CMC International was an American independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 founded by Tom Lipsky in 1991, focused mainly on classic rock

Classic rock

Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

, and classic heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

. The label was the haven of many hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

, arena rock

Arena rock

Arena rock is a term used to describe rock music that utilised large arena venues, particularly sports venues, for concerts or series of concerts linked in tours...

, glam metal

Glam metal

Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...

 and AOR

Album-oriented rock

Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...

 artists in the period when all the majors were investing all their financial efforts on grunge

Grunge

Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

 and alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 acts. In 1995 CMC started a partnership with BMG Entertainment, which in 1999 owned the majority of the company, with founder Tom Lipsky holding a minority stake.

CMC International became a division of Sanctuary Records Group in 2000, with Lipsky becoming president of Sanctuary Records North America. After Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...

 acquired Sanctuary in 2007, CMC International ceased to exist.

Tom Lipsky is currently working as president of Roadrunner Records

Roadrunner Records

Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...

' Loud & Proud division, always managing classic rock bands and artists.

Notable artists (past and present)

• Annihilator
  Annihilator (band)
  Annihilator is a Canadian heavy metal band hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, also from Vancouver, British Columbia between 1987-2002 by founding member, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Jeff Waters. The band has been around since 1984 and is the biggest selling heavy metal artist from Canada in history,...
  
  
• Pat Benatar
  Pat Benatar
  Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
  
  
• Blackthorn
  Bob Kulick
  Bob Kulick is an American guitarist and Grammy Award-winning record producer, best known for his studio work with Kiss. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and is the older brother of former Kiss lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, whom he suggested Kiss hire....
  
  
• Bruce Dickinson
  Bruce Dickinson
  Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
  
  
• Blue Öyster Cult
  Blue Öyster Cult
  Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
  
  
• Deep Purple
  Deep Purple
  Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
  
  
• Dokken
  Dokken
  Dokken is an American heavy metal and hard rock band formed in 1978. They split up in 1989 but reformed four years later. The group accumulated numerous charting singles and has sold more than 10 million albums worldwide...
  
  
• Eddie Money
  Eddie Money
  Eddie Money is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums...
  
  
• The Fixx
  The Fixx
  The Fixx is an English rock band formed in London in 1979. Their hits include "One Thing Leads to Another," "Red Skies," "Stand or Fall," "Saved by Zero," "Sign of Fire," "Are We Ourselves?," "Secret Separation," "Driven Out," "How Much Is Enough?," and "Deeper and Deeper," which was featured on...
  
  
• Iron Maiden
  Iron Maiden
  Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
  
  
• Judas Priest
  Judas Priest
  Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
  
  
• Kix
  Kix (band)
  Kix is an American hard rock/heavy metal band who achieved popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Band members continue to tour, recently appearing at the Rocklahoma festival in 2008 in Oklahoma and the M3 Rock Festival in May 2011 in the band's home state of Maryland.-Formation:Kix was...
  
  
• L.A. Guns
  L.A. Guns
  L.A. Guns is the name of a hard rock group formed in Los Angeles, California, of which two rival incarnations currently exist due to numerous line-up changes. The first incarnation of the group was formed, by Tracii Guns, in 1983 but disbanded in 1985 following its merger with fellow Los Angeles...
  
  
• Alexi Lalas
  Alexi Lalas
  Panayotis Alexander Lalas is a retired American soccer player who played mostly as a defender for the United States national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup...
  
  
• La Toya Jackson
  La Toya Jackson
  La Toya Yvonne Jackson is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, television personality, actress, businesswoman, philanthropist, activist and former model. She is the fifth child of the Jackson family...
  
  
• Loverboy
  Loverboy
  Loverboy is a Canadian rock group formed in 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout the 1980s, the band accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records...
  
  
• Lynyrd Skynyrd
  Lynyrd Skynyrd
  Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
  
  
• Yngwie J. Malmsteen
  Yngwie J. Malmsteen
  Yngwie Johann Malmsteen is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing approach in heavy metal music which became a new musical style in the early 1980s.- Early life :...
  
  
• Molly Hatchet
  Molly Hatchet
  Molly Hatchet is an American southern rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1975. They are widely known for their hit song "Flirtin' with Disaster" from the album of the same title. The band, founded by Dave Hlubek and Steve Holland, took its name from a prostitute who allegedly mutilated...
  
  
• Motörhead
• Overkill
  Overkill (band)
  Overkill is an American thrash metal band, formed in 1980 in New Jersey. They have gone through many line-up changes, with singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and bassist D.D. Verni remaining from the original lineup. Along with Anthrax , the band is one of the most successful East Coast thrash metal...
  
  
• Saigon Kick
  Saigon Kick
  Saigon Kick was an American rock band from Miami, Florida that formed in 1988.-History:Saigon Kick was formed by lead vocalist Matt Kramer and guitarist Jason Bieler along with bassist Tom Defile, and drummer Phil Varone. They gained a following on the local club scene and generated enough of a...
  
  
• Saxon
  Saxon (band)
  Saxon are an English heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, they had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s including 4 UK Top 10 albums. Saxon also had numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart...
  
  
• Slaughter
  Slaughter (band)
  Slaughter is an American heavy metal band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada by lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum. The band reached stardom in 1990 with their first album, Stick It to Ya which spawned several hit singles including "Up All Night", "Spend My Life", "Mad...
  
  
• Soulmotor
• Styx
  Styx (band)
  Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
  
  
• 38 Special
• Thin Lizzy
  Thin Lizzy
  Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
  
  
• Tyketto
  Tyketto
  Tyketto is a New York City based hard rock band. The group was put together in 1987 by former Waysted vocalist Danny Vaughn ; Brooke St. James , Jimi Kennedy , and Michael Clayton completed the lineup....
  
  
• Warrant
• W.A.S.P
• Yes
  Yes (band)
  Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...