Independent Labels We Trust to Find Something New

Hyperdub follows bass music as it changes shape, connecting dubstep history to footwork, experimental pop and electronic music from well beyond London.

The 4AD catalog still carries a recognizable atmosphere, but the label has survived by finding new artists rather than endlessly replaying its gothic history.

International Anthem presents Chicago jazz as a living collaborative scene, with strong visual identity and patient albums rather than museum-minded revivalism.

Stones Throw consistently finds rap, soul, funk and oddball records with strong individual personalities, even when commercial scale is clearly not the point.

Young maintains a compact roster and gives artists unusually patient development, allowing careers such as The xx and Sampha to grow at their own pace.

Jagjaguwar signs records for the strength of the artist's voice rather than forcing a house sound, which keeps its indie catalog broad but recognizable.

Decades after defining intelligent dance music, Warp still releases electronic records too strange, detailed or ambitious for a conventional genre lane.

Ninja Tune gives electronic artists room for left turns, supporting long careers that move through club music, jazz, hip-hop and audiovisual work.

XL keeps a deliberately small roster and gives artists enough time to develop careers that do not resemble one another or the label's previous success.

Brainfeeder erased the hard border between Los Angeles beat music and jazz, then kept following musicians as that scene expanded into new forms.