Konichiwa Records
Konichiwa Records | |
---|---|
Parent company | Universal Music Group |
Founded | 2005 |
Founder | Robyn |
Distributor(s) | Interscope Records (in the US) Self-distributed (outside the US) |
Genre | Pop, dance, synthpop, dance-pop |
Country of origin | Sweden |
Location | Stockholm |
Official website | konichiwa |
Konichiwa Records is a record label founded by Swedish pop singer Robyn. The label has only one other artist signed, Zhala. The name "Konichiwa" is derived from the Japanese greeting こんにちは (Konnichi wa| (with 2 n's)), meaning "hello" or "good day" (literally "this day is").
Background
Robyn fought with her former record label (Jive Records), as they did not like the sound of her new synthpop material. In particular they did not like the sound of her song "Who's That Girl", which charted at #26 in the UK and #37 in Sweden. Robyn decided in early 2005 to leave Jive Records in order to start her own record label thus Konichiwa Records was created, with the aim of liberating Robyn artistically.
Development and releases
Robyn’s first album under the new label was called Robyn, and included collaborators Klas Åhlund from Teddybears STHLM, Swedish duo The Knife and former Cheiron producer Alexander Kronlund.
Along with the album, Robyn released six singles. The material reached reasonably good charting positions in the US, the UK, and Sweden. She has stated she will not sign any artists onto this label as she "does not want to be a big boss". Her intention is to focus on her own music at present. In spring 2010 Robyn stated that she would release a set of three albums, The Body Talk Series, which consists of Body Talk Pt. 1, Body Talk Pt. 2, and the compilation full-album Body Talk (with the five new songs included on Body Talk being released together as Body Talk Pt. 3 in some territories). The albums were highly successful worldwide and gave Robyn three top-10 singles with "Dancing on My Own", "Hang With Me", and "Indestructible", as well as Grammy nominations for Best Dance Recording for "Call Your Girlfriend" and Best Dance/Electronica Album for Body Talk Pt.3.