This label associated with jazz has a very distinct black and orange logo and was also known for its cover album pictures. Patronized the great John Coltrane during his early days.
Impulse! Records
Founded in 1992 by Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, The D.O.C. and Dick Griffey, this label pioneered west coast hip-hop and made millions with albums like The Chronic (Dr.Dre), Doggystyle (Snoop Dogg) and All Eyez on Me (Tupac Shakur).
Death Row Records
Shady Records is owned by this rap icon.
Eminem, of course
After leaving Death Row Records in 1996, Dr. Dre opened this label and helmed Eminem’s debut album The Slim Shady LP.
Aftermath Records
This singer who had a beef with Vivendi Universal Music Group wrote a famous article in 2000 on Salon that started "Today I want to talk about piracy and music. What is piracy?..."
Courtney Love
This independent label that was based in Fullerton, California and which shut down in 2020 in less than savory circumstances was known for producing music in analog format on cassettes.
Burger Records
This label found in 1939 is synonymous with jazz and has a name itself from music theory; it means a note sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard.
Blue Note Records
During the production of his Invincible album, Michael Jackson developed a bitter rivalry with this person who headed Sony Music at that time. Oh, and he was also married to Mariah Carey in the 1990s.
Tommy Mottola
Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison all started their careers on this label that was based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Sun Records
Nickname of Motown's first headquarters and recording studio.
Hitsville U.S.A.
Ann Wilson of Heart said that this hit song was written to protest the predatory nature of record labels and particularly Mushroom Records.
"Barracuda"
In 1998, Fantasy Records sued this artist for plagiarism claiming that his song "Old Man Down the Road" was a rehash of his own Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Run Through the Jungle".
John Fogerty
In 1962, George Martin of this label famously signed the Beatles who were rejected by Decca Records. Among others, the label also produced The Pet Shop Boys, Coldplay, David Bowie and Blur.
Parlophone
This behemoth owned by Sony Music is the oldest surviving brand name in the sound business and one of the company's four flagship labels with RCA, Arista and Epic.
Columbia Records
In 2015, Dr. Dre won a case when a judge ruled that this record label did not have the rights to sell his album The Chronic digitally.
Death Row Records
Prelude and West End were Independent labels from New York associated with this type of music.
Dance music
With a very unique name referencing an Asian staple food item, this label produced bands like Panic! at the Disco, Paramore, Twenty One Pilots, and Fall Out Boy.
Fueled by Ramen
Prince's long running dispute with this record label started with the success of Diamonds And Pearls (1991).
Warner Bros.
This label from Memphis, Tennessee that pioneered soul music has a distinct finger snap logo.
Stax
Creation Records found in 1983 by Alan McGee called itself “the greatest in Britain"; with an album like Definitely Maybe from this band, maybe it was not such an empty boast after all.
Oasis
In the music video for the song "White & Nerdy", "Weird Al" Yankovic edits the Wikipedia page of this record label to read "YOU SUCK!"
Atlantic Records
This major rock group launched the Swan Song Records label in 1974 to promote their own music and to help other artists who found it difficult to find contracts. Among others bands like Bad Company and Sad Café released material on it.
Led Zeppelin
This label has an interesting history - started with Donna Summer whose The Wanderer became their first release in 1980. Then just two weeks after Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John was killed. Then they produced Nirvana and butted heads with Kurt Cobain.
Geffen Records
Taxpayers should particularly remember this record label whose cofounder managed The Police and which produced popular 80's band including R.E.M. and The Go-Go's.
I.R.S. Records
Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin began this seminal hip-hop record company out of an NYU dorm room.
Def Jam
A&M Records was founded as an independent company in 1962 by Jerry Moss and this trumpeter who played with the Tijuana Brass band.
Herb Alpert
Now with Universal Music Group, this label that managed ABBA was established in London in 1954 as a British subsidiary of German company Deutsche Grammophon.
Polydor
This iconic label whose name evokes a certain American Midwest city was found in 1959 as Tamla Records.
Motown (Detroit)
Johnny Pacheco is often called the godfather of this genre of music and released most of his work on Fania Records.
Salsa
In 2007, Radiohead pioneered digital selling by self-releasing this album on a pay-what-you-want-to download.
In Rainbows
In 2000, Metallica sued and won against this entity (not exactly a record label) and changed music industry forever.
Napster
The record label Sub Pop which was based in a certain city on the west coast of the US is synonymous with this genre.
Grunge (Seattle)
It produced Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney among others.
This London based label known for producing alternative rock, electronic, dream-pop, and experimental rock had its first hit with "Pump Up the Volume" by M/A/R/R/S.
4AD
One of this label's principles under Frank Sinatra's leadership was that each artist would have full creative freedom.
Reprise Records
This lead singer's criticism of Universal Music Group in 2007 during the release of the album Year Zero received a lot of attention. He even urged fans to steal music while on a tour in Australia.
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)