Planet Mu is an English

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 ...

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

created and run by

Mike Paradinas Michael Robert Paradinas (born 26 September 1971), better known by his stage name μ-Ziq (pronounced "music" or mu-zik), is an English electronic musician from Wimbledon, London. He was associated with the electronic style intelligent dance mus ...

. The label started out as a subsidiary of

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

then Paradinas set up the label independent of Virgin. After releasing

intelligent dance music Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints.''"…the label 'IDM' (for avant-garde, 'intelligent dance music') see ...

, the label moved to

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

and breakcore, and then grime and

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken ...

and later footwork. The label also releases the music of Paradinas under various aliases such as μ-Ziq, Kid Spatula, and Tusken Raiders. It celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025.

Beginning

When

signed as a musician to

in the mid-1990s, Paradinas was asked for suggestions for the new dance subsidiary and suggested Planet Mu as a play on

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980 ...

's label Planet E. When Virgin lost interest in the project, Paradinas took it over. He quickly drew critical acclaim for releasing a string of important IDM (

) records, from artists such as Jega, Leafcutter John,

Luke Vibert Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...

and Venetian Snares. The label also releases Paradinas's music under a range of aliases including Kid Spatula, Tusken Raiders, and Mu-Ziq, establishing itself as an electronic music label to rival Skam Records and

Warp records Warp Records is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...

Progression

As the new decade began, Planet Mu began to release

and breakcore records from artists such as 0=0, Tim Exile and Shitmat. Later in the decade, Paradinas moved towards grime and

, signing artists such as Boxcutter, Milanese, Mr. Mitch, Pinch, Vex'd, and Virus Syndicate. In 2006, the label released three ''Warrior Dubz'' compilations curated by Mary Anne Hobbs. In the 2010s, Planet Mu changed direction again, releasing the footwork compilation ''Bangs & Works Vol. 1'' which featured DJ Rashad and brought the Chicago genre to wider attention. ''Bangs & Works Vol. 2'' came out the following year and launched the career of Jlin. In 2020, the label celebrated its 25th birthday. In 2019 it had not made a profit but in 2020 during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, sales went up. It released the compilation ''PlanetMμ25'' which featured grime from East Man & Streema, pop from RUI-HO, IDM from Bogdan Raczynski and jazz from Jana Rush.

References

External links

Official website

Discogs Planet-Mu
{{Authority control English record labels Record labels established in 1995 Electronic music record labels Drum and bass record labels Dubstep record labels Breakcore Grime music

Beginning

Progression

See also

References

External links