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 pr ...

based in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, Germany. The label's artist roster includes ATB,

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 Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted '' A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&n ...

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

'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 use ...

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 repetiti ...

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 (album), ''Sheffield'' (Released at 26 June 2000 ...

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 A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"MYNC"). In June 2020, Kontor acquired the German rock label Arising Empire.

Artists

* DJ Antoine * ATB *

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. Di ...

* Cascada * Code Red * Blank & Jones * David Carson * DJ Dean * Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike * The Disco Boys * EDX *

Fedde Le Grand Fedde Le Grand (; born 7 September 1977) is a Dutch house DJ, record producer and remixer from Utrecht. Biography In 2006, his single " Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" reached the top five on the Dutch Top 40, number one in the UK Singles Chart ...

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 *

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 * 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 pro ...

* Nightcrawlers * R.I.O. * DJ Sammy * Scooter *

Giulia Siegel Giulia Siegel (born Julia Anna Marina Siegel, 10 November 1974, Munich) is a German actress, presenter, DJ, model, and the daughter of composer and producer Ralph Siegel. Siegel started her career in 1991 as a model using the alias ''Giulia Leg ...

Special D. Special D. (born Dennis Horstmann, 16 September 1980) is a German DJ and dance music artist who was particularly popular in the Netherlands, where he won the 'Best Dance International' award at the 2004 TMF NL awards. He was also popular among ...

Spiller Cristiano Spiller (born 3 April 1975) is an Italian electronic music DJ and record producer. He is best known for his 2000 single "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The song reached number-one in the UK, Australia, ...

Sunset Strippers Sunset Strippers were an electronic music group from the UK. They are known for their 2005 song " Falling Stars", which samples the 1988 hit song " Waiting for a Star to Fall" by Boy Meets Girl and was involved in a sampling battle with Cab ...

* Alexandra Stan *

Lexy & K-Paul Lexy & K-Paul are DJs from Berlin consisting of Alexander Gerlach ("Lexy", born 14 January 1976 in Dresden) and Kai Michael Paul, formerly Kai Michael Fuchs ("K-Paul", born 5 November 1973 in Berlin). Lexy is also a member of the project Die Rak ...

* Martin Tungevaag * Vinylshakerz * Jan Wayne *

Rania Zeriri Rania Zeriri (born 6 January 1986 in Enschede, Netherlands) is a Dutch singer. Personal life Rania Zeriri grew up in the Netherlands as daughter of a Dutch mother and an Algerian father who left the family when she was still very young. After f ...

* W&W

References

External links

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