Narada is a record label formed in 1983 as an independent

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

label and distributed by MCA. From 1997–2013, the label was owned by

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), ...

on behalf of EMI. Since 2013, it is a fully owned subsidiary of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

and distributed by

Capitol Music Group Capitol Music Group is an American front-line umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, itself a division of Universal Music Group. Inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog in 2013, it oversees the handling of ...

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

. The label evolved through an expansion of formats to include

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 ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

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 ...

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

, new flamenco, acoustic guitar, and piano releases.

Label history

In 1979, John Morey started a mail-order business to sell new-age music. This led to the creation of Narada in Milwaukee in 1983, and the roster eventually included

David Arkenstone David Arkenstone (born July 1, 1952) is an American composer and performer. His music is primarily instrumental, with occasional vocalizations. Most of Arkenstone's music falls into new age category; however, he also worked in other genres, inclu ...

Jesse Cook Jesse Arnaud Cook (born November 28, 1964) is a Canadian guitarist. He is a Juno Award winner, ''Acoustic Guitar'' Player's Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco Category, and a three-time winner of the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guita ...

Michael Gettel 'Michael Gettel'' (born Oct. 18, 1958) is a recording artist, composer, and pianist, who has been creating, teaching, and performing music for decades. Widely known for his piano and composition work, the native of Evergreen, Colorado, has released ...

, Michael Jones,

David Lanz David Howard Lanz (born June 28, 1950, in Seattle, Washington) is an American pianist and composer. His album '' Cristofori's Dream'' topped the New Age Music Chart in 1988. Early years Lanz attributes his interest in the piano to experiences ...

, Oscar Lopez, and

Billy McLaughlin Billy McLaughlin is an American new age acoustic guitarist, composer and producer. Background McLaughlin, of Irish ancestry, graduated with honors from the University of Southern California. He is one of nine children. In 1998, Mclaughlin began ...

bought Narada in 1997, along with

Higher Octave Higher Octave Music is a sub-label imprint of Narada Productions. Since 2013, it is part of Universal Music Group's Capitol Music Group, which is located in Los Angeles. History Higher Octave was acquired by Virgin Records on behalf of EMI in 19 ...

and Back Porch, and directly signed Yanni, along with other New Age and Smooth Jazz acts. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Narada created several sub-label imprints to differentiate its offerings, in particular Sona Gaia, Antiquity Records, Rising Sun Records, Narada World, Narada Equinox, Narada Jazz, Narada Lotus, and Narada Mystique. Since the acquisition, Narada was the principal U.S. licensee for Peter Gabriel's

Real World Records Real World Records is a British record label specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of WOMAD. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at R ...

until 2008. The sub-labels of Narada were retired and their albums folded into the company's main imprint, Narada. Shakti Records was created in 2000 for electronic music, but the last release was in 2004 as Narada concentrated on contemporary jazz. Higher Octave and Back Porch were absorbed into Narada in 2004 as sub-labels, without the original staff, significantly reducing their roster of artists and albums. In 2005, Narada was named No. 4 in the 2005 top four contemporary jazz labels in ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine's year-end charts. In 2006, EMI moved Narada from Milwaukee suburb

Glendale, Wisconsin Glendale is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 13,357 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb north of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History The Glendale area has ...

to EMI headquarters in New York City, to become part of the expanded role for

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

, EMI's consolidated label group for music for adults. Likewise merged in were

Mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

, Capitol Jazz, Roulette Jazz,

Pacific Jazz Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles–based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founde ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

, and Metro Blue; announced plans were to continue using existing imprints. As part of this consolidation, Narada's involvement with new-age music was reduced with Narada's focus narrowed to mainly contemporary jazz; new age would be put on sister label Higher Octave.

Roster

Azam Ali Azam Ali () is an Iranian musician. As of 2013, she has released ten albums with the bands VAS, Roseland, and Niyaz, as well as five solo records. Biography Born in Tehran on 3 October 1970, Ali spent most of her childhood in Panchgani, In ...

Altan Altan may refer to: * Altan (name) * Altan (company), a software company. * Altan (band), a folk music group from Donegal * ''Altan'' (album), a 1987 album by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy * Altan Jalab, a village in Afghanistan * A ...

* Ancient Future *

* Spencer Brewer * Bob Baldwin *

Peter Buffett Peter Andrew Buffett (born May 4, 1958) is an American musician, composer, author and philanthropist. With a career that spans more than 30 years, Buffett is a Regional Emmy Award winner, New York Times best-selling author and co-chair of the N ...

* Doug Cameron *

Paul Cardall Paul Cardall (born April 24, 1973) is an American pianist known for his original compositions and arrangements of various hymns. His music is frequently categorized as classical, Christian and new age. Cardall has had several recordings debu ...

* Colin Chin *

Joyce Cooling Joyce Cooling is an American jazz guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She has performed with Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, Mark Murphy, Al Jarreau, and Charlie Byrd. Music career Cooling was born into a musical family. Her mother, a music teacher, ...

John Doan John Doan (born May 16, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. Background Doan grew up in Venice, California, and at the age of eleven began playing the guitar, first a 12-string, and later a double-neck electric in a rock band. Later, w ...

* Down to the Bone *

Lila Downs Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968 * *) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporat ...

* William Ellwood *

Dean Evenson Dean Evenson (born December 14, 1944) is an American new-age musician, composer, producer, and videographer. Dean plays several instruments including the Western concert flute, Native American flute, synthesizer, and keyboard. His music generally ...

Alasdair Fraser Alasdair Fraser (born 14 May 1955, Clackmannan, Scotland) is a Scottish fiddler, composer, performer, and recording artist. Fraser operates Culburnie Records and is a leading artist on the label. He has founded various summer fiddling prog ...

* Wayne Gratz * Ralf Illenberger * Jim Jacobsen * Michael Jones *

Bradley Joseph Bradley Joseph (born 1965) is an American composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. His compositions include works for orchestras, quartets, and solo piano pieces. He has been active professionally since 1983, and has ...

* Martin Kolbe * Kostia *

Nando Lauria Nando Lauria (born 11 May 1960) is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. Biography At the age of seven, Lauria picked up the ''violão'' (Brazilian acoustic guitar). He was raised in a musical family—his older brother played electric guitar in a ...

* Gabriel Lee *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

* Oscar Lopez *

Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for ''Prototype'' ...

* Peter Maunu *

Keiko Matsui is a Japanese keyboardist and composer, specializing in smooth jazz and New-age music. Biography Keiko Matsui was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her mother, Emiko, took her to her first piano lesson in the June following her sixth birthday. Japanese t ...

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reac ...

Robert Miles Roberto Concina (; 3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children" sold more than 5 million copies and topped the charts worldwid ...

Sheldon Mirowitz Sheldon may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sheldon (name), a given name and a surname, and a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places Antarctica * Sheldon Glacier, Adelaide Island Australia * Sheldon, Queensland ...

* Bruce Mitchell * Carol Nethen *

Judith Pintar Judith Pintar is a sociologist and author of interactive fiction. As the Director of the Game Studies and Design Program, she teaches game studies, narrative design, and Southeastern European Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. ...

* Kate Price * Kim Robertson * Randy Roos * Don Ross * Bernardo Rubaja *

Nancy Rumbel Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel are musicians who have performed, recorded and traveled together since 1985, and are responsible for 19 albums. Eric Tingstad is a composer who plays fingerstyle guitar. Nancy Rumbel plays oboe, English horn and ...

Richard Souther Richard Douglas Trowbridge Souther (Born June 25 1951, Los Angeles, CA, United States, currently living in Las Vegas, NV, United States.) is an American musician, composer, arranger, keyboardist and pianist, who played on several albums of contem ...

Paul Speer Paul Speer (born 1952 in Lewiston, Idaho, Lewiston, Idaho) is a Grammy nominated guitarist, composer, and record producer. He has released several solo albums, music video albums, and collaborations with other artists such as pianist David Lanz ...

* Ira Stein *

Miriam Stockley Miriam Arlene Stockley (born 15 April 1962) is a South African singer. She was born in Johannesburg, and her work is influenced by the Music of Africa, African music of her home country. Her distinctive ''vocal warm up#Vocalise, vocalise'' style ...

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt; 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan (band), Japan. During his time in Japan, Sylvia ...

Eric Tingstad Eric Tingstad (born December 16, 1954) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter and composer. He was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. Best known as a fingerstyle guitarist, Tingstad has performed, recorded, and produced altern ...

* Tingstad & Rumbel *

Trapezoid In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...

Artie Traum Arthur Roy Traum (April 3, 1943 – July 20, 2008) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. Traum's work appeared on more than 35 albums. He produced and recorded with The Band, Arlen Roth, Warren Bernhardt, Pat Alger, Tony Levin, ...

Vas Vas (, ; ; or ; ) is an administrative county (comitatus or ''vármegye'') of Hungary. It was also one of the counties of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It is part of the Centrope Project. Geography Vas County lies in western Hungary. It share ...

Andrew White Andrew White may refer to: *Andrew White (Australian politician) (1859–1936) *Andrew White (basketball) (born 1993), American basketball player *Andrew White (Irish cricketer) (born 1980), Irish cricketer, played for Northamptonshire and for Ire ...

* Friedemann Witecka * Simon Wynberg *

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

Compilation albums

* ''

20 Years of Narada Piano ''20 Years of Narada Piano'' is a 2001 compilation release by Narada. It peaked at #12 on Billboard's Top New Age album charts in the same year. Track listing *1.1 "Endings" – Michael Jones – 5:33 *1.2 "Sunrise" – Kostia ...

'' * ''

Grand Piano (Narada Anniversary Collection) ''Grand Piano'' is a 1997 compilation by Narada. It peaked at No. 10 on '' Billboard's'' Top New Age album charts in the same year. From album liner: "In Narada's 15-year history, no single instrument has more clearly expressd our musical visio ...

'' * ''Gypsy Passion: New Flamenco'' * ''

Narada Smooth Jazz ''Narada Smooth Jazz'' is a 1997 compilation release by Narada. It peaked at #25 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums in the same year. Track listing *1.01 "Redwood/Nocturne" – Spencer Brewer – 4:20 *1.02 "Gravity" – ...

'' * ''Stories (Narada Artist Collection)'' * ''The Next Generation – Narada Sampler'' * ''Narada Film and Television Music Sampler'' (1998) * ''The Wilderness Collection'' (1990) * ''Viva Flamenco!'' (2000) * ''Flamenco: Fire and Grace'' (1996)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Music of Wisconsin 1983 establishments in the United States Record labels established in 1983 Easy listening record labels American jazz record labels EMI Virgin Records New-age music record labels World music record labels Universal Music Group Smooth jazz record labels Companies based in Los Angeles