Positiva Records
| Positiva Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder | Nick Halkes |
| Genre | Dance |
| Location | United Kingdom |
Positiva Records is a subsidiary of EMI Records and is one of the biggest dance music labels in the UK. The record label was set up in 1993, by Nick Halkes, who previously ran XL Recordings (home of artists such as The Prodigy). Its headquarters are at the EMI offices in Brook Green in West London, where it is currently the only large dance music label under the EMI banner. Positiva has always claimed that it is simply a record label which takes underground hits and pushes them to the forefront, and its influence on dance music is hard to ignore.
History
In its early days, Positiva released records from many names who were previously relatively unknown in the UK. One of the label's first releases was "I Like To Move It" by Reel 2 Real, an alias of dance DJ Erick Morillo, who has gone on to international fame largely though his work with Subliminal Records. Later, the label signed US vocalist Barbara Tucker, who went on to release tracks including "Beautiful People" and "Stay Together" (both 1995) and "Stop Playing With My Mind" (2000). Other house releases in this period came from Umboza, The Bucketheads and Judy Cheeks. During the late 1990s, Positiva released several tracks from the emerging trance scene such as Alice Deejay's Better Off Alone, which became a huge hit in Europe and the U.S., as well as DJ Quicksilver's "Belissima", Ayla's eponymously titled "Ayla", Binary Finary's "1998" and BBE's "Seven Days And One Week".
Successful releases in the 2000s have included the number 1 hits "Toca's Miracle" by Fragma, "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and "Lola's Theme" by the Shapeshifters. Other top 10 hits in the same decade include Watergate's "Heart Of Asia", "Flashdance" by Deep Dish, Motorcycle "As the Rush Comes", remixes of The Source feat. Candi Staton's "You Got The Love" and "Watch The Sunrise" by Swedish DJ and producer Axwell.
The label has fostered a certain degree of artist loyalty with artists like Axwell, who has released two records so far through the label, "Watch The Sunrise" (2006) and "I Found U" (2007), as well as joining together with Defected Records to release Axwell's co-production with Bob Sinclar "What A Wonderful World", featuring the vocals of Ron Carroll and licensed for a digital download re-release from Sinclar's own Yellow Productions label. Other artists who have been with the label for many years include Paul Van Dyk and The Shapeshifters, although the latter have since left to release tracks via Defected Records and concentrate on running their own Nocturnal Grooves label.
Recently, the label was resurrected by Universal Music Group as a trading name for Virgin Records' releases from foreign dance acts, such as David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, Avicii, Nicky Romero and Nervo.