Last Updated on April 6, 2023
Are you seriously looking to get signed by the best music record labels in the UK? The UK’s diverse record labels pay homage to the potent alchemic assemblage of sound, texture, and visual culture that makes Britain such a hot spot. Perhaps you’ll be the next act they sign? Check out our list of the top 10 best UK record labels accepting demos in 2023.
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1. Beggars Banquet Records
Starting its hallowed life as a chain of record shops in the turbulent, intoxicating 70s, Beggars Banquet became a key player in the Brit punk movement that shook the world with tectonic force at the end of that decade.
Founder Martin Mills has been a constant advocate for independent, DIY culture and a vocal fixture of the British alt-culture scene.
They have never deviated from a rabidly alternative approach, releasing quintessentially eclectic, unapologetic music from Bauhaus, The Cult, The Charlatans, and St. Vincent.
They don’t accept demos directly but you can contact them at banquet@beggars.com.
2. Bella Union
Founded by gothic shoegaze idols The Cocteau Twins, Bella Union encapsulates all the sublime, otherworldly tendencies inherent in Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde’s unusually revelatory canon.
Their biggest success to date has been the cottage-core folk sensations Fleet Foxes, who sold millions of copies of their serene, homespun yarns.
They have also released the likes of Father John Misty, Explosions in the Sky, and Beach House, demonstrating an unrelenting allegiance to cerebral instrumentals and poetically-crafted narratives.
Contact them at a list of email addresses on their website but be advised that they don’t currently accept demos.
3. Rough Trade Records
Formed in 1978 and now part of the Beggars Group of tastemakers, Rough Trade is the provenance of legendary post-punk, gloom merchants The Smiths, and they have gone on to celebrate indie punk in all its iterations.
In their own words, they were at the “epicenter of the punk explosion” and they have brazenly and relentlessly pursued their counterculture credentials ever since.
But that’s not all; never one to be stagnant in the face of a changing cultural lexicon, Rough Trade now champions psychedelic reggae, electronica, and soul.
Send link demos only to demos@roughtraderecords.com.
4. 4AD
Forgive me for a moment of hyperbole: if you like post-punk, gothic, new wave, and dream pop then 4AD is the beginning and end of your musical education.
It seems like every eccentric, sublime, entrancing act of the eighties walked through the doors of the music studio: Cocteau Twins, Bauhaus, and Modern English.
But like cheeky, brazen chameleons, they have adapted themselves to a new generation of musical troubadours.
They are now magnetics to some of the most uncompromising, original bands of our time: Future Islands, Deerhunter, and Bon Iver.
Their latest move towards experimental, luminous folk and whimsical indie has not fallen on deaf ears.
Send submissions to demos@4ad.com.
5. LGM Records
The Times said of LGM: “they’re a start-up record label that aspiring artists can count on” and that sentiment rings true for all indie hearts and wild souls out there.
Their stable of artists is a veritable palette of the whimsical, plaintive, lush tendencies that indie rock is so unparalleled at producing.
Their artists are more like poet-philosophers, and they take an earthy, academic approach to music and visual culture.
Think The Quill, Aemma, Jo Goes Hunting, and Mono Club, acts that demonstrate that London is still the heart of the world when it comes to artists dedicated to their craft – mainstream credentials be damned.
Contact them at info@lgmrecords.co.uk.
6. Domino Music
Domino has a high profile in the London music scene and dominates the currents where mainstream pub rock and indie flavor coalesce.
The biggest names in their roster just so happen to be the biggest names in modern rock – we are talking innovators like Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand.
But renegades, fear not – Domino likes to play with the entire palette of musical formulas, from alt-folk to ambient electronica.
Send them a message exclusively via SoundCloud.
7. Damaged Goods
Damaged Goods tick all the cooler-than-you boxes, having been founded in the heady, restless East London of 1988.
Their status and cachet have held strong in the ensuing decades, and in 2010 BBC named them DIY Label of the week, confirming and expanding their bedroom-born brand of cool.
Their bread and butter is the disruptive fervor of garage, street punk, and indie rock, so if their back alley, screw-the-man ethos mirrors your own, by all means, get off your haunches and join the ranks of the Damaged Goods.
Contact them at their website.
8. EMI Records
A name with some serious mileage in the British and international music scenes, EMI has had quite a storied history since its founding in 1931.
Mid-century rock and roll begins and ends with EMI, quite frankly, with acts like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Shadows, and Pink Floyd, Queen were all early followers of the cult of EMI.
These luminaries have a stable and enduring presence in modern music and they are behind many of today’s most influential commercial acts.
If you doubt their legacy, just know that they have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and they are the powerbrokers behind multiple Grammies.
They are not actively seeking out demos.
9. Transgressive Records
London as heck, and fiercely aligned to the sovereignty of independent music, Transgressive stages a sustained revolt against the status quo in all that they do.
If you’re a seasoned veteran of buzzy new releases and mischievous live performances then you know some of the artists in their stable like The Subways, Young Knives, Alvvays, and Mystery Jets.
Oh, and house electro international wunderkinds Flume.
They don’t pick favorites and they dabble gratuitously in electro, punk, indie-rock, dance-pop, and dream pop – not your garden variety independent label by any means.
Contact them via their contact form.
10. XL Recordings
The Guardian described them as a “who’s who of exciting crossover talent” which is an impressive accolade from Britain’s foremost cultural publication.
They don’t discriminate when it comes to the artists they court, as long as they have street cred, charisma, and the dynamism to charm commercial listeners.
Some of their buzziest acts include Vampire Weekend, MIA, Tyler, the Creator, and British juvenile delinquent Dizzee Rascal.
They also produced Adele’s dizzying magnum opus, 21.
XL seeks out artists with an audacious and uncompromising sense of self and a bold silhouette. You can follow them on social media but they are not actively seeking out demos at the moment.