Avex Trax


Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Group. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group.

History

Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from other countries, he and his two Avex co-founders, Tom Yoda and Ken Suzuki, decided to operate their own label. Aiming to compete with the older and more experienced labels such as Nippon Columbia, Nippon Crown, Toshiba-EMI, CBS Sony, and Nippon Phonogram and PolyGram K.K., they created the Avex Trax label.
The first artist to sign to the label was the band TRF, which became a success. This led to Avex Trax becoming a "house of refuge" for artists who either ended contracts with their former labels. It also appealed to artists not content with their current labels or who had been kicked out by their former labels.
Formerly distributed by the Nippon Crown label excluding several early releases, in 1997 it became a self-distributed label together with Cutting Edge, which was formerly distributed by Toshiba-EMI.

Artists

Some of their artists include Japanese artists such as AAA, Ai Otsuka, Dream, Namie Amuro, Do As Infinity, Every Little Thing, Gackt, Wagakki Band, Girl Next Door, Ayumi Hamasaki, Mai Oshima, Seikima-II, Dream5, SKE48, S2nd, Beverly and Tokyo Girls' Style as well as foreign artists such as BoA, TVXQ, After School, Super Junior, O-Zone, U-KISS, f, Exo, NCT, Red Velvet, Lights Over Paris and Blackpink.