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The Guide #265: Your favourite record labels, from Motown to Flying Nun
EntertainmentMusicMusic News•October 17, 2026 at 7:00 AMNational

The Guide #265: Your favourite record labels, from Motown to Flying Nun

By Gwilym Mumford•The Guardian Music

In this week’s newsletter: Record labels always push music forward into interesting new places. Here’s a celebration of their power by readers and Guardian music writers• Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereLast week we asked Guide subscribers to tell us about their favourite record labels, and the response was enthusiastic. Clearly, even in this age of streaming services that flatten albums, singles, EPs and mixtapes into one single “feed”, the lure of a label – and its role in identifying, nurturing and developing musical talents – remains.So this week, a celebration of the record label: along with some readers’ favourites, we’ve asked music writers to share their personal picks. They’ve put together a great list of familiar and off-the-beaten-track labels that might just help you discover your next favourite album (I can already tell I’ll be spinning the Verlaines record recommended by reader James a fair bit!). Continue reading...

In this week’s newsletter: Record labels always push music forward into interesting new places. Here’s a celebration of their power by readers and Guardian music writers

• Don’t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

Last week we asked Guide subscribers to tell us about their favourite record labels, and the response was enthusiastic. Clearly, even in this age of streaming services that flatten albums, singles, EPs and mixtapes into one single “feed”, the lure of a label – and its role in identifying, nurturing and developing musical talents – remains.

So this week, a celebration of the record label: along with some readers’ favourites, we’ve asked music writers to share their personal picks. They’ve put together a great list of familiar and off-the-beaten-track labels that might just help you discover your next favourite album (I can already tell I’ll be spinning the Verlaines record recommended by reader James a fair bit!).

Continue reading...

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