Kontor Records or Kontor New Media is a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

based in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. The label's artist roster includes

ATB André Tanneberger (; born 26 February 1973), better known by his stage name ATB, is a German DJ, musician, and producer of trance music. According to the official world DJ rankings governed by ''DJ Magazine'', ATB was ranked No. 11 in 2009 and ...

Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( ), is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by '' Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was v ...

, Armin van Buuren and Scooter. Jens Thele is the head manager of Kontor and is also the manager of Scooter. Edel SE & Co. KGaA is the largest shareholder of the company and distributes its releases in German-speaking Europe. Outside Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Kontor Records have arranged multiple distribution deals with third-party labels.

History

Founded in 1996, the label originated as a club night that Jens Thele organised in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

's central business district. Kontor was rapidly established as a successful musical project for local DJs and producers, and this was followed by interest from international artists. Thele has explained: "We place great importance on long-term artist relationships and development, always looking to create album projects". In 2000 the 51% of the company was acquired by the German larger company

Edel AG Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and po ...

, with Thele and other subscribers retaining operative roles in the company. As of 2004, the company's office overlooks the Hamburg dockland area. Edel is still the largest shareholder of Kontor Records and currently owns 66,79% of shares. The label launched the Kontor.TV YouTube channel in 2006 and music videos, playlists and preview-mixes of new releases are uploaded onto the channel. As of February 2017, 4.5 million users are subscribed to Kontor.TV. In early 2013, the label entered into a partnership with the

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

online music streaming service and Kontor.FM was launched in March 2013. In June 2013, Kontor garnered attention for a novel promotional campaign for the new

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

from artist

Boris Dlugosch Boris Dlugosch (; born 2 August 1968) is a German house music producer from Hamburg. Boris is usually known for funky/deep house tracks, mostly produced in conjunction with Mousse T. and Michi Lange, his partners in the Peppermint Jam Records ...

. The recipient of the music unfolds a device entitled "The Office Turntable" that serves as a 2D Technics turntable on which Dlugosch's vinyl single can be heard. The vinyl is neon orange-colored and most types of smartphones are used to scan an activating QR code on the fold-out device. Label staff explained to the ''Contagious Magazines YouTube channel that they were motivated by creative directors who often ignore the music promotions they are sent.

Compilation brands

Kontor's compilation brands include "Kontor Top Of The Clubs" and "Kontor House of House".

Affiliate and partner labels

The

Sheffield Tunes Sheffield Tunes is a German record label, and a sublabel of Kontor Records, formed in 2000 by H.P. Baxxter, Rick J. Jordan and Jens Thele. The first album released by Sheffield Tunes was ''Sheffield'' (Released at 26 June 2000), and the first ...

imprint is a Kontor affiliate label that released the music of Scooter. Scooter's members, H. P. Baxxter and Rick J. Jordan, are company directors of Kontor Records. As of October 2013, Kontor Records is one of the numerous partners listed on the CR2 Records website, a London, United Kingdom (UK) electronic music label founded by musician Mark Brown (also known by the moniker "MYNC"). In June 2020, Kontor acquired the German rock label

Arising Empire Arising Empire is a German record label, founded in 2015, which focuses on punk, rock and metalcore music. History Arising Empire was founded in 2015 by Markus Staiger and former "People Like You Records" manager Tobbe Falarz. It is, besides ...

Artists

DJ Antoine Antoine Konrad (born 23 June 1975), better known as DJ Antoine, is a Swiss house DJ and record producer from Basel. He has a number of successful single and album releases in Western Europe, in particular Switzerland, Germany and France. Musi ...

* Armin van Buuren *

Aquagen Aquagen is a German electronic dance music duo, consisting of Gino Montesano and Olaf Dieckmann. They initially achieved success with their single "Ihr Seid So Leise" ("Why Are You So Quiet?"), which sold more than 250,000 copies in Germany. D ...

Cascada Cascada (, Spanish for "Waterfall", stylized as CASCADA, CASC''A''DA and cascada) is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles " Every ...

* Code Red *

Blank & Jones Blank & Jones are a German electronic music duo, consisting of the members Jan Pieter Blank (born June 15, 1971), known as Piet Blank; René Runge (born June 27, 1968), better known as DJ Jaspa Jones; and the producer Andy Kaufhold (N*D*K) (born ...

* David Carson * DJ Dean *

Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike are a Belgian–Greek DJ duo composed of brothers Dimitri Thivaios and Michael Thivaios. They were ranked No. 1 on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list in 2015 and 2019, and were ranked No. 2 in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020 ...

The Disco Boys The Disco Boys are a German house music DJ and production duo from Hamburg, which consists of Raphael Krickow (* 1966) and Gordon Hollenga (* 1969). They play a mixture of disco classics and modern house songs. The Disco Boys have played at the ...

* EDX * Fedde Le Grand *

Hardwell Robbert van de Corput (; born January 7, 1988), known professionally as Hardwell, is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted the world's number one DJ by ''DJ Mag'' in 2013 and again in 2014. In 2022, he was ranked at number 43 ...

Mike Candys Michael David Kull (; born 20 August 1981), better known as Mike Candys (), is a Swiss record producer and DJ. He is managed by Mevlan D. Musical career In 2008, Candys became widely known in Switzerland with the song "La Serenissima". In 2009 h ...

ItaloBrothers ItaloBrothers is a German dance project from Nordhorn, Germany. The band consists of vocalist Matthias Metten (former member of YouTube music group, 2busk), who works in the studio with Zacharias Adrian (also known as Zac McCrack) and Christian ...

Klingande Cédric Steinmyller (born 14 May 1990), better known by his stage name Klingande (, literally: ''chiming''), is a French DJ and tropical house producer with a prominent use of the piano and the saxophone. Klingande was originally a duo, until 20 ...

* Klubbingman *

Alexander Marcus Alexander Marcus (born 26 July 1972Amtsgericht Charlottenburg (Berlin), Aktenzeichen: HRB 117603 B, bekannt gemacht am: 29 January 2009 12:00 Uhr – registration of ''JAFE Entertainment UG'' in Berlin as Felix Rennefeld) is a German music prod ...

* Nightcrawlers * R.I.O. *

DJ Sammy Samuel Bouriah (born 19 October 1969), better known by his stage name DJ Sammy, is a Spanish DJ and record producer. He has released five albums and has had five top-10 hits, including a cover of Bryan Adams' "Heaven", which reached number one ...

* Scooter * Giulia Siegel * Special D. * Spiller * Sunset Strippers *

Alexandra Stan Alexandra Ioana Stan (born 10 June 1989) is a Romanian singer. Born in Constanța, she made her worldwide breakthrough with the 2010 single "Mr. Saxobeat", which was written and produced by Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi. They had previousl ...

* Lexy & K-Paul *

Martin Tungevaag Martin Tungevåg (born July 9, 1993), known professionally as Martin Tungevaag or simpily Tungevaag, is a Norwegian DJ and music producer who placed at number #89 on the ''DJ Mag'' top 100 DJs list. He has achieved success in Europe, Asia and S ...

* Vinylshakerz *

Jan Wayne Jan Wayne ( (born Jan Christiansen, January 1974, Husum, Schleswig-Holstein) is a German electronic dance music DJ and producer. Discography Albums *2002 - ''Back Again'' *2003 - ''Gonna Move Ya'' Singles *2001 - " Total Eclipse of the Heart" - ...

* Rania Zeriri *

* W&W

References

External links

* * {{Authority control German record labels Companies based in Hamburg IFPI members Electronic dance music record labels