# Favorite Record Label



## mahlernerd (Jan 19, 2020)

There are many big record labels out there, so which one is your favorite, or which one do you use the most?

P.S. Sorry if I forgot some big ones in the poll.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I voted Chandos, but I could have voted for Naxos or BIS as well. And many not listed (Hyperion, CPO, for example).


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Of late, my favorite label has been NEOS, founded in 2007 by Wulf Weinmann, who was previously the owner and label manager of col legno, another favorite label. NEOS concentrates on new, contemporary music and the catalog is large and intriguing.

Here is information from the NEOS website:

NEOS is a new label for contemporary music, launched in mid-May 2007. The focus of the new releases is on compositions from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, many of which are world premiere recordings. In order to achieve a high level of artistic and editorial quality, great value is placed on selecting the performers and collaborating exclusively with renowned ensembles and cultural institutions. The new label NEOS (Greek for "new") is the responsibility of Wulf Weinmann, who was previously the owner and label manager of col legno. NEOS will release approximately twenty-five CDs and SACDs a year.
Varied in his interests, Weinmann is constantly seeking out discoveries in the wilds of New Music. He considers himself particularly fortunate to have arranged future collaborations with long-standing partners such as the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (IMD), the Donaueschingen Festival of the SWR and musica viva (Bayerischer Rundfunk). As a confessed lover of the arts Weinmann places great importance on the technical quality of the recordings and their visual presentation. All of the productions will be released in attractive Digipacks with extensive textual information.

I'm also a big fan of cpo and Danacord and Brilliant Classics and … well, there are so many labels. I like them all!

So I didn't vote for any one specific label.

I couldn't do without my Mercury discs, or my RCAs or DGGs, or my jazz Blue Notes and Warners … or all those Musical Heritage Society, VOX and Nonesuch discs ….

Did I mention Chandos? BIS? ABC, CBC, BBC …?


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

CPO for one reason: I love to explore music that is long forgotten and never before recorded, and right now CPO clearly leads the field. Used to be Marco Polo and some Chandos.


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## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

Yep, not really a good poll. Most of the big names do absolutely nothing in promoting unknown works and unsung composers. Hyperion, CPO, Sterling etc. do a great job. BIS Naxos and Chandos occasionally do, but my vote goes for other


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Back in the LP era, the biggest labels were Columbia, Decca, DGG, EMI, Philips, RCA, and a few minor ones like Vox, Telefunken, L'Oiseaux Lyre, Das Alte Worke, Supraphon, Westminster, and Vanguard. I had lots of each, but when I think back to favorite records, I think a disproportionate number were EMI (or its U.S. nameplates, Angel and Seraphim).


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

MarkW said:


> Back in the LP era, the biggest labels were Columbia, Decca, DGG, EMI, Philips, RCA, and a few minor ones like Vox, Telefunken, L'Oiseaux Lyre, Das Alte Worke, Supraphon, Westminster, and Vanguard. I had lots of each, but when I think back to favorite records, I think a disproportionate number were EMI (or its U.S. nameplates, Angel and Seraphim).


Totally. I agree with you, EMI (now Warner classics)

Once upon time EMI was the record label for Callas, Furtwängler, Celididache, Giulini, Klemperer, F.Dieskau, Karajan (50´s /60´s), etc. Walter Legge (producer) and the Philharmonia Orchestra created a miracle.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Hyperion. Excellent recordings of a wide variety of music, including otherwise unrecorded works. One could say the same of Naxos, but I don't think that the performances or production values are as good.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I voted Naxos, but could have just as easily voted EMI. Naxos has the upper hand for repertoire, while EMI beats them out on account of the quality artistry of their signees.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Even another poll :
https://www.talkclassical.com/62916-my-favorite-record-labels.html?highlight=Favorite+Record+Label


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Rogerx said:


> Even another poll :
> https://www.talkclassical.com/62916-my-favorite-record-labels.html?highlight=Favorite+Record+Label


That's not a poll, but a game.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

This poll is very weird to me. I don't normally think about what record label I buy something from unless I'm concerned about sound quality. Will I be considered a simpleton if I vote for Decca?


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Art Rock said:


> That's not a poll, but a game.


The song is most famous for its "You like tomato /təˈmeɪtə/ / And I like to-mah-to /təˈmɑːtə/"


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

adriesba said:


> This poll is very weird to me. I don't normally think about what record label I buy something from unless I'm concerned about sound quality. Will I be considered a simpleton if I vote for Decca?


Short answer.......no.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

mbhaub said:


> CPO for one reason: I love to explore music that is long forgotten and never before recorded, and right now CPO clearly leads the field. Used to be Marco Polo and some Chandos.


And...they have the most variety in beautiful covers.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I am quite partial to the LSO's house label. EMI and Decca are also great. But I voted for DG, because of the breadth of their catalog, both past and present.


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

It was quite difficult to choose between DG and EMI, but finally voted for the latter thanks to some great opera recordings.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I guess I'll vote for Warner, since they are one of the biggies who subsumed a lot of smaller labels, and are now releasing CD box sets at dirt-cheap prices. Sony, too. This is truly the golden age of CD buying. Take advantage of it while it lasts.


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

When John Eargle was alive and headed up the Delos recording engineers, I was a HUGE fan. I felt confident that when I explored composers which I was not familiar with, I would at least be happy with the recording and sound quality. The same goes for Newport Classic, headed up by Lawrence Kraman and those at Nimbus Records as well.

30 something years later, I find that almost all labels have excellent recording/sound quality. Because I listen to a good deal of choral music, I'd have to put Hyperion up at the top of my list. Signum as well.

Today I find it very interesting how engineers go about their recordings. More and more, engineers seem to be paying very careful attention to the choice of recording location for acoustics as well as the arrangement of the musicians and singers, with new mic arrays they are able to capture a sound which expands the soundstage and improves the image. (ex:2L)


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

millionrainbows said:


> I guess I'll vote for Warner, since they are one of the biggies who subsumed a lot of smaller labels, and are now releasing CD box sets at dirt-cheap prices.


That was my choice also. Lately Warner is the only label that I do Internet searches for, because they are always rereleasing older recordings in affordable sets.


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

I want to say Sony Classics. They’ve done releases of RCA Red Seal and Columbia albums that sometimes involve good digital remastering, and I like their preservation and printing of original album artwork.


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## DaddyGeorge (Mar 16, 2020)

I enjoy recordings of many labels. Some years ago I would definitely vote DG. Now I chose other - Harmonia Mundi. I don't think they are the best, they don't even have a big choice, but I like their releases somehow. So it's my favorite label.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

seitzpf said:


> I want to say Sony Classics. They've done releases of RCA Red Seal and Columbia albums that sometimes involve good digital remastering, and I like their preservation and printing of original album artwork.


Plus they've given us so many of those superb and incredibly inexpensive budget boxes, with hopefully more to come! I'm still waiting for: Ormandy-the early Columbia Years, Ormandy-the Stereo Columbia Years, Ormandy-the Stereo RCA Years.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

*Melodiya*, first and foremost, then:

Chandos
Hyperion
Decca
DG
CPO (it has come a long way)
BIS
Olympia (unfortunately went defunct)
Ondine


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Hmm, I think Warner would have been a better choice than EMI, especially if we include Erato and Teldec as being part of their stable. They've rereleased tons of great old EMI and Teldec releases for cheap. Agh, it's hard to choose.


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

Philips, Decca, Naxos, Alpha(incl Ricercar,AEON,,,), Sony BMG, Naive, Opus111, Hyperion, CPO,

Chandos is soso, Brilliant is a budget brand but quality is also soso. 

There are a few brands I hate: HMF, Warner Jazz and Classics, Ambroisie, Satirino, ,they turn out some worst sound qualities CDs recently.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

flamencosketches said:


> Hmm, I think Warner would have been a better choice than EMI, especially if we include Erato and Teldec as being part of their stable. They've rereleased tons of great old EMI and Teldec releases for cheap. Agh, it's hard to choose.


EMI 's reputation was much bigger and greater then the whole Warner group, they where with Decca on top the" leading opera labels". At the end they bought EMI for next to nothing ( in business money) and pretending to be the house of opera. 
That's how it worked.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Rogerx said:


> EMI 's reputation was much bigger and greater then the whole Warner group, they where with Decca on top the" leading opera labels". At the end they bought EMI for next to nothing ( in business money) and pretending to be the house of opera.
> That's how it worked.


Agreed, they don't have the prestige that EMI had back in the day. I only meant that it'd have been a better choice as a "favorite" label since they're reissuing much of the old EMI repertoire, and then some, so it's like EMI plus Teldec plus whatever else. It's a great back catalogue.


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## erki (Feb 17, 2020)

I really like Marco Polo. Maybe it is a sub-label I newer bother to check. It has good quality and interesting music.
On LPs the most outstanding recording quality I have experienced are produced by Finlandia label. So is Ondine(Helsinki).


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## EmperorOfIceCream (Jan 3, 2020)

BIS is great, but I would vote for the Outhere labels, which include both Alpha and Aeon.


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

Naxos has really picked up their game in these last several years, and more of my recent purchases come from there, but overall, I love BIS, in no small part because of the Vanska Beethoven cycle and all of Suzuki's Bach recordings.


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Columbia/CBS/Sony. Just loyalty to dead conductors-- Bernstein, Walter, Ormandy, Szell-- I guess. In the mid-1960s I belonged to "The Columbia Masterworks Subscription Service" -- a fancy name for its classical record mail order club; but I got L.P.s at half price, and instead of a monthly advertising brochure I got a free L.P. with excerpts from new releases. Great bargain for an inpecunious kid in high school.


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## erki (Feb 17, 2020)

Orfeo said:


> *Melodiya*, first and foremost


Interesting. My part of the world is saturated with Melodiya LPs still - specially classical music. You can find these in dumps and thrift stores for pennies. While their repertoire is great the quality is really bad mostly. I have found only few without background noise(could be worn matrix or sloppy pressing). I come to keep just some very interesting and rare records and tossed everything else.
Please enlighten me what you find great about this label. I would be happy to reconsider.


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## caracalla (Feb 19, 2020)

I wasn't going to vote on this, as label has never been much of an issue for me. While I would always prefer to support smaller independent labels, and often have, this has never stopped me from buying from the big boys whenever they have the repertoire and artists I want.

I'm grateful to them all, but on second thoughts decided I should cast a vote for Hyperion (other). For 40 years now, they have been relentlessly unearthing obscure and forgotten music, not just in the EM and Baroque fields that particularly interest me, but right across the repertoire. No question that the profit motive has often been well to the rear, and yet they have somehow managed to keep going as independents through a massive upheaval in the music business, and still show no obvious signs of distress. As a plus, they handle orders for several other small labels I value - SDG, Gimell, Signum and Mariinsky - so it would be churlish not to give them a shout-out.


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## Ekim the Insubordinate (May 24, 2015)

caracalla said:


> I wasn't going to vote on this, as label has never been much of an issue for me. While I would always prefer to support smaller independent labels, and often have, this has never stopped me from buying from the big boys whenever they have the repertoire and artists I want.
> 
> I'm grateful to them all, but on second thoughts decided I should cast a vote for Hyperion (other). For 40 years now, they have been relentlessly unearthing obscure and forgotten music, not just in the EM and Baroque fields that particularly interest me, but right across the repertoire. No question that the profit motive has often been well to the rear, and yet they have somehow managed to keep going as independents through a massive upheaval in the music business, and still show no obvious signs of distress. As a plus, they handle orders for several other small labels I value - SDG, Gimell, Signum and Mariinsky - so it would be churlish not to give them a shout-out.


I absolutely love Hyperion's recordings of the Takács Quartet and Marc-Andre Hamlin (particularly him playing Allan). And then I have the entire cycle of Rachmaninoff piano works performed by Howard Shelley. Great choice!


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

erki said:


> Interesting. My part of the world is saturated with Melodiya LPs still - specially classical music. You can find these in dumps and thrift stores for pennies. While their repertoire is great the quality is really bad mostly. I have found only few without background noise(could be worn matrix or sloppy pressing). I come to keep just some very interesting and rare records and tossed everything else.
> Please enlighten me what *you find great about this label*. I would be happy to reconsider.


Really the vastness of the repertoire (of Russian and non-Russian composers) as well as the quality in the performances, which in some ways remain unmatched in emotional intensity (or verve), commitment, and so forth (Svetlanov or Rozhdestvensky in, say, Tchaikovsky's symphonies, or recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov's operas, etc.). It is quite true that recording technology and presentation lagged behind those of some of the best labels on the market (Decca, EMI, DG, later Chandos and Hyperion), but overall they're tolerable (many are even very good).


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## erki (Feb 17, 2020)

Orfeo said:


> Really the vastness of the repertoire.


Yes USSR was classical music state and produced outstanding composers/performers.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I generally like Decca, DG, Chandos - 
but my favorite goes "Reference Recordings"


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## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

Hmm, hard question. I think I could pretty easily narrow it down to Harmonia Mundi and BIS, off the admittedly unscientific metric of how likely I am to enjoy any given new release. Many of the labels in the poll are wonderful though. I have a soft spot for CPO and Marco Polo too, mostly for their dedication to unknown repertoire.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

cpo for variety, Hyperion for 'luxury class' documentation and Naxos for gamely rising above their original underdog status without over-reaching themselves. Of the majors I would choose DG - as with the New York Yankees their rich history and legacy is almost intimidating (and, like the Yankees, their logo is the most beautiful of all).


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

elgars ghost said:


> cpo for variety, Hyperion for 'luxury class' documentation and Naxos for gamely rising above their original underdog status without over-reaching themselves. Of the majors I would choose DG - as with the New York Yankees their rich history and legacy is almost intimidating (and, like the Yankees, their logo is the most beautiful of all).


Well said, even if I hate the damn Yankees.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

One of my favorite labels is Audiophile Classics. I think it's Russian. All their discs are gold-plated, and are budget priced as well. I have the complete Beethoven Sonatas played by a variety of unknown Russian pianists, and the engineering is good, and the performers are excellent. Also, Bojan Gorisek has released several titles which are all excellent; the complete Erik Satie, George Crumb, and more.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I realize that there a certain labels that still are considered "the majors", but I think that's bull. The only feature that's major about them is the large number of older recordings they package, and I already own the older recordings that I want. When it comes to new recordings, I find them sorely lacking.


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