Created by Bill Laswell in 1989 for the promotion of his own, most "crucial" (to his point of view) projects. Axiom was a subdivision of Island Records (and of Polygram) but had always the advantage of a complete artistic freedom, because of the friendship between Bill Laswell and Chris Blackwell (boss of Island).
"Nothing is true, everything is possible" was Axiom's motto.
In 1998, when Island Records became a subsidiary of the Universal Music Group, Chris Blackwell was fired and Axiom was closed (it was not enough commercially interesting and too much "experimental" for Universal), even if more than 20 records had been released and that some of them sold well (Praxis) or had been highly awarded (Sonny Sharrock, Henry Threadgill) by jazz magazines.
Bill Laswell has then followed Chris Blackwell with the creation of Palm Pictures and the Axiom logo can be found in some releases that Laswell has produced for this label.