Going on record
James Joyce has just designed a vinyl box set to celebrate the success of the first year of W Records.
W Hotels have been connecting their brand to music for some time now. They’ve been known to have DJs playing at their properties, have a Music Director and own three state-of-the-art recording studios at their properties in Los Angeles, Seattle, Barcelona and Bali. So, it was a logical next step when they decided to set up their own record label in 2018 called, naturally enough, W Records.
During its first year of operation, W Records has released recordings by four new artists – Amber Mark, Perfume Genius, Roosevelt and Japanese Breakfast. Each of them was invited to record two tracks, one original and one cover, at one of the W Sound Suite Studios. Those recordings were then released to the public via digital platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, as well as on limited edition clear vinyl. Money raised from the releases – over $40,000 so far – went to the American Civil Liberties Union, The Rose Breast Cancer Prevention, SOS Mediterranee and Immigration Equality.
Those four releases have generated interest from the likes of Rolling Stone and Billboard and over 10 million streams.
The special limited edition vinyl box set of four records designed by James celebrates the success of the first year of releases of W Records. As you can see, he settled on a mouth image as a consistent symbol, changing it slightly to represent each of the artists on the individual singles – a satisfyingly complete package of music and visual.
