Monitor Records is a record label from the United States specializing in classical and folk music.
The label was started in 1956 by Michael Stillman of Leeds Music and Rose Rubin. [1] [2] They founded the label to provide music to Americans from the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. [1] Rubin and Stillman both served as company President at different points. [3] [4] Monitor was created to focus on classical and folk. [2]
The first issues were from the Soviet Union featuring works by Bach and Prokofiev performed by Leonid Kogan and Sviatoslav Richter. [2] For the first year, all issues were sourced from Russia, but in 1957 the label began recording young American artists. [5] Monitor Records were available through the Diners Club record club from 1959 to 1961, an arrangement made out of "desperation" by Monitor management according to Rubin. [6] Monitor releases first became available on reel-to-reel tapes in 1963 through an agreement with Musictapes, Inc. [7] That year Monitor became distributed worldwide through Transglobal Music. [8]
In 1966, Monitor began a budget series called "Monitor Collectors Series". [9] At introduction, the series consisted of more than one-hundred releases. [9] The primary focus was on Baroque music. [10]
In 1967, Monitor became the first label to release music in North America by composer Josef Mysliveček. [11]
In 1968, the label attempted to make an entry into the popular music field when they released singles and an album by The Freeborne. [12]
In 1999, Rubin and Stillman donated the label and its catalog to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. [13] Although Folkways was already strong in most folk music, it felt that the Monitor acquisition filled their gap in belly dance music. [13]
Artists appearing on (but not necessarily signed to) Monitor include: