City Spotlight: London, UK

Written By Hannah Wolff on 08/28/2014

Record Labels

PMR Records 

PMR Records are the current darlings of the record industry. Major names such as South Londoner Jessie Ware, no-need-for-introduction Disclosure, and Bristolian house producer, Julio Bashmore, signed to the label started back in 2009 by brothers, Ben and Daniel Parmar from their living room. Purporting a DIY ethos while happily marrying meteoric chart success with undeniable, underground credibility, a feat rarely attempted with the scathing call of “sellout” echoed hideously in the background, the brothers pride themselves on creating a “family atmosphere” where “artists feel comfortable to be themselves”. They were also featured on Vice’s web channel Noisey last year as director Dhillon Shukla followed the label gods to 2013's Coachella Festival and have also recently been named by The Guardian as a label responsible for shaping the sound of 2014. 

National Anthem 

National Anthem signed HAIM before National Anthem was even a record label. Talk about complicating that old chicken and the egg debate. Knowing he was on to a good thing, upon seeing the Cali girls perform at a few industry showcases in 2012, James Passmore, a man clearly well versed in the 'fake it til’ you make it' mentality that surrounds so much of the creative industries, “confirmed the release of their Forever EP, then had to come up with a name for the label, find out how you get vinyl made (and) find out how you put tracks on iTunes.” Since then not only has HAIM continued to appear on festival bills worldwide and be labelled a runaway success of 2013, but Passmore has also released singles from Chrvches and fellow Californians’ Sir Sly, demonstrating a well trained ear for radio-come-blog friendly hits.  

LuckyMe 

Search record label LuckyMe in Google and the first hit you get is the collectives' website unapologetically declaring exactly what they’re all about, Music. Art. Parties (and bullshit). Otherwise known as all good things in life. Hailing from the Glasgow School of Art, way back in 2002 the collective took their knowledge of art and designed and applied it to the music industry in an attempt to get their friends, Hudson Mohawke and Rustie, signed. An effort that clearly paid off as it wasn’t long before Warp snatched them up. Since 2007 the collective has evolved organically to include art direction, photography, events and international design studios. With a catalogue that boasts Baauer, Cashmere Cat, Jacques Greene, Hudson Mohawke and Lunice, a Rinse FM channel and some seriously impressive festival debuts including TNGHT at 2012's SXSW festival, LuckyMe has continued to cultivate a creative environment for artists to springboard to the big time. Kanye and Drake have been all ears.

Click here to check out some of the best artists London currently has on offer.