Cooking Vinyl is a British

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, based in Acton, London, England, founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and business partner

Pete Lawrence Pete Lawrence is a conceptualist, social entrepreneur, recording artist, DJ, event organiser, music programmer writer and broadcaster based in the UK. Background Lawrence created the concept for The Big Chill in February 1994, originally as ...

. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairman, while Rob Collins is managing director. The company focuses on artist service-based deals where the artist retains ownership of their copyrights.

History

1986–1992

Cooking Vinyl was set up in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and distribution manager Pete Lawrence, who initially ran the business as a part-time venture out of a spare room in Goldschmidt's council house in Stockwell, South London. In 1986 Cooking Vinyl recorded an impromptu live performance around a campfire at a folk festival by the singer Michelle Shocked, on a Sony

Walkman Walkman, stylised as , is a brand of portable audio players manufactured and marketed by Japanese technology company Sony since 1979. The original Walkman was a portable cassette player and its popularity made "walkman" an unofficial term for p ...

with fading batteries. One of its first releases, Cooking Vinyl released the recording as The Campfire Tapes, and it sold 250,000 copies worldwide. In 1989, the company was close to bankruptcy when their distributors,

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: * Rough Trade Records, a record label *Rough Trade (shops) Rough Trade is a group of independent record shops in the United Kingdom and the United States with headquarters in London. The first Rough Trade shop was o ...

, went into receivership. Pete Lawrence sold his stake in the business to Martin Goldschmidt who continued the business while servicing the debt of the company of a period of five years.

1993–1999

Besides traditional royalty agreements, Cooking Vinyl developed ‘artist services’ deals in the 1990s, where the artist retains ownership of the copyright of their recorded material. The first of these contracts was done in 1993 for the reissue of

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music i ...

's '' Back To Basics'' compilation. Since then, Bragg has re-engaged with Cooking Vinyl a total of six times, most recently in 2013 for the release of studio album '' Tooth And Nail''. Cooking Vinyl has provided similar services for Alison Moyet, Black Spiders, Gary Numan, James Skelly & The Intenders, Madness, Pigeon Detectives, Reverend and The Makers, Ron Sexsmith, and The View.

2000–2010

In 2009, Cooking Vinyl partnered on the release of The Prodigy's fifth studio album ''

Invaders Must Die ''Invaders Must Die'' is the fifth studio album by English electronic dance music group The Prodigy. The album was released on 23 February 2009 on the band's new record label Take Me to the Hospital, and was distributed by Cooking Vinyl. Altho ...

'', which went on to sell 1.2 million units worldwide and was the biggest-selling independent record of the year in Europe. In 2012,

Amanda Palmer Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...

, an advocate of the DIY approach, announced that she was partnering with Cooking Vinyl in a distribution and label services deal for the European release of her studio album '' Theatre Is Evil''. The album was funded through a high-profile Kickstarter campaign that raised over $1.2 million in 30 days. Also released in 2012 was

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

's ''

Born Villain ''Born Villain'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on April 25, 2012 by Cooking Vinyl and Marilyn Manson's independent record label Hell, etc. It was the band's first release since the departure o ...

'' under a joint-venture partnership between Manson's own label Hell, etc. and Cooking Vinyl. The album was a global success charting at No. 5 in Germany, No. 10 in the US, and topping Billboard's Hard Rock and Independent album chart. In the UK, Manson reached No. 14 in the Official Albums Chart and No. 1 in the UK Rock Albums Chart.

2011–2020

2014 saw the return of Embrace and their self-titled album, which debuted in the charts at No. 5. In the same year New York rockers The Pretty Reckless reached No. 8, with their second studio album. In 2015, The Prodigy released their album '' The Day Is My Enemy'', which reached number 1 on the charts, and was certified gold in the UK''. '' In 2016,

Passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. Th ...

claimed the UK No. 1 album with '' Young As The Morning, Old As The Sea''. This year also saw singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt sign a global artist services deal with Cooking Vinyl. In 2018, Lucy Spraggan, former contestant on '' The X Factor'', signed to both Cooking Vinyl Records and Publishing on a long-term global artist services deal. Cooking Vinyl has long relationships with many of its artists. The Pixies' Charles Thompson was signed in 2000 and has had 17 releases to date with the label as Frank Black and Black Francis. Since 1994, former Doll By Doll man Jackie Leven has had 23 releases, five of them in 2009. Other key artists that have released through the label in the 2010s include

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

, Ryan Adams,

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans almost 40 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s, releasing four singles that entered th ...

, The Cult, The Charlatans, The Cranberries, Richard Ashcroft (CV licensed the Righteous Phonographic released album ''These People'', with Ashcroft going on to be signed by BMG), The Subways, Echo and the Bunnymen,

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

, The Enemy, Groove Armada, The Proclaimers, James, Seth Lakeman, UB40, City and Colour and The Dropkick Murphys.

2021–present

In December 2021, Clair Grogan announced that the first Altered Images album in over 38 years would be released in August 2022 on Cooking Vinyl and would be called ''Mascara Streakz''. The album has been recorded with Bobby Bluebell from The Bluebells and Bernard Butler, formally of Suede and McAlmont & Butler. As of December 2021, other artists signed to Cooking Vinyl include Alison Moyet, Eliza & The Delusionals,

Lissie Elisabeth Corrin Maurus (born November 21, 1982), known as Lissie, is an American singer-songwriter. She released her debut EP, "Why You Runnin'", in November 2009. Her debut album, ''Catching a Tiger'', was released in June 2010. Her second stu ...

, Nina Nesbitt,

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

, Will Young, Passenger, The Waterboys, BABYMETAL,

Fickle Friends Fickle Friends are an English indie rock band from Brighton, East Sussex, England. The band formed in 2013, and is made up of Natassja Shiner ( vocals, keyboard), Harry Herrington (bass, backing vocals), Sam Morris ( drums) and Jack Wilson ( ...

, Lucy Spraggan, Rumer, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, The Darkness, The Psychedelic Furs, Billy Bragg, Del Amitri, Kiefer Sutherland, Reverend And The Makers,

, The Fratellis,

The Rifles The Rifles is an infantry regiment of the British Army. Formed in 2007, it consists of four Regular battalions and three Reserve battalions, plus a number of companies in other Army Reserve battalions. Each battalion of The Rifles was formerl ...

, and Willy Mason

Sister companies

Essential Music & Marketing In 2003, Vital Distribution's managing director Mike Chadwick teamed up with Cooking Vinyl’s Martin Goldschmidt to launch Essential Music & Marketing, an independent distributor and service provider. RED Distribution, the

Sony Music UK Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

artist and label services division, announced the acquisition of Essential Music and Marketing in March 2016. As part of this deal, a new company was launched, Red Essential, which is based at The Cooking Vinyl Group’s West London offices. The company is now located in Farringdon. CV America Cooking Vinyl America was originally launched in 2012. In 2016, Howie Gabriel was named President. The US operation provides strategic services to the CV Group, including artist/label acquisition, marketing, distribution and business strategy. Cooking Vinyl America is based in New York City. Cooking Vinyl Australia Cooking Vinyl Australia was formed in September 2013. The stand-alone company is based in Melbourne and helmed by former Shock Records executives, Leigh Gruppetta and Stu Harvey, the label signs both local and international artists and represents the Cooking Vinyl Records roster in Australia and New Zealand under license. In February 2018, Sony Music Australia acquired a portion of Cooking Vinyl Australia. Cooking Vinyl Publishing Cooking Vinyl Publishing was formed in 2008 and is headed by former manager and Warner/Chappell exec Ryan Farley, who joined in August 2018. The company has a diverse roster with current writers including Tom Speight, C Duncan, Vitto Meirelles, Isobel Campbell, Lucy Spraggan, 485C, 65 Days of Static and Palestinian acts DAM, 47 Soul and

Le Trio Joubran Le Trio Joubran ( ar, الثلاثي جبران) is an oud trio playing traditional Palestinian music. The trio consists of the brothers Samir, Wissam, and Adnan Joubran, originally from the city of Nazareth, now dividing their time between ...

. The company's catalogue includes songs by artists such as Reverend & The Makers,

, Amber Run, Roll Deep, Meursalt, Tal National, Audio Bullys, Exit Calm and The Virgin Marys. It also has co-publishing partnerships with Brighton-based Fat Cat Records and UK jazz label Edition Music. Motus Music In March 2019 The Cooking Vinyl Group announced they had acquired a 50% share in production music start up Motus Music.

Artists

Current

* 47Soul * '68 * Adam Cohen * Area 11 * Ali Campbell *

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist. He ...

* Babymetal *

* Black Spiders *

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

* Calling All Cars *

Camper Van Beethoven Camper Van Beethoven is an American rock band formed in Redlands, California in 1983, later based in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk, alternative country, and world music. The band in ...

* Carl Barât and The Jackals * Chas & Dave * City and Colour * DAM * D.A.R.K. * The Darkness * Deap Vally *

Del Amitri Del Amitri are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1980. Between 1985 and 2002, the band released six studio albums. Their 1995 single " Roll to Me" reached number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Five Del Amitri albums have ...

* Embrace * Fantastic Negrito * Feeder *

* Frank Black * The Fratellis *

Giraffe Tongue Orchestra Giraffe Tongue Orchestra is an American rock supergroup. It consists of Alice in Chains vocalist William DuVall, guitarist Brent Hinds of Mastodon, lead guitarist Ben Weinman of the Dillinger Escape Plan, drummer Thomas Pridgen of the Mars Volta ...

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in ...

Grand Duchy A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was often used in th ...

* Isobell Campbell *

Jon Fratelli Jon Fratelli (born John Paul Lawler; 4 March 1979) is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band The Fratellis. Alongside his work with The Fratellis, Lawler has played in a band called Codeine Velvet Cl ...

* John Wheeler * Kate Miller-Heidke *

The King Blues The King Blues are a British punk rock band from London credited for fusing punk and hip hop together with influences from ska and spoken word. Tariq Ali described the band's sounds as "rough, radical music that should unsettle the rulers of t ...

* Lamb *

Lawson Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansas * ...

* The Lemonheads *

* Lewis Watson *

* Lucy Spraggan *

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

* Maxïmo Park *

Mexrrissey Mexrrissey is a Mexican band co-founded by Camilo Lara (Mexican Institute of Sound) and Sergio Mendoza (Calexico, Orquesta Mendoza). Inspired by Morrissey and The Smiths' songs, Camilo and Sergio along with: Ceci Bastida, Jay de la Cueva, Aleja ...

* Nina Nesbitt * Noah Gundersen *

* Paul Kelly * The Proclaimers *

The Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scen ...

* Reverend and The Makers * Richard Ashcroft *

* Ron Sexsmith * Röyksopp *

Seether Seether are a South African rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion wi ...

* Seth Lakeman * Sophie Ellis-Bextor * Starsailor * The Subways * Saint Raymond *

* Teddy Thompson *

Thea Gilmore Thea Eve Gilmore (born 25 November 1979), also known as Afterlight, is an English singer-songwriter. She has released more than twenty albums since her 1998 debut '' Burning Dorothy''. She has had three Top 40 entries on the UK Albums Chart and ...

* thenewno2 *

The Travelling Band The Travelling Band are an English folk-rock band, formed in 2006 and based in Manchester. The band members are Jo Dudderidge (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, hammond organ/piano, electric guitar), Adam P. Gorman (lead vocal, electric guitar, synt ...

* TLC * Turin Brakes *

The Virginmarys The Virginmarys are an English rock duo from Macclesfield, England. The band formed in 2009 as a trio and self-released a limited series of sold out EPs, before releasing their debut album '' King of Conflict'' on DoubleCross/Cooking Vinyl an ...

* The Waterboys *

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Idol ...

Past

Ac Acoustics AC Acoustics were a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow,Shepherd, Fiona. "Review: AC Acoustics", ''The Scotsman'', 2000-12-22, p. 8. formed in 1990. Over their thirteen years of existence, they released a string of singles, EPs and albums on ...

* Alex Chilton * Andy White * Ani DiFranco * Audio Bullys *

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

* Boiled in Lead * Bob Mould * Bruce Cockburn * Cerebral Ballzy * Chris Hillman * Chuck Prophet *

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

Clem Snide Clem Snide is an alt-country band featuring Eef Barzelay (guitar, vocals), Brendan Fitzpatrick (bass) and Ben Martin (drums). History "Clem Snide" is a character in several novels by William S. Burroughs, including ''Naked Lunch'', ''The Ticket ...

* Clive Gregson & Christine Collister *

Cowboy Junkies Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses ...

* David Thomas *

Davy Spillane Davy Spillane (born 1959 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle. Biography Irish music At the age of 12, Spillane started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him ...

* Dawn Landes *

Die Goldenen Zitronen Die Goldenen Zitronen ("The Golden Lemons") are a German punk rock band from Hamburg, formed in 1984. They are considered a forerunner to the " Hamburger Schule" and are noted for their anti-establishment stance. Formed by Schorsch Kamerun ( ...

* The Dillinger Escape Plan * Dropkick Murphys * Flaco Jiménez *

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly Sam Duckworth (born 1986) is an English musician who performs as Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. He is also sometimes referred to as ''Get Cape'', ''Cape'', ''GCWCF'' and ''Slam Dunkworth'' (the latter title apparently first coined by Emmy the Great ...

* Goats Don't Shave *

Grant Lee Phillips Grant-Lee Phillips (born Bryan G. Phillips; September 1, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He led the group Grant Lee Buffalo in the 1990s, afterwards launching a solo career. He features as the town troubadour ...

Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...

* Groove Armada *

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

Hayseed Dixie Hayseed Dixie is an American band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2000. Their first album was ''A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC''. The band performs bluegrass cover versions of hard rock songs and also original songs of a mostly satirical or absu ...

* HIM * Howling Bells * Idlewild * Jackie Leven * James * Janis Ian * June Tabor *

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (bass). Their first album, '' Killing Joke'', was released ...

* Loudbomb * Luka Bloom *

* Michael Messer * Michael Nesmith * Michelle Shocked * Nina Nesbitt * Nitin Sawhney * Ocean Colour Scene * Oysterband * Prolapse * Pulp * Richard Thompson * Roll Deep * Rory McLeod * Ryan Adams * Skindred * Stephen Duffy * Sweet Honey in the Rock * The Blackout * The Bongos * The Charlatans * The Church * The Cranberries * The Cult * The Dave Graney Show * The Enemy *

The Jolly Boys The Jolly Boys are a mento band from Port Antonio, Jamaica. It was formed in 1945 and had great commercial success in the late 1980s and 1990s among reggae and world music fans. They released a new album in 2010 ''Great Expectation'' and are c ...

The Lilac Time The Lilac Time is a British alternative folk-rock band, originally formed in Herefordshire, England by Stephen Duffy, his brother Nick Duffy and their friend Michael Weston in 1986. The band's name was taken from a line in the Nick Drake so ...

* The Mekons *

The Nightingales Nightingales (a.k.a. The Nightingales) are a British post-punk/alternative rock band, formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England, by four members of Birmingham's punk group The Prefects. They had been part of The Clash's 'White Riot Tour', record ...

* The Pigeon Detectives * The Pretty Reckless * The Prodigy * The Ukrainians * The Undertones *

The Wannadies The Wannadies is an alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten (vocals, guitars), Christina Bergmark (born 1 March 1969) ( keyboards, vocals), Stefan Schönfeldt (born 5 ...

* The View *

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a dr ...

* Tom Robinson *

Turbonegro Turbonegro (Turboneger in Norway) is a Norwegian rock band, active from 1989 to 1998 and from 2002 to the present. The band combines glam rock, punk rock, and hard rock into a self-described "deathpunk" musical style. History Early years ...

* T.V. Smith *

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...

* Velvet Crush * Violent Femmes * Weddings Parties Anything *

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing i ...

* Ziggy Marley

References

External links

Cooking Vinyl Website

Cooking Vinyl Publishing

Cooking Vinyl AustraliaMotus Music
{{Authority control British independent record labels Record labels established in 1986 Indie rock record labels Alternative rock record labels Electronic music record labels 1986 establishments in the United Kingdom Music-related lists