Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

but also

audiobooks An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 17 labels including Naxos Records, Naxos Audiobooks, and Naxos Books (ebooks). There are about an additional 50 labels that are independent of the Naxos Musical Group with a wide range of offerings. The company was founded in 1987 by

Klaus Heymann Klaus Heymann (born 22 October 1936) is a German entrepreneur and the founder and head of the Naxos Records, Naxos record label. Early life Heymann was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and studied Romance languages and English at the Universities of G ...

, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.

Naxos Records

Naxos Records is a record label specializing in

. The company was known for its budget pricing of discs, with simpler artwork and design than most other labels. In the 1980s, Naxos primarily recorded central and eastern European symphony orchestras, often with lesser-known conductors, as well as upcoming and unknown musicians, to minimize recording costs and maintain its budget prices. In more recent years, Naxos has taken advantage of the expiring

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

s of other companies' studio recordings by selling discs remastered from

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

s. Examples include the complete recordings of opera singers such as

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

Amelita Galli-Curci Amelita Galli-Curci (18 November 1882 – 26 November 1963) was an Italian lyric coloratura soprano. She was one of the most famous operatic singers of the 20th century and a popular recording artist, with her records selling in large numbe ...

, and

Titta Ruffo Titta Ruffo (9 June 1877 – 5 July 1953), born as Ruffo Cafiero (double forename) Titta, was an Italian operatic baritone who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" ("voice of the lion"), he was greatly admi ...

and the 1934 world première performance of

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator and music theorist. As director for forty year ...

's opera '' Merry Mount''. Legal restrictions prevented some of these recordings from being sold in the United States. Naxos has also recorded the music of contemporary composers, including Leonardo Balada, Bechara El-Khoury,

Laurent Petitgirard Laurent Petitgirard (born 10 June 1950, in Paris) is a French classical composer and conductor. Biography Laurent Petitgirard was born in Paris on 10 June 1950. He studied piano with his father Serge Petitgirard, a pupil of Alfred Cortot and ...

, and

Alla Pavlova Alla Yevgenyevna Pavlova (born July 13, 1952, in Ukraine) is a Russian composer. Pavlova was born and initially raised in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. She and her family moved to Moscow in 1961, and she then moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1990, where she ...

. The label has branched out into

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

, and books on musical subjects. Naxos Spoken Word Library contains non-music products, such as

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

s and

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

s. In 2003, it began a paid subscription service for listening on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

that offers its complete catalogue and the Naxos Music Library. As of 2019, subscribers had access to 2,225,190 tracks on its 145,755 discs, though these numbers were increasing by nearly 100 new discs a day. In 2015, it launched a high-definition download and streaming service, ClassicsOnline HD•LL, with a catalogue drawn from a number of classical record labels.

Distribution

Naxos Global Logistics, based in Poing near

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, was founded in 2008 to expand the services offered to its distributed labels, including manufacturing, marketing, and licensing.

Awards

In 2005, Naxos won the Label of the Year Award at Classic FM/'' Gramophone'' awards. In 2023, they won the Label of the Year Award2023 Winners--ICMA
/ref> at the International Classical Music Awards.

Other divisions

ARC Music ARC Music is a world music and folk music label based in West Sussex, England, that was established in 1976. Naxos acquired ARC in 2019. Film and television ARC Music has been used in the films '' Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crysta ...

* ArkivMusic * Capriccio * Chandos * Dynamic * Oehms Classics * Ondine * Orfeo

References

External links