IDM/Ambient Labels & Artists?

[Megazoid]

I've started producing some ambient, IDM, emotional/moody music which would be suited for soundtracks. I've been focusing on:

dark, moody, dreamy, melodic, broken beat, textured pads, drones and so fourth.

Doing some really intresting sound 'mangling' and synth programming but still maintaining a melodic touch.

I've been producing alot of aphex twin style and music that would be suitable for a horror/thriller/suspense/alternative style movies.

I checked out aphex twin's label website (warpedrecords i think) and their are literally hundreds of artists on their signed up. It's difficult to see who the best ones are. It's also difficult to see how much more different i can be as a producer/composer in this genre, their seems to be alot of competition.

I am really looking for a list of the best ambient/IDM/electronica labels that i can send my work too and any advice on which are best would be great too.

I've already got a good collection of uplifting/melodic/progressive trance productions signed out to various labels, so from a production stand-point everything is well mixed and mastered with good dynamic ranges.

It would also be great to get a list of the "best of..." artists within these genres/sub-genres, so any help on this matter would be great too.

Will be uploading some work very soon.

[grooveartist]

I'd look at Ultimae

http://www.ultimae.com/news/frameset.html

They have done releases of collections of unsigned artists.

I'd also suggest looking into Fake Science as a electronic distribution alternative to CDs. I believe I read somewhere that electronic distribution has recently exceeded traditional CD sales.

http://us1.fakescience.com/index.php

Fake Science is really new, so there aren't "hundreds or thousands" of songs yet that you'd be competing with for ears.

Ultimae currently allows downloading a CD for $5 from the fake science site (currently the only "label" listed on this new music downlad service).

[Megazoid]

Thanks for the excellent reply. Will check out these labels for sure. Has anyone had experience with aphex twin's label, warped recordings? Not sure if it's even wise to send stuff to them, they seem to already have such a huge artist list...

I am not doing this for the cash incentive but rather the exposure. I would really like too have some of this style of music on CD or even better, vinyl...

Ultimately i am intrested in moving into soundtrack composition/production. So any labels which would offer this kind of exposure would be really great too.

I thought about selling my own cd on cdbaby, but much like Warped Recordings, their seems to be too much material on their too.

[Reverse Engineer]

Warp Records

Also....check out http://www.discogs.com and search for your fave artists / labels. It'll list pseudonyms they have used and sub labels etc and you can skip about seeing who releases what where (discogs generally provide contact details too.)

Here's the warp records page to start you off http://www.discogs.com/label/Warp+Records

[Amberience]

If you want exposure, I'd be sending my stuff to labels who don't already have music like my own on their rosta.

[Megazoid]

Good point Andrew.

The main problem is i dont know of many other artists that i like in this genre, so defining which ones i like is difficult.

If anyone can give advice on what to look for that would be great too! :d

[JerGoertz]

Carpark
Worm Interface (they might be defunkt)
Mille Plateaux
Tiger Beat
Rephlex (Aphex-owned label)
Hypnotic
Planet-Mu
Thrill Jockey

[dystonia_ek]

Put it out yourself (there's never been a better time to do so - manufacturing costs are very low presently) and flog it to the indie distributors. This demonstrates seriousness much more than a demo would (most labels are saturated with demos these days, and many don't bother listening at all unless they already know who you are). If it's good, and gets heard by the right people, you're more likely to get serious offers.