Green Linnet Records

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Green Linnet Records was a record label that specialized in music loosely configured under the 'Celtic' label. It was founded by Lisa Null and Patrick Sky in the early 1970s and was initially based in Lisa's house before moving to Danbury, Connecticut after being taken over by Wendy Newton. The latter's inspiration for becoming involved had been a visit to Ireland where she heard Irish traditional music for the first time in a small pub in County Clare. She signed Altan, Capercaillie and The Tannahill Weavers to record for the label. An offshoot called Xenophile Records appeared in 1992, covering music from Madagascar, Nigeria, Cuba and other countries. In 1997 they launched Celtophile Records to offer budget-priced compilations.

From its foundation to its sale in 2006, Green Linnet was one of the most influential record labels, releasing albums by a panoply of Irish and Irish-American musicians. However, by the early years of the 21st century, it had become synonymous with class-action claims for unpaid royalties instigated by a variety of musicians and bands, including Cherish the Ladies, Altan and Martin Hayes. The action was resolved in 2006. however some artists remain in dispute with the erstwhile propreitor Wendy Newton, for similar unpaid royalty issues. Sadly the wonderful work done by Ms Newton and her collegues in spreading the word regarding Celtic and World Music, will remain tainted by the above disputes.

In May 2006 the label was sold to Digital Music Group, an aggregator of downloadable music; DMG in turn sold the rights to manufacture and distribute Green Linnet and Xenophile compact discs to Compass Records.