One Way Records Explained

One Way Records
Parent:Alliance Entertainment
Founded:1971
Founder:David Schlang
Defunct:2000s
Status:Inactive
Genre:Various
Country:U.S.
Location:Albany, New York

One Way Records was an independent record label based in Albany, New York that specialized in budget reissues of classic rock albums.[1] In the 1990s, it gained business pressing reissues of those records that had "fallen through the cracks" in the transition in the music industry from vinyl to compact discs.[2] Other labels that similarly filled this reissue niche were Collector's Pipeline, Rhino Records and Razor & Tie.[2]

It was part of a company that served as rack jobber and music distributor for budget titles and cutouts. The company was founded by David Schlang in 1971,[3] who was president until 1995 and again from 1999.[4]

In 1995 it was sold to Alliance Entertainment, for $18.5 million; at that point the company had annual revenues of just over $35 million, of which the label accounted for 15%.[5]

In 1994, Terry Wachsmuth, the Artist and Repertoire Director, predicted "Sooner or later it's going to peter out, but we expect to be doing this for another 5-10 years at least."[2] The label closed in the early 2000s.

Notes and References

  1. Indie Labels Thrive by Mining Majors' Catalogs for Reissues. Billboard. 116. October 29, 1994.
  2. News: Deseret News. Hillel Italie. See These on CDs? Old Records Fall Through Cracks. June 24, 1994.
  3. News: Industry Shuffle. CMJ. October 11, 1999. 12.
  4. Retail Track: Schlang Returns to One Way. Ed Christman. September 25, 1999. Billboard. 82.
  5. Retail Track: Ever-Growing Alliance to Pay $18.5 Million for One Way. Billboard. June 24, 1995. 58. Ed Christman.