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Ok, so first off I must iterate the fact that this particular run down is in no particular order, nor is it a definitive list of the best British record labels of all time (as if such a breakdown could ever be truly quantified). It is simply a list of some personal favourites within the British...MORE>>

6. Zoo Records

No matter how tenuously linked, or how regressive the influence, the founding of Zoo Records by Bill Drummond & David Balfe was one of the most influential and illuminating moments over the following 30 years of electronic, dance & experimental music. We must neither understate the anarchic influence the pair has had over popular culture either. The former may seem a somewhat spurious correlation to be bandying about considering Zoo Records dealt primarily Alternative and Post-Punk acts, produced, in turns, by their most notable exports The Teardrop Explodes and Echo and the Bunnymen, but bear with me for a second if you will. If you imagine the formation of Zoo Records not simply as a purely commercially based venture, but as the soldering of Drummond & Balfe’s respective professional and personal careers for the next three decades, then we begin to see the profound force this moment had upon 21st Dance Culture. Drummond and Balfe (under the pseudonym The KLF) singlehandedly created both Stadium House & Ambient House music. Considering contemporary dance’s predisposition towards a slowed pulse, and atmospheric beats, much in the Dub-step vein, Zoo Records’ angular influence over contemporary dance can quite easily be seen. The reason I haven’t chosen KLF communications to take part in this list is that KLF communications far transcend that which constitutes a record company. KLF communications was an artistic and cultural movement in which all Ideological structures surrounding popular culture, especially the music industry, were questioned and ultimately challenged in The KLF’s quest for Global commercial submission. The KLF burning the million quid on the Scottish island of Jura surely has to be one of, if not the greatest PR stunts ever undertaken.

5. Ankst Records

A very small, very Welsh label, that if I were to leave off the list, I would not be able to look at my Welsh self in my Welsh face in the Welsh mirror ever again. Ankst were the medium through which the Welsh artistic renaissance of the earl to late 1990’s & early 2000’s was articulated. Releasing much of the early output of both the Super Furry Animals and Gorki’s Zygotic Mynci, Ankst were a medium through which a majority of Welsh Language/multi-lingual acts were able to freely create music in their native tongue. The output that makes up the majority of Ankst’s catalogue signifies a great cultural movement in which Welsh music was far ahead of that of the rest of the UK. The Super Furry’s stellar critical acclaim and enthusiastic commercial popularity is a monument to the good judgement with which Ankst was brought into conception and maintained throughout its formative career.

4. 2-Tone Records

Taking its name from the initial musical style that it released, 2-Tone, or Two-tone to reference said musical style, is probably the most influential voice for Ska & Reggae influenced music (I realise how wonderfully nuanced Reggae music is, and simply using the term for ease above all things) in the UK. 2-Tone was founded by The Specials (says it all really) in 1979 and eventually went on to sign both Madness & The Beat. The Former being possibly the most commercially successful to come from the movement, there is a rather bitter irony about that particular fact, but we can let it slide. 2-Tone Records, despite having a relatively limited artist roster and catalogue of releases, truly kick-started a cultural movement that had both musical and racial influence.

3. Stiff Records

Punk? How does The Damned, Richard Hell, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Dr. Feelgood, The Pogues sound? That’s what I though. Stiff Records; Done.

2. Fierce Panda Records

A bit of a Newbie for the list, well maybe, maybe not. I keep forgetting it is 2010, making Fierce Panda 16 years old. Not really that young, but still not old enough to buy cigarettes. (Relatively) New Indie upstarts, Fierce Panda, have been kicking their Chelsea boots around since 1994 but it is now that they are carrying one of their strongest artist rosters. Artists include the formidable Walkmen, whose angular way has won much critical acclaim, Indie darlings who are currently basking in the media’s spotlight, and Steve Lamacq’s current favourites, Goldheart Assembly. 2010 could be the decade that Fierce Panda properly make their mark upon the British Indie music scene.