Grönland Records is a British–German

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

founded in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, which relocated to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 2009. "Grönland" (German for

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

) refers both to the country, the label's founder,

Herbert Grönemeyer Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pete ...

and the eponymous piece on his 1993 album ''Chaos''.

Origin

The label was founded by German actor and singer

in connection with an eight-CD box set called ''Pop 2000.'' The CD box set and its companion TV series were designed to document music culture in Germany over the course of the 20th century and featured artists such as

Neu! Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plank, w ...

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

The Notwist The Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations, despite maintaining a relatively stable line-up. While their early records moved through heavy metal into dark indie rock, their re ...

DAF Daf ( fa, دف) also known as Dâyere and Riq is a Middle Eastern (mainly Iranian) frame drum musical instrument, used in popular and classical music in South and Central Asia. It is also used in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbe ...

, and

Mouse on Mars Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is a blend of electronic genres including IDM, dub, krautrock, breakbeat and ambient, featuring heavy use of organic analog synth and ...

Philosophy

Grönland's philosophy is that business decisions should be influenced not by marketing strategies, but by the musician and his craft. Without sacrificing attention to the economic aspects of the label's survival, Grönland, with its small staff and optimal structure, is committed to providing an environment where art and music are free to grow, and to giving full support and attention to its musicians on a level rarely seen in larger record companies. Consequently, Grönland only signs a maximum of six to eight bands and projects per year.

Artists on Grönland's roster

The list below consists of artists listed on the "Artists" and "Alumni" sections of Grönland's web site.

Current roster

Boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

Broadcast 2000 Broadcast 2000 is an English acoustic music, acoustic indie-folk band, which centres around multi-instrumentalist songwriter and producer Joe Steer. As a live band Steer has been joined by various musicians including Tom Andrews (glockenspiel) ...

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft } Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (; "German-American Friendship"), or D.A.F., is an influential German electropunk/Neue Deutsche Welle band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 featuring Gabriel "Gabi" Delgado-López (vocals), Robert Görl (drum ...

* William Fitzsimmons *

Fujiya & Miyagi Fujiya & Miyagi is a British group formed in Brighton, East Sussex, England, in 2000. The current line-up consists of David Best (vocals and guitar), Stephen Lewis (synths and vocals), Ed Chivers (drums), Ben Adamo and Ben Farestuedt (bass and ...

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rose to prominence during the Punk subculture, punk and New wave music, new wave movements in the late 1970s a ...

Emily Haines Emily Savitri Haines (born 25 January 1974) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the rock band Metric and a member of the musical collective Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she has pe ...

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία / harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia. Her Greek opposite is Eris, whose Roman counterpart is Discord ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

'76: ''

Tracks and Traces ''Tracks and Traces'' is a collaborative album by German kosmische supergroup Harmonia (featuring Neu! guitarist Michael Rother and Cluster members Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius) and British musician Brian Eno, initially credited to H ...

'' (remastered reissue with bonus material) * Harrisons *

Merz Merz may refer to: * Merz (art style), a synonym for the more common term Dada * Merz (musician), a British electro-folk singer * Merz (surname) * Merz Apothecary, a historic German health care store in Chicago * Merz & McLellan, a British electric ...

Metric Metric or metrical may refer to: * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics In mathema ...

(a major reissue project, the first official CD issues) *

Conny Plank Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was invo ...

Roedelius Hans-Joachim Roedelius (born 26 October 1934) is a German electronic musician and composer, best known as a co-founder of the influential 'kosmische' groups Cluster and Harmonia. He also performed in the ambient jazz trio Aquarello, and relea ...

Christoph H. Müller Christoph H. Müller (born 1967) is a Swiss musician, composer, producer and audio engineer. He is best known as a co-founder of the electronica/neotango band Gotan Project. He is currently a founding and active member of Plaza Francia Orchestra ...

(Mueller_Roedelius) * Roedelius / Story (Lunz) * Sol Seppy *

Susanne Sundfør Susanne Aartun Sundfør ( (local Haugesund dialect; ʉˈsɑ̀nːə ˈɔ̀ʈːʉːn ˈsʉ̀nføːrin Urban East ("standard") Norwegian); born 19 March 1986) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Haugesund, Su ...

* Windmill

Former roster (selection)

* AK4711 * Bombay1
Dextro
* Freeland (released on continental Europe in collaboration with Marine Parade) * Half Cousin *

Kira Kira may refer to: People * Kira clan, a Japanese clan, descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) * Kira (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Kira Chikazane (1563–1588), Japanese retainer * Kira (German singer) (Janine ...

* Lockdown Project * Machine * Pet * Petra Jean Phillipson *

Psapp Psapp ( or ) is a British experimental electronica band. The band, a duo consisting of Carim Clasmann and Galia Durant, are sometimes credited with inventing a musical style known as ''toytronica'', a form of electronica made with toys and toy ...

(Grönland continues to market their album ''Tiger My Friend'' despite the band now being on Domino Records) *

Sondre Lerche Sondre Lerche (; born 5 September 1982) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and guitarist, now based in Los Angeles, California. He has released nine studio albums. Early life Growing up in a suburb of Bergen, Lerche was heavily influenced by 1980s ...

The Earlies The Earlies are a band formed by Christian Madden and Giles Hatton from Lancashire, England, and Brandon Carr and John Mark Lapham from the United States. They are notable for blending elements from a wide range of musical genres and have been ...

(released in continental Europe in collaboration with 679 Recordings)

References

External links

Grönland's web site (in English and German)
*
Grönland’s last.fm entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groenland Records IFPI members Record labels established in 1999 Reissue record labels British independent record labels 1999 establishments in England