Chris Blackwell Reflects On 51 Years Of Island Records

Blackwell (right) with, from left, reggae singers Junior Murvin, Bob Marley and Jacob Miller

Island Records turns 51 this year. It's the label that brought reggae from Jamaica to the world, while also showcasing British folk rockers from the '60s and '70s and a lot of influential pop artists.

Chris Blackwell founded the Island label in Kingston, Jamaica in 1959 with capital of just £1000. Relocating to London in the early 60s Blackwell built the most diverse and enviable back catalogue of any independent record label in history. From Island's early Jamaican roots in ska and rock-steady, through the label's expansion to become the cutting edge of progressive rock in the late 60s, and then on to the signing of such international superstars as Bob Marley and U2, Blackwell brought to Island a unique vision and passion which still informs the label's approach to this day.

Chris Blackwell On What Record Labels Mean Today:

I don't know what record labels there are now that mean what they used to be to me when I was a fan. For example, Blue Note Records: I love Blue Note Records, because Blue Note Records was a guarantee of quality. They signed great musicians, and they recorded them absolutely brilliantly. Atlantic was a label that I loved; they had the best R&B music. King Records I loved; they had James Brown. There was a certain kind of identity with each label. That can happen when you're independent. When it's a major company, they can't do that in the same way. It's changed really a great deal, because also people don't even see a label. It used to be something where, you know, you saw that Motown record spinning around; there was a kind of excitement about it. You knew what you were going to get, that Motown sound. That doesn't exist now, so it's changed completely. For the artist, they are now really able, providing they're patient, to retain control and ownership of their work, their copyrights, their masters. They can sell their music; they can market themselves on the Web. Takes a long time, because it's sort of going bit by bit, but they can promote their concerts, and they can gather e-mail addresses or Facebook pages ... and grow like that. [They can] have a very successful career and own their own masters. They don't need to give that up to a record label, which happened in the old days