# What record label do you have to much of, but find unavoidable in buying



## Pmartel63 (Dec 9, 2020)

So, what record label do you have to much of, but it's inevitable that they only have what you want and only game in town for some things

For me it's Naxos so much of their stuff in my collection, mostly no issues with the product as thy've produced some rare stuff not able to get elsewhere

Just recently ordered the Nigel North 4CD Dowland set and the Beethove Turku Philharmonic series ofobscure works was really well done


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## progmatist (Apr 3, 2021)

Also Naxoa for me. If for no other reason, their prices are quite affordable.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I don't have too much of anything but I do have an incredible amount of Naxos recordings. It's not just because of their value but it also speaks highly of their quality. They're often ridiculously cheap secondhand too. I picked up around 100 when all the Woolworths shops closed down in the UK. They were selling them off at 50p a disc in Stockport back in the noughties and had I not been late to the party I'd have had at least 300 rather than 100.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

There are too labels I have to much of, but two be fair, I listen too them a lot:

Deutsche Grammophon and Decca. 

I suspect Lyrita, Chandos, EMI and Naxos come close.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Hyperion and Testament, because those two labels aren't available on my streaming service.


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## Ralf Hutter (Mar 21, 2018)

Astree/AliaVox/Naive


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I don't generally buy according to the label; the music and performers are paramount. However, I have to say that I've been picking up a lot of Telarc recordings lately. Going back some 40 years I picked up many of their fine recordings, but then drifted away. There are so many that I never heard, didn't even know about. But when it comes to sound quality, Telarc is hard to beat. So I've amassed a pretty impressive Telarc collection that I love to use to show off the sound system. Their regular Red Book cds sound better than many other company's SACDs.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Ralf Hutter said:


> Astree/AliaVox/Naive


Add Channel Classics

Not that I have too much (as they are small labels), but seeing the label itself encourages me to buy the album.


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## Michael122 (Sep 16, 2021)

For myself, don't pay particular attention to label.
However, when the choice presents itself, prefer Deutsche Grammophon or Sony Classical/RCA Red Seal.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Why should "too much" be a problem? Because one does not want to support a major mainstream label or because they don't make things available I want or stupid re-issues etc.?
In some sense I have "too much" of the major labels like Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Sony etc. I started buying CDs in 1988 and was mostly restricted to local shops and some mailorder for a long time, I also had to watch for cheap offers, so this automatically favored large well-distributed labels. And while this has obviously changed in the last 20 years, they still had often great offers, both from their back catalogues and more recent artists.


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## JTS (Sep 26, 2021)

I would only think you have ‘too much’ of a label if you didn’t like the material they offer. In which case don’t buy it!


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

It was definitely once the Philips label in the Netherlands. But sadly, that great label is no longer. Nowadays, I tend to spread my buying around. I like a good number of smaller labels. If I had a weakness, it's the group of labels under the "Outhere" umbrella--especially Alpha, but also Arcana, Ricercar, Linn, Ramee, Fuge Libera, etc.: https://outhere-music.com/en/labels/alpha. I also find myself often tempted by Alba, Exton, Channel Classics, Pentatone, & Ars Produktion, due to their unusually fine sound engineering (and especially Pentatone's remasters of the old quadraphonic Philips catalogue into a hybrid SACD format, & their 'Remastered Classics' series). Plus, I have a major weakness for the AMSI or "ambient surround sound imaging" remasters from Universal's "Eloquence" series, & again, especially of the old analogue LP catalogue from Philips, but also DG, Decca, etc.

Denon is another label that used to be a big weakness of mine. It was a label that introduced me to a whole bunch of up & coming, emerging new pianists back in its day: such as Zoltan Kocsis, Dezso Ranki, Andras Schiff, Maria Joao Pires, Jacques Rouvier, Konstantin Lifschitz, etc.. Even today, I've recently found myself purchasing MDG & Supraphon's reissued remasters of the old Denon catalogue--such as the recordings by Herbert Blomstedt & the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Smetana Quartet, & the Suk Trio.

https://www.amazon.com/Symphonies-3...mstedt+dresden+mdg+mozart,classical,86&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Symphonies-Bruckner-Staatskapelle-Dresden-Blomstedt/dp/B07YMFVT1D
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Str...2&s=music&sprefix=smetana+Q,popular,94&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Pia...&s=music&sprefix=suk+trio+,popular,114&sr=1-2


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I don’t have too much of them but I do have a lot of Blue Note, ECM and CBS/Sony


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## JB Henson (Mar 29, 2019)

Deutsche Grammophon, Mercury, and CBS Columbia Masterworks/Sony Classical.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I don't go by the label - I go by the music, the performers....if my favorite performers happen to record mainly on one label, then I will acquire a fair number of recordings on said label....but that "label count" is almost entirely dependent upon my choice of music and performer. 
That said - I do enjoy the sound quality on Reference Recordings - they do a remarkable job with the recorded sound....


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

after a few decades it's all balanced out, but during that time I have wallowed in excess with EMI, DG, Harmonia Mundi, Astree and Alia Vox, Opus111, and Riverside / Fantasy/ Prestige. But the last are foundations of my jazz house, so they aren't going anywhere.

More recently I've overcollected a bit with some of the early vocal groups like Beauty Farm, and I now have almost 20 titles from the India Archives label. But again, the latter constitutes the bulk of my raga collection, and isn't available on Spotify, so it also stays.


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## Shea82821 (Nov 19, 2021)

Naxos as been my go-to lately. I find a lot of works I've been interested in lately, have their best (or maybe sole) recordings on that label. And since the quality is consistently high, I don't bother with any other half-the-time. This includes their sub-labels as well, like Grand Piano and CPO.

I do also like Brilliant Classics. More for convenience there, but again some of their more recent recordings have been the sole ones for their respective works. And it's pretty good quality so I don't fret at all. 

Naturally, I've got a lot of older DG, Decca, and a bit of EMI/Warner stuff as well. Even if it seems to be dwindling in the midst of the rest.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Nothing in classical music. But I probably bought too many Blue Note jazz records. There just isn't time to listen to it all. I also have about 125-30 ECM albums. But I treasure all of these wonderful recordings and their high production standards.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

Pmartel63 said:


> What record label do you have to much of, but find unavoidable in buying


Naxos.

..............


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## AndorFoldes (Aug 25, 2012)

Early on I got quite a lot of Deutsche Grammophon, which is somewhat unfortunate given the highly variable quality of their recordings as issued on CD.


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Pilz/Vienna Masters. Don't ask. I take medication.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Well, "Pilz" is German for "mushroom" so maybe it's what you've been smoking.


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