Grand Royal Explained

Grand Royal Records, LLC
Alt:Grand Royal logo
Type:Incentive
Industry:Music production
Founder:Beastie Boys
Fate:Bankruptcy
Location:Los Angeles, California
Homepage:grandroyal.com
(Archived on July 6, 2001)

Grand Royal was a vanity record label founded in 1992 by rap group Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings.[1] It was based in Los Angeles, California.

Grand Royal was also the name of a magazine written and published by the group.[2] Described as a publication that "came to define part of Generation X,"[3] the total distribution of the six issues of Grand Royal was estimated at 300,000 copies.[4]

Due to mounting debts, Grand Royal closed down on August 31, 2001, and formally declared bankruptcy in July 2002.[5] [6] [7] Its assets were sold off via auction on Bid4Assets; these assets did not include any rights to Beastie Boys music.[8] The assets and back catalog were purchased by a group of fans who in turn started GR2 Records.[9] In 2016, GR2 sold the rights and master recordings of Grand Royal's second release My Crazy Life to a member of the band Dead Fucking Last.

In 2017, Stiletto Entertainment, the company that currently owns GR2, was sued by dance-punk band Liquid Liquid for copyright infringement, breach of contract, and not paying them royalties over the unauthorized licensing of their music and sales of the 2008 reissue of their 1997 compilation Liquid Liquid, which was originally distributed by Grand Royal.[10]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Beasties Label Grand Royal to be Distributed by Capitol . . December 9, 1993 . August 15, 2018.
  2. News: Woodbury . Jason P. . The Magazine of Champions: On the Shabby Brilliance of "Grand Royal" Magazine . Flood Magazine . August 11, 2017 . August 15, 2018.
  3. Web site: Estes. Adam Clark. 2012-05-04. Remembering Grand Royal, the Beastie Boys' Brief, Brilliant Magazine. 2020-08-20. The Atlantic. en-US.
  4. Web site: Beastie Boys Compiling Book Of Grand Royal Highlights. https://web.archive.org/web/20210224174025/http://www.mtv.com/news/1442721/beastie-boys-compiling-book-of-grand-royal-highlights/. dead. February 24, 2021. Archive-Courtney-Reimer. MTV News. en. 2019-06-11.
  5. Web site: NME . 2001-09-03 . GRAND ROYAL TO CLOSE . 2023-03-17 . NME . en-GB.
  6. Web site: Moss . Corey . August 31, 2001 . Beastie Boys Close Grand Royal Record Label . https://web.archive.org/web/20230317190837/https://www.mtv.com/news/biiclf/beastie-boys-close-grand-royal-record-label . dead . March 17, 2023 . 2023-03-17 . MTV . en.
  7. News: Werde . Bill . 2004-01-19 . For a Record Label Founded by the Beastie Boys, the End Is Less Than Grand . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-18 . 0362-4331.
  8. News: Werde . Bill . For a Record Label Founded by the Beastie Boys, the End Is Less Than Grand . . January 19, 2004 . August 15, 2018.
  9. Book: Cross, Alan . The Beastie Boys: the secret history . Joe Books Ltd . 2012 . 978-1-9270-0216-2.
  10. News: Russell . Josh . Disco-Punk Legends Sue for 'Chef' Film Royalties . 15 September 2022 . Courthouse News . 17 August 2017.