About

Empire is an independent label based in Melbourne and was established by Paul Higgins and Trevor Carter in 1991 alongside their studio business Studio 52 which has been running at the same location in Collingwood since 1986. Developing a record label was a natural extension from the studios and other artist development and promotional projects that Paul and Trevor were involved in. Studio 52 has had a long history of working with young and emerging artists through such projects they initiated as Nu-Music Sampler Series, 52 Pickup, Fear of the Unknown and most importantly the Kool Skools Project.

Kool Skools has been running since 1996 and records up to 52 albums of original music by school-age bands and songwriters each year. The project regularly works with over 100 schools and council agencies annually and up to 500 young acts in the process. This involvement with so many grass roots level performers from the studio and projects has had a profound impact on the studio and influenced the signings of the label. While not all the acts signed by Empire have come from Kool Skools it has put the label in a strong development role with whats become a proven pool of talent at close hand. While Empire was first to sign Delta Goodrem when she was 14, it also meant that Paul & Trevor and Kool Skools were first to work with Missy Higgins, Kacey Chambers, Anthony Callea, the forming members of the Cat Empire, Axle Whitehead, Dean Geyer, Marc Collis and so many other big names in the Australian music landscape. The Real Australian Blues series started as a spin off of the Nu-Music Series and led to signings with Dutch Tilders and a small catalogue of Blues releases which continues today.

While the label is primarily driven by a desire to discover talented young songwriters it is by no means limited to this pursuit. As the label mainly discovers it talent right under its nose working at Studio 52, signing and distribution deals can really be as diverse as its client base.