Label Spotlight: Monstercat

Who are you? 

Monstercat, headed up by Senior Directors Orri Sachar & Daniel Turcotte.

What’s your ethos?

Monstercat is a community-focused label with a diverse roster of artists. We take pride in showcasing exciting new talent bursting onto the scene alongside some of the most sought-after legendary artists around the world, and strive to make our music accessible to ravers and gamers alike. Rather than positioning a single artist at the centre of our label, Monstercat is an equal playing field for all artists looking to have their moment in the spotlight. 

Tell us your origin story? 

Monstercat was founded in 2011 by Mike Darlington and Ari Paunonen in the Canadian college town of Waterloo. With the help of rising tastemaker and A&R Jon Winter aka ‘Going Quantum’, the three built a community of artists from the furthest corners of the internet and used emerging music discovery platforms like YouTube to amass an army of loyal superfans. Fast forward 13 years later, and that idea that was formed in online chatrooms has turned into a global authority in all forms of dance music, with millions of followers, and billions of streams.

Tell us about your local scene… 

As a Canadian company, the majority of the Monstercat team is based in Vancouver, BC, and operates remotely. This allows the team to enjoy the beautiful nature that the Canadian west coast has to offer, as well as a rich outdoor festival culture with annual events such as Shambhala, Fvded in the Park and Basscoast all within a short distance from home. The company’s primary creative hub is located in Los Angeles, where Artists are constantly coming through to work with our teams in Monstercat’s state of the art studio spaces. 

Do you have a specific sound or vibe? 

Our vibe is generally fun, high energy, and carefree; it’s tough to take yourself too seriously when your mascot is a cat. Sonically, we have evolved over the years as our roster of artists has grown and diversified. One of the perks of not being an artist figurehead label is that we can adapt as the global music landscape shifts, rather than being pigeon holed to one specific genre. Our culture as a label has always been about positivity, a pure love of music, and setting a quality standard for the next generation of dance music listeners.

Do you have a regular artist roster?

Monstercat has both a core artist roster, and a large list of friends and familiar faces who we always welcome back with open arms. 2024 is full of exciting releases with longtime label mainstays like Koven, MUZZ, Crankdat, WHIPPED CREAM, Sullivan King, Bossfight and Dirtyphonics. We’ve also managed to bring in some acts that we’re really big fans of like ATLiens, Nostalgix, Samplifire, Control Freak, Riot Ten, INFEKT, Fairlane, & UZ. Even with all that said, we have an incredibly exciting last few months of the year, including records from Virtual Riot, REZZ, Rusko, and Zomboy, who are all making their label debuts. There are so many more names we didn’t mention, and so many incredible artists that we have the pleasure of working with, we’re truly spoiled with amazing music here at Monstercat.

Tell us about your A&R process…

We release a lot of records, 250+ releases per year across three distinct labels. Each label has a different sound/approach, and a release output that matches that goal. For Monstercat Uncaged, which is our Bass music-focused label, our A&Rs focus on finding records that are High Energy, and Fun. One thing that has always been at the forefront of our A&R process is to ensure that a song can be enjoyed both in a high-energy club/festival setting and in a personal listening experience at home. We want to make sure our records are catchy and memorable, and that they have their own unique identity. At the end of the day, we are dance music fans first, and so if we love something we hear, it is our duty as a label to share that as far and wide as possible.

What makes you different from other labels? 

As much as we are in this industry to have fun and celebrate great art, we also take our jobs incredibly seriously. Life at Monstercat is early mornings and late nights, it’s making sure that every detail is well thought out and intentional, and creating a safe space for our artists and community to share their passion for music. That mentality has been our core belief for 13+ years, which has allowed us to continue to grow and thrive in an ever-changing musical landscape.

What does it take to run a bass music label in 2024?

To run a label in 2024 and beyond…you need to be crafty, and you need to be constantly reinventing your approach to getting your records out in the world. Dance music fans aren’t going anywhere, but the tools needed to reach them are constantly changing, and as a label, our job is to be the best at connecting songs with as many ears as possible. In 2024, we’ve seen DJ performances connecting in the digital space like never before, especially when you can capture that magic moment in an artist’s set; it’s a great tool for getting people’s attention in an overstimulated digital world. We also feel like authentic interactions with dance fans and artists will continue to dominate in a world that is increasingly influenced by algorithms and platforms.

What have you got coming up we should look out for?

Our Annual Monstercat ADE showcase in Amsterdam is happening October. 17, with a lineup that we still can’t believe is real (take a look!). We also have marquee takeovers at Lost Lands (Sept. 20-22), Same Same But Different (Sept. 27-29) and Ministry of Sound (Oct. 11), and a few more events to be announced as we round out the year. 2024 has really raised the bar for artists, records and events at Monstercat, and so we really look forward to continuing the momentum going into the new year. We encourage everyone reading this to dive into some of our recent releases if you haven’t because we are really proud of the incredible collective of artists and records we’ve been able to support this year.