Ghostly International is an American

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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded in 1999 by Samuel Valenti IV and currently headquartered in

Brooklyn, New York City Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

with team in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Artists include

Matthew Dear Matthew Dear (born April 4, 1979) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. History Texas-born Dear moved to Michigan as a teenager, where he was inspired by the sound of Detroit techno. Dear met Sam Valenti IV at a party while attendin ...

, Dabrye (a.k.a. Tadd Mullinix), Com Truise, Tycho, Gold Panda, School of Seven Bells, Kate Bollinger, Brijean,

C418 Daniel Rosenfeld (born 9 May 1989), known professionally as C418 (pronounced "see four eighteen"), is a German musician, composer and producer. Known for his minimalistic ambient work, he rose to fame as the original composer and sound designe ...

, crushed, Julie Byrne, dreamcastmoe, Dua Saleh, Ginger Root, Hana Vu,

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

, Goya Gumbani, Mary Lattimore, quickly quickly, Shigeto and Loraine James (as Whatever The Weather).

History

Ghostly International was founded in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

by Sam Valenti IV in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

.Ghostly International: The Q&A
The Journal of Murketing He grew up in suburban

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, where, having become a fan of

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, Popular music, mainstream popular music culture. Underground styles lack the commercial success of popular music movements, and may involve the use of avant-g ...

culture, he would sneak into hip-hop clubs by carrying records for his Detroit DJ hero Houseshoes. Valenti later became a DJ himself, taking the name DJ SpaceGhost;They spin by night: The rise of Ann Arbor indie label Ghostly International
, Detroit Metro Times this theme is echoed by the name and logo of Ghostly International. Valenti met

at a house party that Valenti attended during his first week at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in Ann Arbor. Their shared affection for

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, particularly the sound of Detroit techno, led to the label's (and Dear’s) first 12 inch single, "Hands Up For Detroit." Following this, Ghostly enjoyed early success with albums by Mullinix as well as '' Disco Nouveau'', a compilation including artists such as ADULT.,

Solvent A solvent (from the Latin language, Latin ''wikt:solvo#Latin, solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a Solution (chemistry), solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas ...

, Legowelt, Daniel Wang and DMX Krew, inspired by the

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, ...

movement of the 1970s and 1980s. The label then widened its focus to include groups such as Skeletons & The Girl-Faced Boys and Mobius Band, whose rock-based sound meshes with the label's eccentric leanings. Also known for forward-thinking package design by the likes of Will Calcutt and Deanne Cheuk, as well as the Boy, Cat, and Bird logos of Michael Segal, Ghostly International aims to be a complete aesthetic experience. Ghostly International followed up ''Disco Nouveau'' with two more successful

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s featuring its artists: '' Idol Tryouts'' and '' Idol Tryouts 2''. Ghostly International also runs a companion label, Spectral Sound, formed in 2000, releasing dance records by Matthew Dear/Audion, Seth Troxler, Avalon Emerson, and other producers. Ghostly International and

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

released a compilation album known as '' Ghostly Swim'',''Ghostly Swim'' compilation
, Adult Swim available on Adult Swim's website for free. It was released with a bonus track on January 27, 2009 as a limited edition CD. Two sequels to Ghostly Swim, '' Ghostly Swim 2'', was released digitally on December 23, 2014, (CD on April 28, 2015) and Ghostly Swim 3 on December 13, 2019. The label has also been involved in the soundtracks for video games. In 2014, Ghostly released a compilation album of new and previously recorded work by Ghostly artists to act as the soundtrack to the video game '' Hohokum''. A year later, the first soundtrack to critically acclaimed videogame ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java (programming language), Java programming language, the ...

'' by German musician

was released by Ghostly as a vinyl LP on August 21, 2015, four years after its original digital release by C418. In 2018 a limited edition version of the Super Nt

home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...

was made by Analogue and Ghostly International. Throughout the 2010s, Ghostly International released music from artists such as Com Truise, Heathered Pearls, HTRK, Shigeto, Tycho, and TOBACCO. The label also collaborated with various brands, including Adult Swim and Warby Parker. In 2015, Ghostly International moved to Brooklyn, New York, where they are still based to this day. In 2019, Ghostly marked its 20th anniversary with collaborative projects, including partnerships with Vans and Miffy, as well as events in multiple cities. The label received its second Grammy nomination for a retrospective box set the same year. In 2020, after more than a decade of working with Secretly Distribution, Ghostly International became an affiliate label of Secretly Group, partnering with Ben Swanson, Chris Swanson, Darius Van Arman and Phil Waldorf, and co-founding All Flowers Group, a label group which also includes the label drink sum wtr.

List of artists

* Adult. * Aeroc *

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

*Brijean *Bullion * Choir of Young Believers * Christopher Willits * Ciel * Com Truise *

*crushed * Dabrye * Dauwd * Deastro *dreamcastmoe * Dua Saleh *Emeralds *

Fort Romeau Michael Greene, aka Fort Romeau, is an electronic music producer and DJ from the United Kingdom. Background Born in Chester, Greene grew up in Oxfordshire and went on to study Music and Visual Art in Brighton. After graduating he moved to London an ...

* Geotic * Gold Panda * Ginger Root *Goya Gumbani *Galcher Lustwerk * Heathered Pearls * HTRK * Hana Vu *

* Jacaszek * Julie Byrne * Kate Simko * Khotin *

Kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

* Kate Bollinger * Lord RAJA * Lusine * Loraine James (as Whatever The Weather) * Mary Lattimore * Matrixxman *

* Michna *Moderna * Mux Mool * Nautiluss * Pale Sketcher *

Phantogram Phantogram may refer to: *Phantogram (band) Phantogram is an American music duo from Greenwich (town), New York, Greenwich, New York (state), New York, formed in 2007 and consisting of multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Sarah Barthel and Josh ...

* Psymun *quickly, quickly * Recondite * Sam Valenti IV * Shigeto * The Sight Below *

*STUDIO * Tadd Mullinix *

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, also known as the Northern Tropic, is the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun ...

* Ultraísta * Willits + Sakamoto (Christopher Willits &

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...

) * Xeno & Oaklander

Formerly signed

* 10:32 *Ben Benjamin * Black Marble *Cepia *

The Chap ''The Chap'' is a British humorous men's lifestyle magazine published quarterly. It was founded in 1999 by Gustav Temple and Vic Darkwood, and is still edited by Temple. The magazine proposes that men everywhere return to a more gentlemanly wa ...

* Charles Manier * Clark Warner *Daniel Wang *Dykehouse * Grand Valley State New Music Ensemble * JDSY * Jeffery Sfire * Kill Memory Crash * Loscil *Midwest Product *PostPrior * Mike Servito * Mobius Band * North Valley Subconscious Orchestra * School of Seven Bells * Skeletons & The Kings of All Cities * Syntaks *

Twine Twine is a strong Thread (yarn), thread, light String (structure), string or cord composed of string in which two or more thinner strands are twisted, and then twisted together (Plying, plied). The strands are plied in the opposite direction to ...

* Tycho

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official site

''Metro Times'' article

Ghostly Apparitions - An Exploration of Michael Cina's Album Artwork for Ghostly International

Ghostly International moves to Tech Brewery, inks new deals
{{Authority control American independent record labels Techno record labels Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan Record labels based in Michigan Record labels established in 1999 Companies based in Ann Arbor, Michigan 1999 establishments in Michigan