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| Applause Records | |
|---|---|
| Name | Applause Records |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Founder | Ron Furmanek |
| Status | Defunct (1995) |
| Genre | Pop, Rock, Jazz, Soundtrack, Standards |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Hollywood, California |
Applause Records was an American independent record label active largely in the 1980s and early 1990s, noted for reissues, soundtrack releases, and compilations focusing on classic popular music, film scores, and Broadway material. The label became known for licensing vintage masters and producing restored transfers, attracting collectors, historians, and artists from the worlds of cinema, radio, and stage. Applause Records operated within a field that included legacy-oriented companies and archival projects associated with major studios, museums, and preservation institutes.
Applause Records emerged during a period of renewed commercial interest in archival reissues, alongside firms such as Rhino Records, Collectors' Choice Music, Bear Family Records, Demon Records, and PolyGram subsidiaries. Its activities intersected with institutions like the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the American Film Institute, and the British Film Institute, which fueled demand for restored soundtracks and historic performances. The label's catalog development paralleled archival releases from the Decca Record Company, Capitol Records, Columbia Records, and the RCA Victor legacy catalog, while its licensing negotiations often involved corporate entities such as Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Applause Records operated amid industry shifts driven by the rise of the compact disc format championed by Sony Corporation, Philips, and EMI, and was affected by consolidation moves involving MCA Records, Seagram, and Vivendi.
The label was founded by industry veteran Ron Furmanek, whose career connected him with archival producers and collectors linked to Behind the Music, Greil Marcus, Robert Christgau, Leonard Feather, and Gary Giddins. Leadership included executives and producers who had worked with major studio music departments, Broadway institutions such as the Shubert Organization and the Nederlander Organization, and with arrangers from the Count Basie Orchestra and orchestras affiliated with the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Legal and business affairs engaged attorneys familiar with catalogs from ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, while A&R and production liaised with professionals connected to the Grammy Awards and the Tony Awards.
Applause Records’ releases included reissued film scores, Broadway cast recordings, and compilations spotlighting performers associated with labels like Blue Note Records, Verve Records, Prestige Records, and Impulse! Records. Notable titles referenced musical theater works originating at the Garrick Theatre, the Majestic Theatre (New York City), and the Winter Garden Theatre, as well as soundtrack reissues from film franchises connected to MGM, 20th Century Fox, and United Artists. The label issued compilations that placed historic pop performances alongside jazz standards popularized by artists whose careers intersected with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, and Bing Crosby. Applause Records also produced themed anthologies similar in scope to projects released by Concord Records and Fantasy Records.
Throughout its operation Applause Records worked with a roster including legacy artists, Broadway stars, and session musicians who had collaborated with names such as Barbra Streisand, Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett, Doris Day, and Judy Garland. The label engaged arrangers and conductors linked to Nelson Riddle, Quincy Jones, Henry Mancini, and John Williams, and coordinated with session players associated with the Wrecking Crew, the Funk Brothers, and the Jazz Messengers. Collaborative projects involved licensors and estates of performers like Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart, and brought in historians and authors such as Ken Burns, Alec Wilder, and Nicholas Slonimsky for liner-note contributions.
Applause Records’ business model centered on licensing, remastering, and packaging archival materials for collectors and specialty retailers, aligning operationally with distributors and outlets like Tower Records, BMG Music Service, Musicland, Sam Goody, and mail-order catalogs tied to The New Yorker and TV Guide offerings. The label negotiated physical manufacturing through pressing plants servicing companies such as EMI Records and relied on pressing and replication partners experienced with compact disc and cassette formats popularized by Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. Marketing targeted audiences reached by specialized publications including Rolling Stone, DownBeat, Billboard (magazine), and Gramophone, and by fan organizations devoted to Broadway, classic cinema, and jazz.
Critical reception of Applause Records’ releases appeared in journals and periodicals linked to critics and publications like The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Variety (magazine), Time (magazine), and niche outlets such as Goldmine (magazine) and AllMusic. Collectors and archivists compared Applause’s restorations to those from archives at Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, and independent restorers associated with the National Film Preservation Foundation and the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. While Applause Records ceased significant operations by the mid-1990s amid industry consolidation and changing consumption patterns shaped by companies like Apple Inc. and Amazon.com, its releases remain cited in discographies and bibliographies compiled by researchers at institutions such as UCLA, NYU, and the British Library.
Category:American record labels