Medium Productions

Medium Productions was a British independent record label created in 1993 by musicians Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and Mick Karn. The three founders had been associated with the English band Japan, whose blend of art rock, electronic music, atmospheric keyboards, fretless bass, and unconventional percussion had developed a substantial international following before the group ended in 1982. Medium Productions emerged from the founders’ continuing interest in instrumental, experimental, and collaborative work after Japan and its related projects. The label’s purpose was closely connected to artistic independence. Rather than relying entirely on a major record company, Medium Productions provided Jansen, Barbieri, Karn, and associated musicians with a vehicle for issuing music on their own terms. Its catalogue was dominated by instrumental material and reflected the founders’ post-Japan interests in electronic textures, ambient composition, modernist sound design, and cross-genre collaboration. The label therefore functioned less like a conventional mass-market pop imprint and more like a specialist platform for music made by established musicians and their creative partners. Medium’s activity extended across roughly a decade. During that period it issued fifteen CDs, most of them connected to the work of Jansen, Barbieri, and Karn or to collaborations involving members of their wider artistic circle. The catalogue represented a continuation of the musicians’ shared creative history while also allowing them to work separately, in changing combinations, and with outside collaborators. Their broader activities included instrumental projects with guitarists such as David Torn and Steven Wilson, as well as later work associated with projects including Porcupine Tree and Nine Horses. The label’s releases were subsequently distributed or reissued through Voiceprint Music. Although the reference material indicates that the Medium Productions catalogue began receiving reissues from 2001, the original label ultimately folded in 2004 as its founders became increasingly occupied with other musical commitments. Medium Productions was consequently a time-limited artist-led imprint rather than a continuing corporate record-label operation. Its significance lies primarily in the way it preserved and extended a distinctive creative partnership. Jansen, Barbieri, and Karn had each developed careers beyond Japan, but Medium Productions gave their shared instrumental and experimental work a recognizable home. The label’s catalogue also documents the transition from the post-punk and new-wave environment of the early 1980s toward the more ambient, electronic, and collaborative music pursued by its founders in the 1990s and early 2000s. Following the label’s closure, availability of its recordings depended increasingly on catalogue reissues and distribution arrangements rather than on new Medium Productions releases.

Medium Productions was formed in 1993 by Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and Mick Karn. The founders were central members of Japan, the English band that had moved from glam-rock influences toward electronic art pop and atmospheric new-wave music before splitting in 1982. After Japan ended, the musicians pursued a range of individual and collaborative projects. Medium Productions provided a dedicated outlet for work that did not fit easily within the commercial structures of a major label. The imprint was primarily intended to publish the music of Jansen, Barbieri, and Karn, often in instrumental form and sometimes with other collaborating artists. Its catalogue reflected the musicians’ continuing interest in electronic composition, ambient textures, experimental arrangement, and studio-based collaboration. The label also offered continuity with the shared musical language developed during Japan, while allowing its members to work in new combinations and with different creative partners. Across approximately ten years of activity, Medium Productions produced fifteen CDs. The label was not presented as a broad pop catalogue or a conventional large-scale record company; its identity was tied closely to the artistic output of its founders and their collaborators. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Jansen, Barbieri, and Karn also participated in other instrumental projects, sometimes working with guitarists including David Torn and Steven Wilson. Barbieri’s later work with Porcupine Tree and the founders’ involvement in other projects contributed to the eventual reduction of Medium’s activity. The catalogue began to be re-released through Voiceprint Music from 2001. These reissues helped preserve and circulate the label’s recordings after their original release period. Medium Productions folded in 2004 as its founders became more involved in other musical endeavours, including projects associated with Porcupine Tree and Nine Horses. The imprint is therefore best understood as a historically significant, artist-controlled catalogue and release platform rather than an active label.

• 2004

  Label closes

  [1]Medium Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Medium Productions folds after its founders shift attention toward other musical projects.

• 2001

  Catalogue reissues begin

  [1]Medium Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Voiceprint Music begins re-releasing recordings from the Medium Productions catalogue.

• 1993

  Medium Productions is established

  [1]Medium Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, and Mick Karn create the label to release their own music and collaborations outside major-label constraints.

An artist-led independent imprint focused on instrumental, electronic, ambient, and collaborative music by Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, Mick Karn, and related artists.

• Independent music releases · 1993

  Medium Productions catalogue

  The label issued fifteen CDs over roughly a ten-year period. The releases were largely instrumental and centered on work by Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri, Mick Karn, and collaborating musicians. Stylistically, the catalogue extended from the founders’ history in Japan into electronic, ambient, experimental, and studio-oriented music. The recordings were later reissued through Voiceprint Music, giving the catalogue a continuing presence after the original imprint ceased operations.

• 2004

  End label operationsStrategy

  Background

  The founders became increasingly involved in other musical projects and professional activities.

  Action taken

  Medium Productions ceased operating.

  Aftermath

  The label remained represented primarily by its catalogue and subsequent reissues rather than by new releases.

  Source

• 2001

  Arrange catalogue reissuesOther

  Background

  The original releases needed continued distribution after their initial issue through the independent imprint.

  Action taken

  The Medium Productions catalogue began to be re-released through Voiceprint Music.

  Aftermath

  The reissue programme extended access to the label’s recordings beyond the original operating period.

  Source

• 1993

  Create an artist-controlled release platformStrategy

  Background

  The founders wanted to publish their own instrumental and collaborative music without the compromises associated with major record-label control.

  Action taken

  Jansen, Barbieri, and Karn established Medium Productions as an independent imprint for their recordings and related collaborations.

  Aftermath

  The label issued fifteen CDs and became a dedicated outlet for the founders’ post-Japan work.

  Source

• 2004

  Medium Productions folds[1]Medium Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Medium Productions ceased operating after approximately a decade, as its founders concentrated on other musical projects and professional commitments.

• 2001

  Medium Productions catalogue begins reissue programme through Voiceprint Music[1]Medium Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The label’s back catalogue began to be re-released through Voiceprint Music, extending the availability of recordings originally issued by Medium Productions.

1. 1Medium Productionsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Japan (band)en.wikipedia.org