Monstercat

Monstercat
Founded July 1, 2011
Founder Mike Darlington, CEO
Ari Paunonen, COO
Status Active
Genre EDM, drum and bass, dubstep, electronic, Electro house, trance, trap, future bass, drumstep, house, glitch hop, hard dance, indie dance, nu-disco
Official website www.monstercat.com

Monstercat (previously known as Monstercat Media) is an electronic dance music record label based in Vancouver, Canada.[1] The label was founded in July 2011 by Mike Darlington, CEO,[2][3] and Ari Paunonen, COO.[1]

Monstercat signs artists for single releases only, rather than exclusivity deals, which lets its artists retain copyright control of their song and the ability to release tracks on other record labels.[4] The label follows a cycle, releasing three new tracks a week (On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) in addition to an hour-long podcast that is live streamed every Tuesday at 1PM PST on the Monstercat Twitch Channel. About every thirty song releases, a new album is compiled containing these and two continuous mixes of the album. Releases are made available on the label's site, iTunes, Xbox Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Google Play Music, and are featured on the Monstercat YouTube and Twitch channels.

History

In July 2011, Mike Darlington (CEO) and Ari Paunonen (COO) created Monstercat as a YouTube channel.[1] Monstercat served as a medium for Darlington and Paunonen's friends to share and promote their music.[1][2][5] Darlington and Paunonen created compilation albums to provide artists with a method of releasing their music and to lessen the competitiveness between them.[1][6] The first song on the label was Dubstep Killed Rock 'n' Roll by Ephixa. Monstercat's first album, "Launch Week", featured seven artists: Feint, Halo Nova (now Varien), Stephen Walking, Ephixa, Neilio, Arion, and Going Quantum. Recent albums now feature upwards of 30 artists with an even larger variety of genres.[6]

In December 2011 Monstercat signed Krewella,[1][2][5] an American electronic dance music group from Chicago, Illinois. "Killin' It" was Krewella's first original song released by a label.[2][7] Monstercat promoted Krewella with social media campaigns and partnered with EDM YouTube promotional channels for a larger platform.[1] Their second song on Monstercat was a collaboration with Pegboard Nerds titled 'This Is Not The End'. It was released in September 2013, but was only sold on Krewella's forthcoming album 'Get Wet' through Columbia Records.

In February 2014, Monstercat partnered with EDM lifestyle brand Electric Family to produce a collaboration bracelet for which 100% of the proceeds are donated to the Humane Society of Canada. The partnership has raised over $5k as of July 2014.

In June 2014, Monstercat reached one million record sales[4] in USA.

In July 2014, Monstercat announced its first official tour; "The Uncaged Tour", featuring Pegboard Nerds, Stephen Walking and Varien. The tour's locations were chosen by fan voting. 22,000 fan votes resulted in over 20 dates being booked for the tour.[8]

In September 2014, Monstercat celebrated its 3-year anniversary with a mix containing 78 of the top tracks from Monstercat's history. It was mixed by Didrick.

In December 2014, Monstercat became the 8th largest YouTube channel in Canada and has broken into the Top 250 in the world.[9]

In December 2014, Monstercat launched their 24 hour digital radio station, hosted and streamable on Twitch.tv [10]

Albums

Discography

Album Title Total Tracks Release Date Ref
001 - Launch Week 7 7 July 2011 [11]
002 - Early Stage 15 28 September 2011 [12]
003 - Momentum 15 9 November 2011 [13]
004 - Identity 15 18 December 2011 [14]
Best of 2011 20 30 December 2011 [15]
005 - Evolution 20 20 February 2012 [16]
006 - Embrace 20 13 April 2012 [17]
007 - Solace 20 6 June 2012 [18]
008 - Anniversary 20 27 July 2012 [19]
009 - Reunion 20 12 September 2012 [20]
010 - Conquest 20 31 October 2012 [21]
011 - Revolution 20 19 December 2012 [22]
Best of 2012 30 4 February 2013 [23]
012 - Aftermath 30 11 March 2013 [24]
013 - Awakening 30 10 June 2013 [25]
014 - Discovery 30 2 September 2013 [26]
015 - Outlook 30 20 November 2013 [27]
The Best of 2013 30 20 December 2013 [28]
016 - Expedition 30 26 February 2014 [29]
017 - Ascension 30 21 May 2014 [30]
018 - Frontier 30 6 August 2014 [31]
019 - Endeavour 30 22 October 2014 [32]
020 - Altitude 30 15 December 2014 [33]
Best of 2014 30 26 January 2015 [34]
021 - Perspective 30 18 March 2015 [35]

Artist Albums/LPs

Artist Album Title Total Tracks Release Date Ref
Haywyre Two Fold Pt. 1 8 31 March 2014 [36]

Christmas and Halloween EPs

EP Title Total Tracks Release Date Ref
Monstercat Christmas Album 2011 6 23 December 2011
Trick or Treat - EP 4 20 October 2012 [37]
Monstercat Christmas Album 2012 8 15 December 2012

Best of Genre Compilations

Producer Genre / Volume Total Tracks Release Date Ref
Monstercat Dubstep Vol. 1 15 28 May 2012 [38]
Monstercat DnB/Drumstep Vol. 1 15 28 May 2012 [39]
Monstercat Electro Vol. 1 15 28 May 2012 [40]
Monstercat Dubstep Vol. 2 15 2 July 2013 [41]
Monstercat DnB/Drumstep Vol. 2 15 2 July 2013 [42]
Monstercat Electro Vol. 2 15 2 July 2013 [43]
Monstercat Electronic Music Vol. 1 15 2 July 2013 [44]
Monstercat House Vol. 1 15 2 July 2013 [45]

Artists

Current Roster[46]

  • 7 Minutes Dead
  • Aero Chord
  • Astronaut
  • Au5
  • Braken
  • Bustre
  • Case & Point
  • Direct
  • Draper
  • Droptek
  • Eminence
  • F.O.O.L
  • Falcon Funk
  • Favright
  • Fractal
  • Going Quantum
  • Grabbitz
  • Grant Bowtie
  • Haywyre
  • Hellberg
  • Karma Fields
  • Krewella
  • Laszlo
  • Lets Be Friends
  • Mr FijiWiji
  • Muzzy
  • Nanobii[47]
  • Nitro Fun
  • Noisestorm
  • PIXL
  • PYLOT
  • Pegboard Nerds
  • Project 46
  • Protostar
  • Puppet
  • Rameses B
  • Razihel
  • Rezonate
  • Rich Edwards
  • Rogue
  • Rootkit
  • Soulero
  • Sound Remedy
  • Stephen Walking
  • Stonebank
  • Televisor
  • Tristam
  • Trivecta
  • Tut Tut Child
  • Varien
  • Vicetone
  • Volant
  • WRLD

Former

  • 23
  • 1uP
  • Archie
  • Arion
  • AZEDIA
  • Chris Ramos
  • Chrisson
  • Day One
  • DotEXE (Also known as Summer Was Fun)
  • Dzeko & Torres
  • Ephixa
  • Feint
  • Halo Nova (Is now Varien)
  • Hot Date!
  • I.Y.F.F.E
  • Insan3lik3
  • Jack of Sound
  • Matduke
  • Mitchell Claxton
  • Neilio
  • Obsidia
  • OVERWERK
  • Rundfunk (Now part of Televisor)
  • SCNDL
  • Skifonix
  • Stereotronique
  • Splitbreed
  • Subformat
  • Teqq
  • Throttle
  • TVDS (Also known as Atmozfears)
  • TwoThirds (Also known as LVTHER)
  • Virtual Riot
  • Yh

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Line Abrahamian (February 2014). "Mike Darlington: Channeling his inner Monstercat". DJ Magazine Canada. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Monstercat CEO – Mike Darlington". The FrontLiner. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Behind the Beat: Hellberg Interview". Only the Beat. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Medved, Matt (8 July 2014). "The Monstercat Label Model: From YouTube Channel to One Million Record Sales". Billboard. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chelsea Perry (10 March 2014). "Monstercat CEO Mike Darlington". NoisePorn. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bob Vrbanac (17 September 2013). "Thinking of the possibilities". Waterloo Chronicle. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Luis Gomez (12 November 2013). "Krewella returning home feeling 'Alive'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Matthew Meadow (2 July 2014). "Monstercat Uncaged Tour, Chosen By You!". YourEDM. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Top 500 Youtubers by Subscribed". Socialblade. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Rodriguez, Krystal (18 Dec 2014). "Behind The Scenes of Monstercat the Label Born Out of YouTube". InTheMix. Retrieved 29 Dec 2014.
  11. ↑ Launch Week
  12. ↑ Early Stage
  13. ↑ Momentum
  14. ↑ Identity
  15. ↑ Best of 2011
  16. ↑ Evolution
  17. ↑ Embrace
  18. ↑ Solace
  19. ↑ Anniversary
  20. ↑ Reunion
  21. ↑ Conquest
  22. ↑ Revolution
  23. ↑ Best of 2012
  24. ↑ Aftermath
  25. ↑ Awakening
  26. ↑ Discovery
  27. ↑ Outlook
  28. ↑ The Best of 2013
  29. ↑ Expedition
  30. ↑ Ascension
  31. ↑ Frontier
  32. ↑ Endeavour
  33. ↑ Altitude
  34. ↑ Best of 2014
  35. ↑ Perspective
  36. ↑ Two Fold Pt.1
  37. ↑ Trick or Treat - EP
  38. ↑ Best of Dubstep, Vol. 1
  39. ↑ Best of DnB/Drumstep, Vol. 1
  40. ↑ Best of Electro, Vol. 1
  41. ↑ Best of Dubstep, Vol. 2
  42. ↑ Best of Dnb/Drumstep, Vol. 2
  43. ↑ Best of Electro, Vol. 2
  44. ↑ Best of Electronic Music, Vol. 1
  45. ↑ Best of House, Vol. 1
  46. ↑ "Monstercat Artist Lineup". Monstercat.com.
  47. ↑ https://twitter.com/imnanobii/status/579325129018241025

External links