The coolest record labels of all time | Music

Posted by Larita Shotwell on Tuesday, June 11, 2024

The coolest record labels of all time

Movers, shakers, game-changers: the imprints that changed the face of music. Don't agree with our selection? Tell us who we've missed in the comments below

The 10 British record labels defining the sound of 2014

Sat 19 Apr 2014 11.00 EDT First published on Sat 19 Apr 2014 11.00 EDT

  • Sub Pop

    Enabled Nirvana, Mudhoney et al to tear down the cock-rock edifice. Still ruling, despite “going out of business since 1988”.

  • Factory

    From post-punk to Madchester, issued many of the finest (and best-designed) records this country has ever produced.

  • Def Jam

    LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, EPMD – Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons’s label took hip-hop global, then signed Slayer. Dudes.

  • Stax

    Motown was a hit-making machine but Stax was the label that embodied the spirit of soul music, breaking down racial barriers.

  • Creation

    Run by a radge Scotsman, specialising in indie music with bollocks: MBV, Ride, Primal Scream, Sugar… oh yeah, and Oasis.

  • R&S

    The Ferrari of techno labels, and not just because of the logo. The strongest thing to come out of Belgium since Trappist ale.

  • Rough Trade

    The Smiths’ label was the original indie, founded on collectivist principles while putting out some epochal music in the process.

  • Warp

    Forged from pure Sheffield steel, the home of wonky British electronica and bloopy techno since 1989. Now blessed by Eno.

  • 4AD

    Created its own ethereal utopia inhabited by Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance – then got the Pixies to shout it down.

  • Island

    The label that brought reggae to the UK, its coolness only slightly marred by later signing of U2. Also birthed maverick offshoot ZTT.
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