Tomorrow Records

**Tomorrow Records** is an American record label found in June 1977 by Thomas Archer and Henry Branson. It was known as a relatively small record label serving small pop artists in the New York City area, but grew much larger in the 1990s with the success of the girl duo Tracy N' Tara.

In the 2010s Tomorrow Records began to be known as a safe haven for openly LGBT artists, with the majority of the artists they represented being openly LGBT. However, their history of LGBT artists spans from the dawn of the company.

Thomas Archer remained as chairman and exeuctive of the label until his retirement in 2014, where he passed his role onto his son, Andrew Archer. Following the accusations against Archer in 2032, Mercedes Rodrigo took over the company and remains in control of it to this day.

## History

### Founding and Early History

Thomas Archer and Henry Branson were both managers working for the much larger Atlantic Records, when the two left due to disagreements in how things were run. They founded Tomorrow Records on the principal that everyone deserves a chance to be a star, not just those with connections.

The first artist ever signed to the label was Erin Lane, who was a struggling waitress who dreamed of being a singer. Due to a lack of funding, it was difficult to promote her music, so she never achieved large success.

By 1980, Tomorrow Records had 5 artists signed.

### 1980s: Smash Hits and One Hit Wonders

The first artist signed to Tomorrow Records to become a hit was Houston Roberts, who achevied moderate success with their song "Devious" released on March 14, 1980. Roberts was ahead of the curve and used a synth pop sound before many did.

However, his success didn't compare to the success of Jules. Jules' debut album, *Confessional,* was released on April 9, 1982. It was a smash hit for the record, peaking at number 4 on the charts. Its singles "Opposite Day" and "Playing with Fire" were extremely popular on radio stations across the country.

The label established itself as one of the main pushers behind synth pop in the 80s, Marcy Close, Axel Newell, Rickie Crisp, and Suzanna Waterman all achieved decent success while signed to the label.

The label, however, was most well known for creating one hit wonders. The biggest being "Not Your Mother" by Regina. It was a number one hit, but none of her other music even charted.

### 1990s: Decline

With the growing popularity of R&B and hip hop on the radio stations, Tomorrow Records struggled to keep up their pop sound. The amount of successful artists was on the decline, and the label began to lose money.

After Jules's passing in 1995, they were struggling to stay afloat.

They did have the semi-successful R&B artist Delfina Marino, but it wasn't enough to regain their lost prominence.

Henry Branson was outed as co-chairmen in 1996, due to fears that his decision making was causing the decline of the company.

### 2000s: Resurgence

The company was able to achieve great success once again in the 2000s with the success of the bubblegum pop artist Adabelle Stone. Her great success attracted several new pop artists to the label, including the multi-grammy winning artist, Nia.

The label also gained a reputation for being of the best ones to sign to, being known for having incredibly friendly management, abundant resources, and reasonable rates. In 2008, Tomorrow Records had 250 artists signed to them, the most artists signed to them during their entire history.

Their growing success led to them opening a branch in LA, along with a European branch in London.

They also purchased the Japanese record label, Song Byrd, in 2009, to expand into the Asian music industry.