A List of Reggae Labels

Here's a brief list of modern Reggae labels that I've compiled (I'm not including the classic Jamaican labels (such as Studio 1), these are more the heavy hitters with global distribution that you would come across searching for reissues and contemporary CDs). I'm sure the list is insufficient even with that standard, but it is merely a list of ones that occurred to me as important, and I will expand it if necessary. Also the "Major Artist" lists are very incomplete, and there's a lot of crossover (almost all of these artists have had releases on 2-4 of these labels) but it's more to give a little flavor of what kind of material the label represents.

VP Records http://www.vprecords.com/
VP records is the largest distributor of reggae today, and the label for many major dancehall artists particuarly. VP also releases Soca music as well as Jamaican music.
Founded: 1979
Founders: Vincent "Randy" Chin and Patricia Chin
Location: Queens, New York
Major Artists: Mavado, Elephant Man, Busy Signal, Gyptian, Sean Paul, almost all of the major dancehall artists today
Wiki Bio: "The VP Records label was founded in 1979 by the late Vincent "Randy" Chin and his wife Patricia Chin, Chinese Jamaicans who owned the Randy's Records in Kingston, Jamaica (as seen in the 1978 film Rockers) as well as the Studio 17 recording studios. In the mid-1970s, the Chins moved to New York City, setting up a record store in Brooklyn called VP Records in 1975, from which they sold and distributed records. In 1979 they relocated the store to Jamaica, Queens. In 1993, the record label was formed after the success of the retail store. The name of the label is a product of the first letters in the founders' names, hence the title "VP"."

Greensleeves http://greensleevesrecords.blogspot.com/
Greensleeves is now part of VP records, but has a huge back catalogue.
Founded: 1975
Founders: Chris Cracknell and Chris Sedgwick
Location: Isleworth, London
Major Artists: Huge list (Dr. Alimantado, Eek-a-mouse, Sizzla, and Vybz Kartel just to name a few, most recently Gappy Ranks)
Wiki Bio: "The company was founded by Chris Cracknell and Chris Sedgwick and started as a small record store in West Ealing, London, in November 1975 and is based in Britain... Greensleeves Publishing has the largest catalogue of reggae songs in the world, including the copyrights of Shaggy's "Oh, Carolina," Sean Paul's "Get Busy", and "Break it Off" among over 20,000 copyrights.
In February 2008, Greensleeves was acquired by VP Records, the largest reggae label in the world."

Island Records http://www.islanddefjam.com
Island records today specializes mostly in rock and pop records. But it was originally founded in Jamaica and brought Bob Marley (and by extension, reggae) to a global market. The record label "Tuff Gong", founded by Bob Marley, is a subsidiary of Island.
Founded: 1959
Founder: Chris Blackwell
Location: New York City
Major Artists: Bob Marley and the Wailers, Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come" soundtrack
Wiki Bio: "Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group. The label now operates as a division of The Island Def Jam Music Group in the United States (where it is now a largely rock-oriented label) and as a standalone label in the United Kingdom (also known as Island Records Group or Universal Island)"

Trojan http://www.trojan-records.com/
Trojan records is a British record company that originally was a major provider of reggae music to the skinhead and mod subcultures in Britain during the 60s. Today they are well known for their "Trojan Boxsets" that release themed compilations of crucial hard-to-find tracks.
Founded: 1968
Founder: Lee Gopthal
Location: United Kingdom
Major Artists: Desmond Dekker, Ken Boothe, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Horace Andy
Wiki Bio: "Trojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary RecordsTrojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica. The truck had "Duke Reid - The Trojan King of Sounds" painted on the sides, and the music played by Reid became known as the Trojan Sound.
Trojan Records was founded in 1968 by Lee Gopthal, who had previously run a record store called Musicland, and before that collaborated with Chris Blackwell of Island Records on mail order sales... Trojan's main function was not to develop new artists, but to serve as a sister label for Island Records... The music became especially popular in British youth subcultures, such as the mods, skinheads and suedeheads.
In 1972, Island Records pulled out of its partnership with Trojan Records. Around the same time, there was a declining interest in Jamaican music among British youths, who ventured towards other genres when Rastafarian lyrics and slower tempos entered the music...By the late 1980s, Trojan was unearthing and compiling many ska, rocksteady and reggae recordings and re-issuing them for the first time in 25 years... They also started the popular Trojan Box Set series, which usually feature 50 songs on a 3-CD (or vinyl record) set in a simple cardboard package. In 2001, the Sanctuary Records Group purchased Trojan Records. The deal gave the label leverage to buy music rights controlled by other vintage reggae labels, secure worldwide distribution, and enact slicker marketing campaigns."

Shanachie http://www.shanachie.com/
Shanachie is a label with many releases under it's belt. They have held the rights for many classic releases from the 70s and done reissues on CD. They also release traditional folk and world music, as well as jazz and blues.
Founded: 1975
Founder: Richard Nevins and Dan Collins
Location: ? United States
Major Artists: The Mighty Diamonds, Culture, Max Romeo, Augustus Pablo
Wiki Bio: "Starting as a label that specialized in fiddle music, they began releasing work by CelticPlanxty, Clannad and The Chieftains groups such as ...Shanachie Records is first, foremost, and most famously known as a Reggae label... Shanachie was also the U.S. liaison for the UK-based Reggae label, Greensleeves Records until about 1987. Shanachie also issued material for Augustus Pablo under the Message imprint of his company, Rockers International. The label is named for "shanachie", an Irish 'story teller'."

RAS (Real Authentic Sound) http://www.rasrecords.com/
RAS records has a dedication to positive reggae, and thus releases material by many roots oriented artists. The label is likely inactive as the last release provided on the website was in 2005.
Founded: 1979
Founder: Doctor Dread
Location: ? United States
Major Artists: A huge list again: Charlie Chaplin, Dennis Brown, Israel Vibration, Sizzla, Culture, Black Uhuru to name a few.
Wiki bio:"RAS Records was founded in 1979 by Doctor Dread. In his travels to Jamaica he created a network within the reggae artist community there."

Heartbeat
Heartbeat Records is another solid distributor and has many important reissues as well as originals. It appears their website has disappeared and the fate of the label is questionable.
Founded: 1981
Founder: Duncan Browne and Bill Nowlin
Location: Burlington, Massachusetts
Major Artists: Big Youth, Michael Rose, Everton Blender, Mutabaruka, Burning Spear
Wiki Bio: "Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of Linton Kwesi Johnson's Dread Beat an' Blood (1981). In 1989, Chris Wilson was hired as VP of A&R and the label began their association with Studio One label founder Clement Dodd and released Best of Studio One... Heartbeat has released over 60 Studio One albums"

Music Video: Tony Rebel - Sweet Jamaica (1993)

BOOOOOOOM!

Gappy Ranks - Put the Stereo On (2010)

Artist: Gappy Ranks
Album: Put the Stereo On
Genre: Reggae/Dancehall
Release Date: Aug 24, 2010
Mood: Feel Good, Positive
RIYL: Tenor Saw, Buju Banton, Romain Virgo

Rating: ***

The British deejay, Gappy Ranks' full length debut presents a dilemma. It is an album composed of original toasts by Gappy Ranks over old school pre-ragga riddims (a number of which are Studio One classics). Of course this recycling is an integral part of the reggae culture and it's music industry; the difficulty is not the reuse of old riddims but rather the fact that the music here is nearly indistinguishable in most respects from dancehall created 20+ years ago (Gappy's toasts are generally arranged in a very old school singjay style here to fit the riddims). The problem lies in the fact that the main distinct contemporary element of Gappy's album is his use of autotuning on five of the songs (under half).
Ultimately, I think the throwback element of this album is wonderful, the whole work becomes a very cohesive listen with it's consistent dedication to early riddims. But I wonder about the use of autotuning. Generally, I am less aggravated by the use of autotuning then most purists; I quite enjoy it on a number of other contemporary dancehall albums, such as Busy Signal's Loaded. However, when coupled with old riddim classics it just doesn't seem to go over as well. "Heaven In Your Eyes", despite being an excellently written song, does not sound as good as many of the excellent tracks in which Gappy left his voice unaltered. Yet, I can't seem to fully dismiss the autotuning on this album altogether. The title track, "Put the Stereo On" is one of the best songs here and doesn't seem to suffer from it's use. Overall though, the rest of the songs that do use it (there are three) make up some of the least engaging moments on the album.
Beyond the question of autotune, Gappy Ranks shows that he is an excellent songwriter. His singing is solid enough to be satisfying (without the autotuning) and his toasting is superb. Lyrics are positive throughout, whether serving up culture chunes or lover's numbers. Besides using old riddims, the album contains numerous looks backward at reggae's history. The packaging contains information about Pekings records' history, which is also mentioned in the title track. "Pumpkin Belly" is a cover of a classic cut by Tenor Saw originally over the Sleng Teng riddim. "Rude Boy" is a dedication to Bob Marley consisting of lyrics composed largely of his song titles impressively strung together. "Soul Rebel" is a Marley cover spiced up into a dancehall style that recalls Tony Rebel's version "He's a Rebel" off of "Rebel with a Cause" (1992). Regardless of the slight grating of the autotuning, this album is a solid listen and a refresher in a dancehall market a bit oversaturated with hip-hop and militant trends. Expect good things from Gappy Ranks in the future.

1. Mountain Top ****
2. Heaven in Her Eyes ***
3. Put the Stereo On *****!
4. Pumpkin Belly *****
5. Happiest Day of My Life **
6. Musical Girl *
7. A Little Understanding ****
8. Thy Shall Love ***
9. So Lost **
10. Heavy Load *****!
11. Rude Boy ****
12. Soul Rebel ****