How your favourite label came into existence

Planet Mu

Planet Mu label boss Mike Paradinas has a pretty simple reason why he started his label. “I thought I could do a better job than some of the other labels out there at the time.” Having come into existence in 1995 as an imprint for the label head’s µ-Ziq material on Virgin Records, Paradinas then had the idea to widen the imprint into a full platform with other artists. In '97 Mu released 'Mealtime', their first various artists compilation featuring Jega, AFX, Plug and µ-Ziq among others. In '98 they went fully independent and started releasing material from Jega, Capitol K, Hellfish, Leafcutter John and more.

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Plus 8

Detroit-originating records were a staple in John Acquaviva's sets towards the end of the '80s, so he made sure he paid a visit to the Motor City as part of him checking out clubs throughout the United States and Canada. The second trip saw him come across Richie Hawtin, the two hitting it off and deciding to get in the studio - one kitted out with pairs of the Roland 303, 808 and 909 - with each other. "It quickly became apparent to us that it was about Rich and I coming together and growing our vision with our very own label and try to be part of that second wave of techno and house from Detroit," John says.

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R&S Records

A feeling of frustration about Belgian labels creating dismal covers of imported music inspired R&S co-founder Renaat Vandepapeliere to get involved in the label game. "I didn't like that. I said 'Respect the artist. License it in, and let's have the original track'," Renaat told Clash in 2012. "That's where the idea to start the label started, and it was New Beat that gave me the chance." It was originally called Milos Music Belgium, releasing just one record, but soon turned into R&S - the initials of Renaat and his partner Sabine Maas.

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Rush Hour

In 1997, Antal Heitlager and Christiaan MacDonald opened Amsterdam record store Rush Hour creating a haven for music lovers. In '99 they took their first steps as a record label, releasing Deepart’s ‘College #1’ EP. They’ve also earned a reputation for their excellent track record of reissuing forgotten nuggets. That side of the business came about pretty innocuously according to Antal who told Skiddle: “At that time we just wanted to do so. Some possibilities presented themselves to us and it was like, ok, let's do it, why not.”

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Strictly Rhythm

Gladys Pizarro and Mark Finkelstein founded the imprint in 1989 in an attempt to quench New York City’s growing thirst for house music. Finkelstein’s first job in the music business was as a controller of established r’n’b label Spring Records. When the label closed, Pizarro introduced him to house music and told him her plans of starting a label. “She wanted to start a label and she could pick the music if I looked after the business side. On May 1 1989, Strictly Rhythm was born,” Finkelstein said.

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Trax

Trax, named after house music’s sparse nature, will forever be synonymous with dance music. Born in 1983 out of necessity for the new house music movement major labels had no interest in, the imprint was founded by Larry Sherman, Rachael Cain, Jesse Saunders and Vince Lawrence when the latter two were on the lookout for a singer for their track 'Fantasy'. “None of us really had a clue, but the music sounded cool," Cain says. "Larry had the vinyl factory because he made records for jukeboxes and collectors. He saw something in our sound and us and somehow 'Fantasy' became a hit. Then Larry gave us records on credit and when we came back with stacks of cash, he knew we were on to something. Next, every kid in town wanted to be like us and a youth explosion was born from vinyl, which makes all the sense in the world because it was all about making records and DJs playing them.”

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Warp

Warp Records, the label home to the likes of Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards Of Canada and Drexciya, started in the backroom of a Sheffield record store in 1989. Shop workers Steve Beckett, Rob Mitchell and Robert Gordon named the label Warp after it became clear Warped Records was difficult to distinguish over the phone. “At the time we didn’t think we were setting up a label necessarily,” Beckett said in the book How Soon Is Now? The Madmen and Mavericks Who Made Independent Music 1975-2005.“ It was more about, ‘Let’s do this 12" and see if it can have an effect’, like we were seeing in guys like 808 State and Unique 3. It was all orientated to the dancefloor rather than the label side of things.”

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Watergate

There's no real fascinating story behind the launch of Watergate Records, TBH. The owners of the Berlin club it's named after - unsurprisingly located beside the water, specifically the River Spree - just wanted a platform to release mix CDs reflecting the parties they were throwing back in '08. It was a CD-only affair for around a year, but a Martyn and dOP 12" introduced the vinyl series and albums from Ruede Hagelstein and Tiefschwarz have come since.

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XL Recordings

The UK's youth were well and truly gripped by rave music at the end of the '80s, so a few fellas - Nick Halkes and Tim Palmer - from record company Beggars Group decided a label to release tunes geared towards raving was needed. Richard Russell, who joined soon after as an A&R and is now an owner, recently said: "The ambition was to make records we could play as DJs." Well, they really did do that, didn't they? SL2's rowdy 'On A Ragga Tip' was an early release and a group of geezers from Essex were welcomed onboard to release as The Prodigy. With a North Londoner called Adele now on its books, we reckon they'll exist for a little while longer.

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Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor. Follow him on Twitter

Louis Anderson-Rich is Mixmag's Digital Intern. Follow him on Twitter