Network Records (formed out of Kool Kat Records) was an

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 ...

founded in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, in 1988 by

Neil Rushton Neil Rushton is a British journalist, DJ, record dealer, record label entrepreneur, event promoter and author who is closely associated with the Northern soul scene. Life and career Rushton was born in Birmingham in the mid-1950s, but moved to n ...

and Dave Barker. It was instrumental in first introducing

Detroit techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff M ...

to a British audience, through its early ''Bio Rhythm'' compilations, as well as

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

and developing homegrown

breakbeat hardcore Breakbeat hardcore (also referred to as hardcore rave or oldskool hardcore) is a music genre of the very early 1990s that spawned from the UK rave scene. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In ...

. Network released music from artists such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May, MK, Neal Howard, Model 500,

Kevin Saunderson Kevin Maurice Saunderson (born September 5, 1964) is an American electronic dance music Dj and record producer. He is famous for being a member of a trio, along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May, who came to be known as The Belleville Three, ...

, Rhythm on the Loose, Cyclone, Funky Green Dogs From Outer Space, SL2,

Nexus 21 Altern 8 is a British electronic music act, comprising Mark Archer and Chris Peat, until Peat left the group in 1994. Best known in the early 1990s, their trademark was electronic rave music with a heavy bass line. Notable Altern 8 tracks ...

, Altern-8 & MC Lethal. It launched a spin-off label, Six6 (also known as 6x6) distributed by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

from 1993-1996. After a hiatus, Network returned to re-release the 1991 Derrick May album ''Innovator'' in December 2019.

References

External links

*
Kool Kat
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

6x6 Records
discography at

{{Authority control British independent record labels Defunct companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands Defunct record labels of the United Kingdom House music record labels Record labels based in Birmingham, West Midlands 1988 establishments in England 1990s disestablishments in England