| Parent: | Avex Inc. |
| Founder: | Max Matsuura |
| Genre: | Various (mostly J-pop and Dance) |
| Country: | Japan |
| Location: | Minato, Tokyo |
is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group.[1]
Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from other countries, he and his two Avex co-founders, Tom Yoda and Ken Suzuki, decided to found their own label. Aiming to compete with more established labels such as Nippon Columbia, Nippon Crown, BMG Victor, Victor Musical Industries, Toshiba-EMI, CBS/Sony, Teichiku Records, King Records, Nippon Phonogram and PolyGram K.K., they created the Avex Trax label.
The first artist to sign to the label was the band TRF, which became a success. This led to Avex Trax becoming a "house of refuge" for artists who had left their former labels (e.g. Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro, Ami Suzuki).[2] [3] [4] It also appealed to artists not content with their current labels (e.g. Gackt).[5]
Formerly distributed by the Nippon Crown label, excluding several early releases from 1990 to 1992 which were distributed by,[6] in 1997 Avex became a self-distributed label together with Cutting Edge, which was formerly distributed by Toshiba-EMI.
See also: List of artists under the Avex Group.