Rough Trade

Rough Trade is a London-based record label that grew out of a record store specializing in punk and post-punk music, which also informed the kinds of artists they started signing on in the late '70s and early '80s.  The label differentiated itself in the early '80s with its roster that included some of the major indie, pop, and post-punk bands of that era, including Aztec Camera, The Pop Group, The Raincoats, and Scritti Politti, as well as The Smiths, who were their biggest success at the time. Rough Trade slowly lost ground in the '90s and went through a bankruptcy, but when they came back in the '00s, and were able to grow their roster by adding big names such as The Libertines, The Fiery Furnaces, Jarvis Cocker, Galaxie 500, and Mazzy Star, but also bands with strong indie streak, like Gilla Band, Parquet Courts, and Goat Girl.