Olivia Records

First called the "Olivia Collective," the group that founded the record label named itself and the label after the heroine of a novel by Dorothy Bussy, who fell in love with her headmistress at French boarding school.[5] The heroine and the novel were both called Olivia. The founders—Cris Williamson, Meg Christian, Judy Dlugacz, and seven other women—borrowed $4,000 to form the record label.[6]

Christian and Williamson were the two best-selling artists signed to Olivia Records. In 1973, the collective released a 45 record with Christian's song "Lady" on one side and Williamson's "If It Weren't for the Music" on the other.[7][8] The single sold for $1.50, plus mailing costs.[8] Yoko Ono responded and said that she wanted to do a side project with Olivia, but the collective politely declined. Without making themselves dependent on any high-profile person, they made $12,000 with the single, which was enough to release Christian's first album, I Know You Know in 1974, and a year later, Williamson's groundbreaking album The Changer and the Changed.[9] I Know You Know sold over ten thousand copies in its first year, and eventually sold over 70,000 copies for Olivia Records,[4][10] while The Changer and the Changed became one of the top-selling albums on any independent label.[4][10]

In 1974, Judy Dlugacz (president), Meg Christian, Ginny Berson, Jennifer Woodhul, and Kate Winter relocated the company from Washington D.C. to California.[11] But Olivia's business philosophy ultimately contributed to financial problems and internal conflicts among staff and artists contributed to its restructuring and ultimate demise.

Olivia Records echoed the philosophy cultural production of lesbian feminist separatists. But although Olivia Records claimed to benefit all women, the business was primarily led and promoted the interests of white middle-class American lesbians.[12] In the late 1970s, Olivia expanded in inclusivity by promoting the music of African American artists Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins and Sweet Honey in the Rock.[2] In 1977, after repeated criticism by Anita Bryant, Olivia put out Lesbian Concentrate, a collection of songs and poetry with part of the proceeds going to benefit the Lesbian Mothers National Defense Fund. Included on the 13 track LP was Meg Christian's "Ode To A Gym Teacher" and Sue Fink's "Leaping Lesbians".

Sandy Stone was Olivia's sound engineer from ca. 1974-1978, recording and mixing all Olivia product during this period. She resigned as the controversy over her working for a lesbian-identified enterprise increased because she was a transgender woman.[13][14][15][16]

Following a sold-out tenth-anniversary best-of concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Olivia's idealist and inexperienced business practices led to significant financial hardship. Meg Christian left the record label in 1984.[11] Olivia moved first to Los Angeles to stay on top of the burgeoning music scene and then to Oakland. The remaining five women of the collective, who had been pooling their money and even living together for the previous seven years, began to disperse. Olivia stopped putting out new records and instead performed a series of 15th anniversary concerts in 1988. The two 15th-anniversary concerts at Carnegie Hall were the largest grossing concerts at that venue in its history.[17] In 1988, the record label restructured and morphed into a broader women-centered social business venture resulted in the branding of Olivia, a lesbian travel company.[2][11][18]

Even though Olivia Records released world music and salsa records, it was most successful with acoustic solo acts, although sometimes it failed to identify mainstream talent. In 1985, singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge, then a struggling Los Angeles artist, sent her demo to Olivia, but was ultimately rejected. Etheridge went on to become one of the most popular female performers of the 1990s and arguably the most successful lesbian musician of all time. She saved the rejection letter, signed by "the women of Olivia," which was featured in Intimate Portrait, the Lifetime Television documentary of her life.

Unable to reinvent itself for the changing musical landscape for women, from riot grrrl to Lilith Fair to Ani DiFranco, Olivia could no longer sustain itself as a record label.[18]