Curlie

Specialty

Music Labels are companies with a primary business: the creation of CDs, LPs, MP3 files, or other audio media. They work with a number of different artists, in one or more styles or genres.

This category, Specialty, holds subcategories for various styles and genres of music.

Styles may include genres such as Classical, Rock and Jazz; subgenres such as Classical/Opera, Rock/Metal, and Jazz/Ragtime; and types of music such as Choral, Native American, and Holiday. Genres may be defined by technical aspects such as instrumentation, harmony, melody, rhythm, and form, or according to schemes devised by writers and critics. Music types may be defined by these criteria as well as others such as subject matter, chronology, or performance context, and may cut across genre lines.

Because of the number of very small labels which appear, and disappear, overnight, businesses listed here are selected because they have a portfolio of several artists, conduct business in a particular city, and distribute their audio material in stores, as well as from their web site.

This category is for websites of Music Labels focused on particular styles or genres.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .

Specialist Labels , must submit websites to the most appropriate subcategory of Labels: Specialty taking into account the style or genre which best suits the label''s work .

If your company promotes artists, and represents the independent CDs or MP3s created by the artists (but is not a Music Label for other reasons), please submit your website to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Production.

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on specific styles or genres must be submitted to the appropriate subcat in Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Audiophile

Musical recordings which are distinguished by careful attention to sound quality.

Bluegrass

Bluegrass is a style of southern string band music developed by Bill Monroe in the 1930s and 1940s. Bill Monroe's records with the Blue Grass Boys were so popular on the radio that announcers began using the term "Bluegrass music." Typical instrumentation is fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, dobro, and bass. Bluegrass comes from Mountain, Gospel, and Blues music, and generally involves a traditional, often melancholy, subject. It is played by an acoustic string band, which may be augmented by traditional instruments, such as the harmonica, mouth harp, accordion, jug, and spoons. Bluegrass is characterized by virtuoso string playing, as with Bill Monroe playing the mandolin, or Earl Scruggs the banjo. The mandolin, following Monroe's example, and especially the 5-string banjo, is a prominent feature of the traditional bluegrass band. The tempo of the music is frequently fast, highlighting the skill of the performers; however, tempos and grooves vary from song to song, and tune to tune, and certain keys and modes are generally favored for "fiddle tunes" and songs, typically grounded in but not limited to blues and Celtic modal scales (Major, Mixolydian, Dorian and Aeolian). Some notable features of bluegrass are as follows: (1) musicians playing acoustic instruments in a continuously rotating ensemble, each "picker" taking turns playing lead "breaks" and "back-up" behind vocalists and other instrumentalists; (2) high-pitched -- often described as "high-lonesome" -- lead vocals and harmony singing in duos, trios and gospel quartets, often with bended notes and glissandos; (3) subject matter based on traditional themes akin to country and gospel music, of which bluegrass has many affinities and correspondences.

This category is for Labels focused on Bluegrass.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory of Labels: Specialty taking into account the style or genre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Bluegrass must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Country .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Blues

A style of music originally based on field shouts and secular songs of the American Negro, featuring repeated sections of twelve measures each in an A-A-B structure. This is a vocal genre, often performed by singing guitarists, with melodic lines characterized by flatted thirds and seventh. Despite the name, the mood can be happy or sad, the tempo fast or slow. Sometimes called a subgenre of jazz, blues music has its own identity in artists such as Buddy Guy and Ruth Brown. Typical artists in Blues-Rock, a related style, are Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton.

This category is for Labels focused on Blues Music.

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Blues Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Blues .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Classical

Classical music has come to refer to a canon, or a body of works accepted over time as worthy of study and performance. Originally, music created for the European aristocracy at court and in church, as opposed to ballads and comic songs performed by minstrels for common folk. By the 18th Century, the style was associated with more or less standardized instrumentation and accepted principles of counterpoint as exemplified by the composers Mozart and Haydn. Classical style includes this so-called Classical Era but also the preceding Baroque period of Bach and Handel and the subsequent Romanticism of Beethoven and Schubert. Other subgenres include 20th century post-Romanticism and 12-tone music, and some writers would also include Early music from the Renaissance and the Middle Ages. The style includes vocal music such as Opera, Lieder and Oratorio as well as instrumental music. Although Classical music is usually intended to be performed as written, it also includes semi-improvisational experimental, electronic and aleatory music often associated with universities.

This category is for Labels focused on Classical Music.

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Classical Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Classical and Early .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Country

This style mixes elements of Folk music with often wryly humorous lyrics, echoes of the poetry of lonesome cowboys. Universally sung to guitar accompaniment, Modern Country tends to be about the simple things of life such as love, work, and families. Drinking, cars and trucks also figure heavily in Country lyrics. Popular artists include Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton. Subgenres and related styles include Rockabilly, Bluegrass, and Country-rock.

This category is for Labels focused on Country Music.

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Country Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Country .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Dance

Not just any music to which one can dance, Dance is a specific modern genre relying heavily on technology and electronic instruments, and characterized by repeated patterns on bass and drums. Many styles of modern Dance music rely on synthesizers and sampled sounds rather than traditional instruments. Subgenres include Techno, Drum and Bass, Eurodance, Trance, House, Freestyle, and Disco.

This category is for record labels specializing in dance music.

If your label releases a wide variety of styles or genres, please submit your site to >Labels. In the case of specialist dance music labels, please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory of Labels: Specialty: Dance, taking into account the subgenre which best suits your label''s work.

Websites of labels that promote the work of a single band or artist should be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Individual Promotions, if they focus on online sales. Those that don''t focus on online sales should be submitted to the appropriate category under Arts: Music: Bands and Artists. If your business promotes artists or the music created by artists, but is not a Music Label for other reasons, please submit your website to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Production.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs. Websites of Retailers focused on dance music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Urban, Dance, and Electronica. Websites of music wholesalers and distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual sites may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity URLs. Please submit the URL of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Early Music

Music predating the rise of 18th Century counterpoint, including the Baroque, Renaissance, Medieval and earlier periods, sometimes but not always performed on instruments approximating those available at the time the music was written. Includes monophonic unaccompanied chant as performed in Catholic worship services.

This category is for Labels focused on Early Music.

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Early Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Classical and Early .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Electronic

Electronic music in general and music reliant on electronic instrumentation. Related subgenres are: Experimental, Noise, Ambient, Electronica, Techno, and Trance.

This category is for Websites of Labels specialized in Electronic Music.

Sites of labels that focus on Electronica, should be submitted to Labels: Specialty: Electronica.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory within Labels: Specialty taking into account the style or genre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retail stores focused on Electronic Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Experimental, Noise and Ambient .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Electronica

During the 70's and 80's, Kraftwerk and Brian Eno rose to prominence with some amazing Electronic music experimentation. Gradually, the Jamaican DJ soundsystem culture and the underground clubs in London, Detroit and New York gave the DJ more prominence, with their samplers, turntables and effects processors. Electronica is a term used to describe all sampler, computer and turntable based music, except for Hip Hop. It has quickly fragmented into a number of smaller sub-genres, like Intelligent Dance Music, Trip Hop, Ambient, Jungle, Drum and Bass, Bigbeat, etc. Some of the prominent Electronica bands are Moby, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Tricky, Massive Attack, The Future Sound of London, The Crystal Method, Orbital and Leftfield. A point to be noted is that Electronica is a very vast term, and the bands mentioned above illustrate this very feature of Electronica music.

This category is for Websites of Labels specialized in Electronica.

Sites of labels that focus on Electronic, should be submitted to Labels:Specialty: Electronic.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory within Labels: Specialty , taking into account the style or genre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retail stores focused on Electronic Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Urban, Dance and Electronica .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Experimental

Experimental music is music which defies categorization, repetition, and definition. Subgenres explore Fractals, Altered Tunings, Noise, and music based on futurist manifestos from the early 20th Century.

This category is for Labels focused on Experimental Music.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory within Labels: Specialty taking into account the style or genre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Experimental Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Experimental, Noise, and Ambient .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Folk

The term Folk Music has come to encompass a wide variety of styles, traditional and contemporary, based mainly on the musical roots and traditions of Europe. It includes: * Regional and ethnic traditional musics of the continent, performed by people for and within their own community, passed on and evolving through live performance. * Recorded collections of the aural tradition. * Composed songs and music which have become so well known that they can be said to have "entered the tradition," and are evolving through repeated performance. * Interpretations of the tradition, using different vocal styles and instrumentation. * Maintainers and interpreters of European traditional musics in diaspora communities of North America and Australasia. Since the 1960s folk revival, particularly in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australasia, it has also come to include music of singer-songwriters, who sing their own (usually personal and introspective) material, with no direct connection to the original Folk tradition other than style of performance.

This category is for Labels focused on Folk Music.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory of Labels: Specialty , taking into account the style or genre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Folk Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Folk .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Hip Hop

Lyrical genre that arose in the early 1980s to talk about the lifestyle of poverty, drugs, sex, guns and street fashions in the inner city urban ghettos of New York and Los Angeles, USA. Usually rapped, or rhythmically spoken, but sometimes sung, Hip Hop often features DJs or "scratch artists" who mix vinyl discs on twin turntables as an integral part of performance. Commercially released Hip Hop recordings commonly sample, or borrow from, previously made recordings. Some Hip Hop music has reached mainstream culture status in television commercials and awards programs, but "gangsta" rappers seem determined to maintain an aura of defiance and outrageousness much as some rockers go out of their way to cultivate a reputation for bad taste. Artists include Run D.M.C., Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dog, and Eminem.

This category is for Labels focused on Hip Hop.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory within Labels: Specialty taking into account the style or genre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Hip Hop must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Hip Hop .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Jazz

Developed by African-American and Creole musicians in New Orleans in the early 1900s and then popularized across the US by radio broadcasts and traveling musicians, Jazz remains one of the principal musical genres more than a century later. Characterized by improvised melodic lines, substitute harmonies and syncopated rhythms. Sub-genres include Swing, Bebop, Fusion, and Smooth Jazz, as well as styles tied to specific instrumentation such as Big Band Jazz and Boogie-woogie Piano. Blues is a related style based on repeated 12-measure sections.

This category is for Labels focused on Jazz Music.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory within Labels: Specialty taking into account the style or genre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Jazz Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Jazz .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

New Age

New Age is harmonious music intended to produce a feeling of inner calm and healing.

This category is for Labels focused on New Age Music.

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on New Age Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: New Age .

Punk

Punk. The name says it all. Energetic and usually with an active dislike for established forms of music, politics and fashion. Most fans of Punk Rock or some of its many offshoots Hardcore, Straight-edge, Emo, Grindcore, etc) are devoted to their music and lifestyle.

This category is for Labels focused on Punk Music.

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Punk Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Punk and Hardcore .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Reggae

One of the first truly international music styles, Reggae has its origins in the Ska and Rocksteady studios of Kingston, Jamaica. Some of the first Reggae studios (Black Ark) later went on to create new genres, including Dub, Ragga, and even the prototype for American Hip Hop. The most famous proponents of Reggae are the Marley family (Bob and Ziggy), whose bands toured the world and produced some of the best selling singles and albums of all time. The first producer of Bob Marley and the Wailers was Lee "Scratch" Perry, legendary father of Dub (originally meaning the B-side of a record, with drum breaks and dropouts for MCs to shout out over).

This category is for Labels specializing in Reggae, Dub, Jamaican Ska, Mento, Dancehall, Ragga, and other related genres..

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory of Labels Specialty taking into account the style or genre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Reggae must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Reggae .

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Regional and Ethnic

An umbrella category for musical styles associated with regions or ethnic groups of the world. The first world music record label was Smithsonian/Folkways, which in the 1930s began a series of influential releases of folk music from around the world. A major milestone in world music recordings came later with the Nonesuch Explorer series of records, introducing a variety of previously obscure musics to a diverse international audience. From these roots have sprung today's world music labels.

This category is for Labels releasing music styles of specific regions or ethnic groups of the world.

In the case of labels focused on a particular style or region , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory of Labels: Specialty: Regional and Ethnic .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Regional and Ethnic Music must be submitted to the most pertinent subcategory of Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Regional and Ethnic.

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Rock

Broad musical genre typically featuring electric guitar, drums, and powerful bass. Lyrics may be shouted as much as sung, and are often on themes of rebellion against sexual, societal and political repression. Early form known as Rock and Roll considered to date from the 1955 hit, "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets, but the term had been heard on records by black artists as early as the 1930s. Numerous subgenres exist, including Folk-Rock, Classic Rock, Alternative, Heavy Metal, and Punk. Related style, Pop, considered less likely to carry an undercurrent of danger or rebellion. Related style of Dance characterized by stronger reliance on bass, drums and keyboard, and usually has a much less prominent guitar part.

This category is for Labels specializing in Rock Music.

If your Label releases a wide variety of styles or genres , please submit your site to Labels .
In the case of Specialist Labels , please submit the site to the most appropriate subcategory of Labels: Specialty: Rock , taking into account the subgenre which best suits your work .

Websites of music Wholesalers and Distributors must be submitted to Business: Arts and Entertainment: Music: Wholesale and Distribution: Recordings.

This category is not for stores or mail order catalogs.

Websites of Retailers focused on Rock Music must be submitted to Shopping: Entertainment: Recordings: Audio: Music: Specialty: Rock.

Websites in this category must be in English. Bilingual ones may be submitted here as well as to the appropriate World subcategory.

The ODP does not list redirection or vanity urls. Please submit the url of your server.

Submissions for sites under construction will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Soul

Record labels, studios or companies which have been involved in the recording or release of 1960s Soul, including those that have or continue to re-release 1960s Soul.

Sites concentrating specifically on record-labels, studios or companies in the Soul genre as opposed to individual artists or bands.