Sain (Welsh for ''Audio'', ), in full – ''Sain (Recordiau) Cyf.'' (Audio (Records) Ltd) is a Welsh

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, ...

, which took part in the Welsh folk revival.

History

Sain was founded in Cardiff in 1969 by singers and songwriters

Dafydd Iwan Dafydd Iwan Jones (born 24 August 1943) is a Welsh people, Welsh singer and Welsh nationalism, nationalist politician who rose to fame writing and performing folk music in the Welsh language. From 2003 to 2010, Iwan was the president of Plaid ...

and and businessman

Brian Morgan Edwards Brian Morgan Edwards (August 1934 – December 2002) was a Welsh businessman and politician who sponsored the first Welsh-language recording studio for popular music. He was described as a political "maverick". Edwards was born in Swansea and wo ...

, as a home for Welsh-language rock and folk music, which was otherwise finding it difficult to 'break through' in the UK market. Sain is regarded as being the first Welsh record company to be self-sufficient in terms of independence from other British companies, and laid the foundation for subsequent Welsh labels. The company released its first single in October 1969, Huw Jones' "Dŵr" (Welsh for ''Water''), a song about the drowning of the

Tryweryn Afon Tryweryn is a river in the north of Wales which starts at Llyn Tryweryn in the Snowdonia National Park and after joins the river Dee at Bala. One of the main tributaries of the Dee, it was dammed in 1965 to form Llyn Celyn. The Tryweryn ...

Valley, in the north of Wales, to form

Llyn Celyn Llyn Celyn () is a reservoir constructed between 1960 and 1965 including the highly controversial Tryweryn flooding in the valley of the River Afon Tryweryn, Tryweryn in Gwynedd, Wales. This included the forcible removal of the Capel Celyn vil ...

reservoir. Many of the company's early releases were recorded at the

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Recording studios Rockfield is a two-stu ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

. In the early 1970s Sain moved to the

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

area, and opened their first recording studio in 1975 near

Llandwrog Llandwrog (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, most notable for the presence of the headquarters of Welsh record label Sain (record label), Sain and the site of Caernarfon Airport. It has a population ...

. Musicians who have recorded for the label include

Meic Stevens Meic Stevens (born 13 March 1942) is a Welsh singer-songwriter. He has been one of the most prominent figures in the Welsh music scene for over five decades, and played a key role in establishing the popular music scene in Wales. He is descri ...

Geraint Jarman Geraint Jarman (17 August 1950 – 2 March 2025) was a Welsh musician, poet and television producer whose career dates back to the early years of Welsh popular music. He recorded many albums as a solo artist and with his band Geraint Jarman a'r ...

and

Bryn Terfel Bryn Terfel Jones (; born 9 November 1965), is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially primarily associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly '' Figaro'', '' Leporello'' and ''Don Giovanni,'' but he has subsequ ...

Current activities

Today Sain remains the biggest producer of music of Wales, covering traditional, folk, rock, pop, hip-hop, rap, country and classical music. The label has several subsidiaries including Crai, which was founded in 1988 and has released music by Yr Anhrefn, Mike Peters and Big Leaves, as well as a series of ''Crai Tecno'' compilations featuring Welsh

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

artists.Hill, Sarah (2007) ''Blerwytirhwng? the Place of Welsh Pop Music'', Ashgate, , p. 63, 87, 134Parker, Mike & Whitfield, Paul (2003) ''The Rough Guide to Wales'', Rough Guides, , p. 584 Rasal Cyf. is the latest label, and this signs young Welsh bands.

Maartin Allcock Maartin Allcock (born Martin Allcock; 5 January 1957 – 16 September 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Biography Born in Middleton, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), England, Allcock studied music at Hudder ...

has produced many Sain albums. The label's Chief Executive is Dafydd Roberts, the harp and flute player of the folk band ''Ar Log''.Nashville star records Welsh hymn
,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, 27 March 2006, retrieved 2011-01-22 In 2017 Sain released over 7,000 audio clips and 498 album covers under a

Creative Commons licence A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and bui ...

. These are available on

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...

Branch labels

*Sain – main label *Crai – mainstream rock label *Rasal – pop/indie label for young talents *Slic –

library music Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries. Backgrou ...

label

References

External links

Official websiteDiscography on discogs.com
{{Authority control Welsh record producers Welsh-language music Welsh-language mass media British independent record labels Folk record labels Companies of Wales Companies based in Gwynedd

History

Current activities

Branch labels

See also

References

External links