What The Fat Wreck Chords and Hopeless Records Deal Really Means for Artists

Two of the most well-known independent punk labels are coming together.

In a press release issued earlier today (July 9), it was revealed that Hopeless Records will be acquiring the Fat Wreck Chords catalog. Financial details around the sale were not available at the time of the release.

What Happens To Artists On Fat?

The Fat Wreck Chords label is most closely associated with longtime punk acts such as NOFX, Lagwagon and Face To Face. More recently, the label has put out notable releases from folk punk act Days N Daze and genre-bending punk trio MakeWar.

It looks like that Fat roster will stop there as part of the deal with Hopeless. The labels said in their announcement that Fat has requested that no new signings be made under the label, "ensuring all focus and resources stay on its existing roster."

To hammer home that point, three releases from notable Fat acts are on the way:

• Bad Cop Bad Cop, Lighten Up (first new album in five years)
• NOFX, A to H (first in a three-part archival series of unreleased and rare recordings)
• String Out, Exile in Oblivion (20th anniversary edition)

How The Deal Wipes Out Band Debt

One other notable aspect of the deal related to bands on Fat is how outstanding balances are being handled.

According to the press release, "all unrecouped balances for currently signed Fat artists will be zeroed out. No string, no fine print, just a clean slate for every signed band that's helped shape the label."

Fat Wreck Chords was formed in 1990 by NOFX's Fat Mike Burkett and his wife at the time, Erin Kelly-Burkett. The two will continue to own the Fat Wreck Chords name, logo, and trademark with plans to "represent the label through festivals and pop-up shops.

Hopeless Records was created in 1993 and has released titles from notable artists including Avenged Sevenfold, All Time Low, Taking Back Sunday, and Sum 41.