Monstercat (formerly known as Monstercat Media) is a Canadian independent electronic music record label based in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
. Founded in 2011 by Mike Darlington and Ari Paunonen, the label released music on a tri-weekly basis until 2018, when this was changed to four releases a week. This would later be changed to six releases a week in 2021.
Beginning with the release of its first compilation album, ''Monstercat 001 – Launch Week'', the label releases regular compilation albums featuring music from various artists. Until the release of ''Monstercat 030 – Finale'' in 2017, each compilation was given a name and depicted the story of the aforementioned mascot in the album cover. This preceded a rebranding of the label, with a new series of albums titled ''Monstercat Uncaged.'' In 2018, Monstercat introduced a new brand titled "Instinct". In 2021, Monstercat acquired electronic label Silk Music to form a third brand titled "Monstercat Silk". The compilations ended the same year with the release of ''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 11''.
Monstercat has featured many notable artists, including
Pegboard Nerds
Pegboard Nerds is a Scandinavian electronic music group, consisting of Norwegian DJ Alexander Odden and Danish DJ Michael Parsberg. The name Pegboard Nerds is an anagram of the duo's surnames, Odden and Parsberg. The duo first met in 2005 and for ...
,
Vicetone
Vicetone is a Dutch electronic music DJ and production duo formed by Ruben den Boer ((), born 22 January 1992) and Victor Pool (born 9 July 1992) from Groningen. The duo began as a DJ act, and in 2013, they were voted into the ''DJ Mag'' Top 10 ...
, and
Seven Lions
7 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
7 or seven may also refer to:
* AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era
* 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era
* The month of
July
Music Artists
* Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artis ...
. Monstercat has also released soundtrack albums for various video games, including ''
Fortnite
''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to- ...
'', ''
Rocket League
''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June ...
'' and ''
Beat Saber
''Beat Saber'' is a virtual reality rhythm game developed and published by Czech game developer Beat Games. It takes place in a surrealistic neon environment and features the player slicing blocks representing musical beats with a pair of cont ...
''.
The label is best known for the 2016 release of the song "
Alone" by American DJ
Marshmello
Christopher Comstock (born May 19, 1992), known professionally as Marshmello, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. His songs "Silence", "Wolves", "Friends", " Happier", and " Alone" have been certified multi-platinum in several ...
, which reached Platinum status in the United States and Canada in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The
April Fool's Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which ma ...
release of "
Crab Rave
"Crab Rave" is a song by Irish DJ and music producer Noisestorm. Canadian record label Monstercat released it on 1 April 2018.
The song was originally released as part of the compilation album ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 1'', released 15 June 20 ...
" by Irish music producer
Noisestorm
Eoin O'Broin (), better known by his stage name Noisestorm (born 1 October 1995), is an Irish DJ and music producer. He is best known for his song "Crab Rave", which peaked at 14 on ''Billboard''s Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
Early life
Noisest ...
became an
internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
for months after its release.
History
Founding (2011–2012)
Monstercat Media was founded on 1 July 2011 by Mike Darlington (born 1989)
and Ari Paunonen (born 1989/90),
two university students from
Waterloo, Ontario
Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the c ...
. The label's
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel, which served as a medium to promote their friends and their music, was created the same day,
and began a tri-weekly upload schedule in October. The young students were later responsible for the creation of the label's uniform compilation albums.
The team moved to their current offices in Vancouver in 2012 after Darlington and Paunonen finished school.
Building the label, first tour, and Marshmello (2013–2016)
In July 2014, Monstercat surpassed one million in record sales across the label.
When asked about the label's model, Darlington said:
People don't need record labels anymore. Artists can do everything on their own. So we either had to do it for them better or provide a platform and marketing tool they can't find on their own. That's where the community concept came for Monstercat. We created a brand that fans can use to discover music and hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
artists can use as a platform for getting their music out there.
In August 2014, Monstercat published a
manifesto
A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
calling for the reform of copyright law. In it, they described their desire to allow musicians more freedom in
sampling other musicians' recordings.
In December 2014, Monstercat launched Monstercat FM as part of live-streaming service
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...
's start in music broadcasting. Monstercat FM is a 24/7 radio station-like Twitch stream featuring many of Monstercat's releases from throughout their history as a label. The launch event for the stream was a DJ set by Monstercat artist Stephen Walking. Monstercat FM was eventually added to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
-owned live-streaming website
Mixer.
Since 2015, Monstercat has participated in multiple
music festivals
A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or hol ...
. One such festival was the
Amsterdam Dance Event
The Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) is a five-day electronic music conference and festival held annually in mid-October. The event, organised by The Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, offers a full programme of daytime conferences at ADE Pro, ADE Tech ...
. ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' described their 2015 show as "a three-hour mixer outing".
In May 2016, Monstercat signed American producer
Marshmello
Christopher Comstock (born May 19, 1992), known professionally as Marshmello, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. His songs "Silence", "Wolves", "Friends", " Happier", and " Alone" have been certified multi-platinum in several ...
's single, "
Alone". Its music video has amassed over 2 billion views combined across YouTube,
including a label record 161 million views on Monstercat's YouTube channel These views contributed to the artist earning $21 million the year after the video's release.
Partnerships, awards and evolution (2017–2020)
In June 2017, Monstercat partnered with
Psyonix
Psyonix LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. Founded in 2000 by Dave Hagewood, the company is best known for its 2015 game ''Rocket League''. In May 2019, Psyonix was acquired by Epic Games.
History
Psyonix was founded ...
to promote the two-year anniversary of the video game ''
Rocket League
''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June ...
'' by releasing ''
Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 1'', an 18-song album from artists who had previously signed songs to Monstercat, including
Slushii
Julian Michael Scanlan (born May 1, 1997), known professionally as Slushii, is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Los Angeles. He is best known for working with various artists managed by Moe Shalizi, such a ...
,
Aero Chord
Alex Vlastaras (; born 8 November 1991), commonly known by his stage name Aero Chord, is a Greek electronic trap producer. He is mostly known for his songs within the trap genre, but has also delved into other music genres.
History
Aero Chord b ...
and
Vicetone
Vicetone is a Dutch electronic music DJ and production duo formed by Ruben den Boer ((), born 22 January 1992) and Victor Pool (born 9 July 1992) from Groningen. The duo began as a DJ act, and in 2013, they were voted into the ''DJ Mag'' Top 10 ...
. The album was released on 5 July 2017. Monstercat also announced their own television channel, Monstercat TV, on the
Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a free, ad-supported video streaming service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Co-founded by Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in Los Angeles, California, in the United Sta ...
television platform the same month.
In July 2017, Monstercat won ''
DJ Mag
''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...
''s Best Breakthrough Label, competing against other labels such as
Discwoman
Discwoman is a New York based collective, booking agency, and event platform representing and showcasing women and non-binary artists in the electronic music community. It was founded in 2014 by Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson, Emma Burgess-Olson ( Umf ...
, Tuskegee Music,
Perspectives Digital and Honey Soundsystem.
Monstercat has hosted an annual block party near their headquarters, "Monstercat Compound", since 2017.
In November 2017, Monstercat received the label's first
certified platinum record for the 2016 song "
Alone" by
Marshmello
Christopher Comstock (born May 19, 1992), known professionally as Marshmello, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. His songs "Silence", "Wolves", "Friends", " Happier", and " Alone" have been certified multi-platinum in several ...
. In an email to ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'', Mike Darlington expressed his gratitude towards the collaboration and expressed his praisal for Marshmello's success.
In December 2017, Monstercat was named one of the five best independent dance labels of 2017 by ''Billboard''.
On the week of 1 January 2018, Monstercat announced a split in branding into two distinct themes, "Uncaged" and "Instinct", citing the diversity of their music library. This was accompanied by the creation of a separate channel, named Monstercat: Instinct. The Instinct brand features music that has a prominent focus on melodic aspects, including genres such as
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
and
future bass
Future bass is a style of electronic dance music which developed in the 2010s that mixes elements of dubstep and trap with warmer, less abrasive rhythms. The genre was pioneered by producers such as Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Lido, San Holo and ...
. The change included a retirement of the tri-weekly release schedule in favour of a release schedule of four times a week and a
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
episode in-between.
In another first for the label, 9 August saw a collaborative single with
Sumerian Records
Sumerian Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. The label was founded in 2006 by Ash Avildsen.[Kneel Before Me
"Kneel Before Me" is a song by American DJs Slander and Crankdat, featuring the British rock band Asking Alexandria. It was released on August 9, 2018 by Monstercat and Sumerian Records and was included a week later on the compilation album ''Mons ...]
", produced by
Slander
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
and
Crankdat
Christian Smith (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Crankdat, is an American DJ and electronic dance music producer.
Early life
Smith grew up desiring to be an athlete, but ultimately turned down a full-ride track-and-field schola ...
, and featuring
Asking Alexandria
Asking Alexandria are a British Rock music, rock band from York, North Yorkshire, consisting of guitarists Ben Bruce and Cameron Liddell, drummer James Cassells, lead vocalist Danny Worsnop, and bassist Sam Bettley.
Initially formed in 2006 ...
, the single was praised across both the electronic and rock music industries.
In September 2018, two weeks before ''Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 4'' released, Gavin Johnson, Head of Gaming for Monstercat, spoke of the collaboration between the label and
Psyonix
Psyonix LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. Founded in 2000 by Dave Hagewood, the company is best known for its 2015 game ''Rocket League''. In May 2019, Psyonix was acquired by Epic Games.
History
Psyonix was founded ...
:
I met Josh Watson (Esports Operations Manager of Psyonix) at one of our Monstercat gaming-driven events during E3 of 2016. Shortly after, Josh introduced me to their Audio Director Mike Ault as he had a vision for how he wanted to approach music in Rocket League which mirrored that of our ethos with Monstercat. During our first call, it was clear that we shared the same desire to build new platforms for exhibiting artists to be on and grow. The groundwork Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 1 begun immediately afterwards.
In November 2018,
Noisestorm
Eoin O'Broin (), better known by his stage name Noisestorm (born 1 October 1995), is an Irish DJ and music producer. He is best known for his song "Crab Rave", which peaked at 14 on ''Billboard''s Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
Early life
Noisest ...
's April Fools' Day single, "
Crab Rave
"Crab Rave" is a song by Irish DJ and music producer Noisestorm. Canadian record label Monstercat released it on 1 April 2018.
The song was originally released as part of the compilation album ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 1'', released 15 June 20 ...
", entered ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''s
Dance/Electronic Songs
The Dance/Electronic Songs chart has been published weekly by ''Billboard'' since January 2013. It is the first chart to be published that ranks the most popular dance and electronic songs according to audience impressions, digital downloads, s ...
chart. The Irish music artist, writing to the magazine, praised its entrance onto the chart, and expressed his approval of its status as an
internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
.
Other partnerships
In 2019, Monstercat partnered with Dutch video game developer
Soedesco
Soedesco (stylized in all caps) is a video game publisher of both digital and physical games on multiple platforms. The company has been active in the game industry since 2002 and ventured into publishing in 2014, with the headquarters in Rotte ...
to compose music for its video game, ''
Xenon Racer''. The game was released on 26 March of that year.
On 14 March 2019, Czech-based indie studio Beat Games released their first paid
Downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
(DLC) song pack for their
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
rhythm game
Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...
''
Beat Saber
''Beat Saber'' is a virtual reality rhythm game developed and published by Czech game developer Beat Games. It takes place in a surrealistic neon environment and features the player slicing blocks representing musical beats with a pair of cont ...
'' for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
. The song pack was released as a partnership with Monstercat, titled ''Monstercat Music Pack Vol. 1''. It features a collection of 10 tracks from the record label, including songs from
Aero Chord
Alex Vlastaras (; born 8 November 1991), commonly known by his stage name Aero Chord, is a Greek electronic trap producer. He is mostly known for his songs within the trap genre, but has also delved into other music genres.
History
Aero Chord b ...
,
Pegboard Nerds
Pegboard Nerds is a Scandinavian electronic music group, consisting of Norwegian DJ Alexander Odden and Danish DJ Michael Parsberg. The name Pegboard Nerds is an anagram of the duo's surnames, Odden and Parsberg. The duo first met in 2005 and for ...
,
Muzzy, Stonebank and
Kayzo
Hayden Capuozzo (born October 8, 1991), better known by his stage name Kayzo, is an American DJ and producer based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for remixing songs and incorporating trap and hardstyle genres into his remixes. H ...
. The song pack was released for $12.99
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
, (or $1.99 per individual track), with Monstercat offering new subscribers a free month of their Gold Subscription. A crossover music pack with ''Rocket League'' was released in November 2019.
In July 2019, to coincide with the label's eighth anniversary, Monstercat announced a partnership with
Linden Labs
Linden Research, Inc., doing business as Linden Lab, is an American technology company that is best known as the creator of ''Second Life''.
The company's head office is in San Francisco, with additional offices in Boston, Seattle, Virginia an ...
to bring live music experiences into the developer's virtual reality game, ''
Sansar''.
The collaboration, called the ''Monstercat: Call of the Wild Experience'', began on 12 July, and hosts a live virtual reality alternative to Monstercat's weekly ''Call of the Wild'' radio show.
Acquisition of Silk Music (2021–present)
On 9 February 2021, Monstercat announced that they had acquired
progressive house
Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s.Gerard, Morgan; ...
label Silk Music to form a third brand under the Monstercat label, titled "Monstercat Silk".
The brand was promoted to focus on the progressive aspect of electronic music, continuing its signature style of progressive house and trance among similar genres. In the deal, Silk Music director Jacob Henry retained his directorial position with the brand. Silk Music's YouTube channel and social media accounts were rebranded to "Monstercat Silk" alongside the announcement (with Monstercat retaining Silk's 24/7 YouTube streams and the ''Silk Music Showcase'' radio show), while Monstercat also announced that with the acquisition, they would be moving to having 6 releases a week, with each brand having 2 releases a week.
On 17 September 2021, Monstercat and Westwood Recordings released an eight-track collaborative compilation album titled ''Compound 2021'', featuring artists such as The Funk Hunters, Kotek, and Defunk. It also coincides with the fourth year of the Monstercat Compound block party after a hiatus in 2020, which took place a day after the release of the compilation.
Key people
* Mike Darlington – co-founder, chief executive officer
* Ari Paunonen – co-founder, chief operating officer
* Jonathan Winter – director of
A&R
* Chelsea Shear – Lead A&R
* Conor Systrom – promotional manager
* Gavin Johnson – head of gaming
* Ben Brown Bentley – head of events
* Daniel Turcotte – commercial director
* Jacob Henry – director and founder, Monstercat Silk
Artists
Monstercat signs artists on a single-track basis,
allowing them to move between labels and brands without an exclusive contract.
Monstercat has supported prominent artists such as
Krewella
Krewella is an American electronic dance music band from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Illinois, United States, that formed in 2007. Their musical style has been mainly described as EDM, dance-rock, and dance-pop. However, Krewella's style ...
,
Gareth Emery
Gareth Thomas Rhys Emery (born 18 July 1980) is a British trance producer and DJ. He is best known for his three studio albums: '' Northern Lights'', ''Drive'' and '' 100 Reasons to Live'', and winning the prestigious A State of Trance Tune o ...
,
Knife Party
Knife Party are an Australian electronic music duo consisting of Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, two members of the drum and bass band Pendulum.
The duo has worked with artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, MistaJam, Foreign Begga ...
,
Modestep
Modestep is a dubstep and electronic rock band from London consisting of Josh Friend. Their debut album ''Evolution Theory'' was released on 11 February 2013, including its five singles: " Feel Good", " Sunlight", " To The Stars", " Show Me a S ...
,
Seven Lions
7 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
7 or seven may also refer to:
* AD 7, the seventh year of the AD era
* 7 BC, the seventh year before the AD era
* The month of
July
Music Artists
* Seven (Swiss singer) (born 1978), a Swiss recording artis ...
, and
Infected Mushroom
Infected Mushroom is an Israeli musical duo formed in Haifa in 1996 by producers Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani. They produce and perform psytrance, electronica, dream trance and psychedelic music. They are one of the best-selling groups in I ...
. Other producers with connections to the label include:
*''
Au5
Austin Collins (born September 18, 1992), better known as Au5 ( ), is an American electronic musician from New Jersey. Au5's music encompasses a range of electronic genres such as dubstep, house, trance, drum and bass, drumstep and ambient, and ...
'': First appeared on the label with the song "Sweet", a collaboration with I.Y.F.F.E and Auratic, later releasing the two track EP ''Blossom'' as his first solo release. He collaborated frequently with Fractal until the release of ''Ison'', when he took a brief hiatus from releasing music under Monstercat until he returned to the label with the song "The Journey".
*''
Ephixa
James Leusink (born April 13, 1990), better known by his alias Ephixa (sometimes stylised as ephixa), is a Canadian electronic music producer who lives in Ontario, Canada. He is best known for his viral "Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning" dubstep remix, ...
'': Debuted on the label as its first official artist with his song "Dubstep Killed Rock 'n' Roll" in mid-2011. Ephixa had left the label in late 2012, continuing to release music independently. In a
Reddit AMA
r/IAmA is a subreddit for question-and-answer interactive interviews termed "AMA" (short for "Ask Me Anything"). AMA interviewees have ranged from various celebrities to everyday people in several lines of work. Founded in May 2009, the subredd ...
, the Monstercat staff were asked what happened to him and they responded: "Ephixa, as an artist, took some time off to focus on other projects and his personal life. However, word on the street is that he is back at producing and we are looking forward to hearing his new work". In mid-2016, Ephixa returned to the label and has since continued to release music through Monstercat.
*''
Haywyre
Martin Sebastian Vogt (born August 8, 1992), better known by his stage name Haywyre, is a Grammy nominated American electronic music producer, pianist, and performer. He is known for fusing elements of classical, jazz and funk into various genre ...
'': Martin Vogt first released his song "Synergy" on Monstercat in 2013, after American electronic music artist Fractal recommended that Vogt send his music to Monstercat's head of
A&R as they might be interested in signing the song to the label. Haywyre has since released two full-length
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
s through the label, ''
Two Fold Pt. 1'' in 2014 and ''
Two Fold Pt. 2'' in 2016. His first album, "Two Fold Pt. 1", was ranked as the fifth and ninth best album of 2014 by EDM Sauce and Your EDM websites respectively.
*''Hellberg'': A Swedish house producer from Stockholm, Jonathan Hellberg debuted on the label with his single "Stockholm". His prominent releases include "The Girl", featuring vocalist and actor
Cozi Zuehlsdorff
Cozi Noelle Zuehlsdorff (born August 3, 1998) is an American actress and singer known for her role as Hazel Haskett in the movie ''Dolphin Tale'' (2011) and the sequel, '' Dolphin Tale 2'' (2014). She also appears in '' Mighty Med'' as Jordan, ...
, and "Synchronize", featuring New York singer Aaron Richards. A music video for "Synchronize" has been released by the label.
*''Nitro Fun'': Born in 1998, Mexican-American producer Gustavo "Gus" Rangel became the youngest artist signed to Monstercat when he made his debut with his 2013 remix of Televisor's "Old Skool", before debuting his first original singles, "New Game" (featured on ''016 – Expedition'') and "Cheat Codes" (featured on ''017 – Ascension''), in early 2014. He released the track "Checkpoint" in a collaboration with Hyper Potions in 2016, which was featured in the trailer for the video game ''
Sonic Mania
''Sonic Mania'' is a 2017 platform game published by Sega for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. Produced in commemoration of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series' 25th anniversary, ''Sonic Mania'' pays homage to the original S ...
''.
*''
Pegboard Nerds
Pegboard Nerds is a Scandinavian electronic music group, consisting of Norwegian DJ Alexander Odden and Danish DJ Michael Parsberg. The name Pegboard Nerds is an anagram of the duo's surnames, Odden and Parsberg. The duo first met in 2005 and for ...
'': They first appeared on Monstercat in 2012 with their song "Gunpoint". This duo, composed of Alexander Odden and
Michael Parsberg
Michael Parsberg (born Michael Parsberg-Hansen; 16 September 1974 in Copenhagen) is a Danish Trance music, trance and House music, house Record producer, producer and Disc jockey, DJ.
Parsberg has been the co-producer behind successful Danish ac ...
, have since released thirteen extended plays through the label, including ''Guilty Pleasures'' in 2013 and ''
Nerds by Nature'' in 2017. Their 2015 extended play ''
Pink Cloud
Drug withdrawal, drug withdrawal syndrome, or substance withdrawal syndrome, is the group of symptoms that occur upon the abrupt discontinuation or decrease in the intake of pharmaceutical or recreational drugs.
In order for the symptoms of wit ...
'' was released to help fund
breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...
research and charted at number nine on the ''Billboard''
Top Dance/Electronic Albums
Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by ...
and at number twenty on the
Billboard Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...
charts.
*''
Project 46
Project 46 is a Canadian DJ/producer duo made up of Thomas Shaw and Ryan Henderson. They are best known for their tracks "Last Chance" with Kaskade, "Collide" with Laidback Luke and "Reasons" featuring Andrew Allen.
Biography Early life
Henders ...
'': Thomas Shaw and Ryan Henderson, two friends who met via
Skype
Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
, first joined the label in 2011. Mike Darlington convinced them to join in an effort to diversify Monstercat's then
dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
-heavy catalogue. The duo has since released two extended plays through the label—''Continuum'' in 2013 and ''Summer Feels'' in 2016.
*''
Unlike Pluto'': Debuted on the label with "Waiting For You", Armond Arabshahi has released six singles with Monstercat, including "
Everything Black", which was praised by music outlets. In 2017, Arabshahi left the label due to creative differences, as he was pursuing a different artistic direction at the time.
*''
Varien
Nikki Kaelar (born May 15, 1990), better known by her stage name Varien, is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Varien has incorporated or experimented with such styles as industrial, metal, orchestral, neofolk, and ambi ...
'': Debuted as one of the first artists on the label under the alias Halo Nova, Varien has since released various albums and extended plays via the label, including ''Mirai Sekai'' (with 7 Minutes Dead) in 2014, ''
The Ancient & Arcane'' in 2015 and ''My Prayers Have Become Ghosts'' in 2016.
Discography
Main series compilations
Uncaged
* ''
Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 1'' (2017)
* ''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 2'' (2017)
* ''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 3'' (2017)
* ''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 4'' (2018)
* ''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 5'' (2018)
*''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 6'' (2019)
*''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 7'' (2019)
*''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 8'' (2020)
*''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 9'' (2020)
*''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 10'' (2020)
*''Monstercat Uncaged Vol. 11'' (2021)
Instinct
* ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 1'' (2018)
* ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 2'' (2018)
* ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 3'' (2019)
* ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 4'' (2019)
* ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 5'' (2020)
* ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 6'' (2020)
* ''Monstercat Instinct Vol. 7'' (2021)
Rocket League x Monstercat series
* ''Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 1'' (2017)
* ''Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 2'' (2018)
* ''Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 3'' (2018)
* ''Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 4'' (2018)
* ''Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 5'' (2018)
* ''Rocket League x Monstercat – Legacy'' (2020)
Other select compilations
* ''
Monstercat 5 Year Anniversary
''Monstercat 5 Year Anniversary'' is a compilation album by the Independent record label Monstercat, released on 15 July 2016 and features ten songs from various artists. The album was announced to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Monstercat, wh ...
'' (2016)
* ''Monstercat 8 Year Anniversary'' (2019)
* ''Monstercat - 9 Year Anniversary'' (2020)
* ''Monstercat 10 Year Anniversary'' (2021)
* ''Compound 2021'' (2021)
[
]
Accolades and awards
References
External links
*
Monstercat
on YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
Monstercat
discography on Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
{{Authority control
2011 establishments in Ontario
Canadian independent record labels
Electronic dance music record labels
Music of Vancouver
Music-related YouTube channels
Record labels established in 2011
Record labels in Vancouver