former labels.
• The label was self-distributed from 1997 onward, together with Cutting Edge.