Rough Trade Records

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Rough Trade Records
Image:Rtlog.gif
Founded	1978
Founder(s)	Geoff Travis
Genre(s)	Indie
Country of Origin	England
Website	Official site of Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records was formerly an independent record label based in London, England. It grew out of the Rough Trade Shop, founded by Geoff Travis in West London in 1976. The record label was set up in 1978. It became independent from the shop in 1982. It then folded in 1991, but was relaunched in 2000.

Rough Trade specialised primarily in European post-punk and otherwise alternative rock of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the late 1980s Rough Trade branched out by issuing an (eponymous) album by Lucinda Williams. Other early signings included Young Marble Giants and Scritti Politti (the latter resigned to the label in the mid 2000s). Geoff Travis later launched Blanco y Negro Records in partnership with Warner Brothers Records.

Rough Trade was formerly an independently owned entity — a partnership between Mr. Travis, Jeanette Lee, (a former member of PiL), and minority partners, Sanctuary Records, as a part of the Zomba Music Group until June 11, 2002 when BMG bought out this business.

Rough Trade handled the career of The Smiths, who subsequently inspired a mass indie movement in the mid 1980s.

A 192-page illustrated history of Rough Trade, written by Rob Young of The Wire magazine, was published in September 2006 by the UK based company Black Dog Publishing.