Is the record label importance shrinking?    On one hand you would say yes.  My two favorite groupings for  albums this year were Bandcamp and self released, non curated groupings.     However, on the other hand there are a number of strong labels out there that continue to deliver great releases from new bands (Tiny Engines, Plan-It-X, Asian Man).     So, while I think the power has shifted some, a good record label is still important.  If for nothing else, it is still an excellent way to find new music.

Here are some interesting facts on the year:

• I bought 2 or more LPs on 21 different labels in 2011.   Merge Records had the largest share (6 LPs), excluding non curated where I bought 12 from Bandcamp
• For labels with at least two LPs, Plan-It-X had the highest average song rating in 2011 with a 4.09 average.    Highest average for single LP was 6131 Records.
• For labels with at least two LPs, Frenchkiss and Plan-It-X had the highest listens per song at 12.

Using my record label formula, here were my favorite labels of 2011…

1.  Bandcamp – 9.737 (39 artists, 12 LPs, 1 5-Star LP, 1 4-Star LP)

 

2.  Self Released – 9.714 (32 artists, 6 LPs, 1 5-Star LP, 1 4-Star LP)

 

3.  Frenchkiss – 8.696 (3 artists, 2 LPs, 1 5-Star LP)

 

4.  Secretly Canadian – 8.538 (4 artists, 1 LP, 1 5-Star LP)

 

5.  Tiny Engines – 7.593 (5 artists, 4 LPs, 3 4-Star LPs)

 

6.  Asian Man – 7.494 (5 artists, 4 LPs, 2 4-Star LPs)

 

7.  Barsuk – 7.450 (5 artists, 5 LPs, 1 4-Star LP)

8.  Plan It X – 7.430 (3 artists, 3 LPs, 2 4-Star LPs)

 

9.  No Idea – 7.302 (4 artists, 3 LPs, 1 4-Star LP)

 

10.  Polyvinyl – 7.291 (4 artists, 2 LPs, 1 4-Star LP)