East West Records

East West Records (stylized as eastwest) is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England.

Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit "Week End" with the Kingsmen (Franny Beecher) and went into hibernation until 1990, when Atlantic revamped the imprint as EastWest Records America. In America, Atlantic senior VP Sylvia Rhone was appointed Chair/CEO of the fledgling label. Under Rhone's leadership, EastWest Records America shot to mega success with several multiplatinum acts such as En Vogue, Pantera, Yo-Yo, Adina Howard, Das EFX, Snow, Gerald Levert, AC/DC, The Rembrandts, Dream Theater, Missy Elliott and MC Lyte. EastWest also distributed other imprints, such as Interscope Records, Motor Jams Records, Mecca Don Records and The Gold Mind Inc. Meanwhile, over at the Electric Lighting Station in London (headquarters of WEA International in the United Kingdom) artists such as The Beloved, Tanita Tikaram, Chris Rea, Billy Mackenzie (as Associates) and Simply Red, who had ended up up on WEA after divisions/labels such as Elektra, Sire and Magnet Records had been reorganized or closed down, found themselves on the new EastWest label, with newer signings such as The Wildhearts and Sabrina Johnston joining the label in the following years.

In 1994, Rhone was appointed Chairman & CEO of Atlantic's sister label Elektra Records in America. At the time, East West (along with most of its roster) also broke away from the Atlantic umbrella to continue to operate under Rhone at Elektra. By the new millennium, budget cuts at Warner Music Group resulted in East West being absorbed into Elektra, where some of its acts were shifted over as well. In 2004, Time Warner sold Warner Music Group to private investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. Subsequently, more budget cuts were made, this time resulting in Elektra to be absorbed into Atlantic.