Mau5trap (stylized as mau5trap; pronounced "mousetrap") is an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Canadian
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 ...
founded in 2007 by
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
producer
Deadmau5
Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house music, though he also produces ...
. The label was formerly a
vanity label
A vanity label (see related topic on vanity press) is an informal name sometimes given to 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, ...
, hosting releases through labels such as
Ultra Music
Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...
,
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
, and
Astralwerks
Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...
.
History
In 2007, Mau5trap was founded by Canadian electronic music producer
Deadmau5
Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house music, though he also produces ...
(Joel Zimmerman). The label's first release was Zimmerman's "
Faxing Berlin
"Faxing Berlin" is an instrumental by Canadian electronic music producer Deadmau5. It was released as the lead single from his third studio album ''Random Album Title''. On July 23, 2007, "Faxing Berlin" became the first release on Deadmau5's label ...
", also released by
Play Records
Play Records is an independently owned Canadian record label operating in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The company includes Play Deep Studios, a recording studio in the UK, Play Digital, for digital music and Play Records Publishing, a publishing co ...
and Cinnamon Flava. The second artist on the label was Canadian DJ
Glenn Morrison, which Zimmerman later revealed to have
ghost produced for. In 2008, after more artists were signed to moderate success, Mau5trap partnered with
Ultra Records
Ultra Records is an American record label formed in New York City in 1995 by former PolyGram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey. As of December 23, 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music, giving its artists access to ...
and released Zimmerman's third studio album, ''
Random Album Title
''Random Album Title'' is the third studio album by Canadian electronic music producer Deadmau5, released by Ultra Records and Mau5trap on September 2, 2008. The album includes the singles "Faxing Berlin", "Not Exactly" and " I Remember" (with Ka ...
'' to commercial success.
In 2010, Mau5trap signed American producer
Skrillex
Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ and music producer. Growing up in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he joined the post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead sing ...
, and released his second EP ''
Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
''Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites'' is the second extended play (EP) by American electronic music producer Skrillex. It was released exclusively through Beatport on October 22, 2010 through mau5trap and Big Beat Records, while being released on ...
'' in partnership with
Big Beat Records.
In 2012, Mau5trap signed English hip hop group
Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars were an English hip hop and dubstep group. Since their formation in 2002, the group's trajectory had seen them evolve from an underground hip hop group to an electronic crossover act. The group consisted of four artists individ ...
and released their third studio album ''
The Uprising'',
Moguai
André Tegeler (born 9 August 1973), known by his stage name Moguai (stylised as MOGUAI), is a German music producer and DJ. In the early 1990s, he took the alias Moguai and began organising his own club nights and parties in Ruhrgebiet and Mà ...
released his second studio album ''Mpire'',
Noisia
Noisia (stylised as NOISIΛ; "VISION" turned upside down) was a Dutch electronic music trio consisting of members Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen and Thijs de Vlieger from Groningen, Netherlands. They produce a wide variety of music including dr ...
released a special edition of ''Split the Atom'', and Mau5trap debuted the compilation series ''We Are Friends''.
In 2013, following Zimmerman's departure from Ultra Records, Mau5trap ended their partnership with the former partner label.
In June 2013, Mau5trap briefly partnered with
Astralwerks
Astralwerks is an American record label primarily focused on electronic music owned by Universal Music Group. Its material is distributed via Capitol Music Group in the United States. The label was founded in 1993 and, in its early years, featur ...
, a subsidiary of
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
.
In 2015, Mau5trap became a fully
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 ...
with music rights and publishing managed through
Kobalt Music Group
Kobalt Music Group is an independent Performing rights, rights management and music publishing company. Founded in 2000 by CEO Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt acts primarily as an administrative publishing company, not owning any copyrights. Also offer ...
.
In 2016, Zimmerman's eighth studio album, ''
W:/2016ALBUM/'', became Mau5trap's first fully independent album release. In 2017, Mau5trap also independently released the debut studio album by Canadian music producer
Rezz, titled ''
Mass Manipulation
Crowd manipulation is the intentional or unwitting use of techniques based on the principles of crowd psychology to engage, control, or influence the desires of a crowd in order to direct its behavior toward a specific action. This practice is co ...
''.
In 2017, Mau5trap celebrated its ten-year anniversary, and released a thirty-three track compilation album titled ''Mau5trap Ten Year Anniversary''.
Artists
Releases
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Canadian independent record labels
Deadmau5
Electronic music record labels
Record labels established in 2007
Electronic dance music record labels