| Giant Records | |
| Founder: | Irving Azoff |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. Records Rhino Entertainment (re-issues) |
| Genre: | Various |
| Country: | U.S., Sweden |
Giant Records was launched in 1990 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. Records and record executive Irving Azoff. Currently, this name is used as a Swedish label owned by Warner Music Sweden, a Swedish branch of Warner Music Group.
In 1990, Giant became a subsidiary label for Warner Music Group. Its first release, in early 1991, was the Gulf War all-star tribute song "Voices That Care," assembled by producer David Foster. That spring, "Hold You Tight" by Tara Kemp was released and went on to become a Top 5 single. In the months that followed, Giant Records released the soundtrack album for the film New Jack City, selling 16 million copies worldwide. The label signed such acts as MC Hammer, Jade, Lord Finesse, and teen pop star Jeremy Jordan. Giant also signed established acts such as Big Car, Miles Zuniga, Steely Dan, Warren Zevon, Oingo Boingo, Chicago, Deep Purple, Morbid Angel, Brian Wilson, and Kenny Rogers. The label also operated a country music division in Nashville; the first act signed was Dennis Robbins.[1]
In 1992, Irving Azoff expanded the Giant brand into film production. Giant Pictures only produced one film, The Inkwell, in 1994, before shutting down a year later.[2]
In 1993, Giant became dissatisfied with Warner Music Group's practice of international affairs, so it made a deal with BMG to distribute its recordings outside the U.S. By the mid- to late 1990s, the company had replaced most of its staff and launched a subsidiary label called Revolution Records; Brian Wilson signed with the new label in 1997.[3]
The company later reverted to its original name and distributed Paladin Records, which included singer-songwriter Steve Forbert. In 2001, Warner Music Group ended its joint venture with Giant, which was absorbed into Warner Bros. Records. Since then, BMG no longer repressed and distributed any previous releases of Giant. Distribution of current reissues are done by Warner Music's reissue division, Rhino, in conjunction with Warner Records, and many reissues still include Giant logo on packaging.
In February 2015, Warner Music Sweden announced that it would reactivate Giant's name; the first single released under the new Giant Records banner was Simon Erics' "Waiting for the Sun."[4]
On June 9, 2022, Azoff relaunched a rebranded and independent version of the label with no connections to Warner called Giant Music. [5]