Parlophone Records Limited is a German-British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the company was founded in 8 August 1923 as The Parlophone Company Limited , which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a jazz record label. On 5 October 1926, the Columbia Graphophone Company acquired Parlophone's business, name, logo, and release library, and merged with the Gramophone Company on 31 March 1931 to become Electric & Musical Industries Limited (EMI). George Martin joined EMI in 1950 as assistant label manager, taking over as manager in 1955. Martin produced and released a mix of product, including comedy recordings of the Goons, pianist Mrs Mills, and teen idol Adam Faith.
Virgin Records Ltd. is a British record label founded by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman in 1972. It grew to be a worldwide phenomenon over time, with the success of platinum performers such as Aaliyah, George Michael, Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Roy Orbison, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Keith Richards, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, dc Talk, the Smashing Pumpkins, Mike Oldfield, Gorillaz, and Spice Girls, among others.
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often credited with helping popularize grunge music. The label's roster includes Fleet Foxes, Foals, Beach House, The Postal Service, Flight of the Conchords, Sleater-Kinney, Blitzen Trapper, Father John Misty, Shabazz Palaces, METZ, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, and The Shins. In 1995 the owners of Sub Pop sold a 49% stake of the label to the Warner Music Group.
Warp is an English independent record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store workers Steve Beckett, Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon. It is currently based in London.
Harvest Records is a British record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI, active from 1969 to present.
London Records is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America from 1947 to 1979 before becoming semi-independent.
Domino Recording Company is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Domino Deutschland and a French division called Domino France. In addition, Stephen Pastel presides over the subsidiary label Geographic Music, which releases more 'unusual' music from Britain and outside of the Western world. In 2011, the company announced that it was beginning a book publishing division, The Domino Press.
Beggars Banquet is a British independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels.
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes; it is run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.
Nude Records is an independent record label, established in August 1991 in London. The label was set up and operated by Saul Galpern, who had previously worked with artists such as Simply Red, The Fall, Julian Cope, The Triffids, The Slits and Au Pairs.
Independent music is music produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording and publishing. The term indie is sometimes used to describe a genre, and as a genre term, "indie" may include music that is not independently produced, and many independent music artists do not fall into a single, defined musical style or genre and create self-published music that can be categorized into diverse genres. The term ‘indie’ or ‘independent music’ can be traced back to as early as the 1920’s after it was first used to reference independent film companies but was later used as a term to classify an independent band or record producer.
Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde.
Big Dada is a British independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for being the home of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Manuva, poet and playwright Kate Tempest, grime pioneer Wiley, rapper and designer DELS and Mercury Prize winners Speech Debelle and Young Fathers.
Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass. Fierce Panda is also credited with releases by Acres of Lions, Air Traffic, Art Brut, The Blackout, Boy Kill Boy, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Desperate Journalist, Embrace, Goldheart Assembly, Kenickie, Seafood, Keane, Placebo, The Polyphonic Spree and Shitdisco.
Music for Nations is a British independent record label focusing mainly on rock and metal. It was a subsidiary of the larger label distributor Zomba Records, which was a division of BMG and later Sony Music Entertainment.
Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well as the compilation album Pillows & Prayers. In addition to releasing new music, Cherry Red also acts as an umbrella for individual imprints and catalogue specialists.
Machine Shop Records is a record label founded by American rock band Linkin Park members, Brad Delson and Mike Shinoda, in 2001. The label is notable for releasing music in rock, hip hop, underground hip hop, alternative rock and nu metal music amongst other genres. The label is driven in joint by Shinoda and Delson under the mantra: "We are a think tank and a creative studio."
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the "indie chart", the relevance of the chart dwindled in the 1990s as major-label ownership blurred the boundary between independent and major labels.
An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding of major record labels. Many artists begin their careers on independent labels.
