Record Label Profile

-Originally starting out as a club, Factory Records was created by Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville and Martin Hannet in Manchester, 1978.
-A year later A Factory Sampler was released - An EP consisting of tracks performed by bands at the club. Notably Joy Division were on the EP.
- They were a small indie label who over the years managed big success due to the bands they had attributed.
- Very often bands didn't even have contracts with the label.
- Bands such as Joy Division, New Order, The Durretti Column, Happy Mondays and A Certain Ratio all helped give the label it's legacy.
- The company had a unique labelling system; they labelled everything, including artwork, posters etc. Even Tony Wilson's coffin was labelled FAC501.
- Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures (1979) was not only their own personal debut, but was the first LP release by Factory.
- Rob Gretton (Joy Division's manager), became the fifth member of the Factory Record team also in 1979.
- After Factory's biggest success so far (scoring a UK Top 20 hit with Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart"), 1980 saw the suicide of Ian Curtis. The remaining members of Joy Division went on to form New Order, and stayed with Factory Records.

The Hacienda
- In 1982 the doors opened to the nightclub "The Hacienda". The club has been credited as playing major role in the development of "Rave" music. The club was formed by both New Order and Factory Records.
- Though originally being funded by the label, New Order's record sales supported the club as it struggled to keep customers. According to wikipedia the clubs low prices were partly to blame and in the end " the Hacienda ended up costing New Order 10,000 a month".
- "Acid House" music was again attributed to the nightclub.
- Alledgedly customers spent more money on buying drugs from the bouncers than actual drinks from the bar. Therefore it struggled to make a profit.
- It closed in 1997, due to both security issues and ever-growing debt problems.

"Blue Monday"
-New Order's song "Blue Monday" was the biggest success for Factory Records. It was the biggest selling 12" in the UK and is often said to be the biggest of all time, with over one million estimated sales.
-It has recieved chart success at many different times, and is very often remixed.  
- FactoryRecords.Net claims that due to high production, Factory Records still lost money for each die sleeve it cut.

The Fall of Factory Records
- New Order and another of the labels successful bands "Happy Mondays" caused the label even more financial issues in 1992. Both spent excessive amounts recording their latest albums, New Order not Factory owned their back catalogue, and in late 1992 the label declared bankruptcy.
- Many of the bands joined London Records after Factory went out of business.
- In 1994, Tony Wilson (centre) attempted to revive Factory Records, rebranding it as "Factory Too" in partnership with London Records. After moderate success, Wilson left the label in the later 1990s going on to form Factory Record LTD., and then later F4 Records. The latter closed in 2007.
- After a battle with cancer, Tony Wilson sadly died of a heart attack on 10th August 2007, aged 57. This was just three months before the release of Anton Corbijn's Ian Curtis biopic Control, in which Wilson is played by Craig Parkinson. He is also played in the loosely accurate film directed by Michael Winterbotoom in 2002, 24 Hour Party People, by comedian Steve Coogan.