Kompakt

Cologne - Germany

Kompakt has been running for nearly 30 years. In electronic music terms, that’s not quite archaic, but it’s hard to think of many other German labels that have survived for so long – and evolved from experimental house and early minimal techno to all kinds of dance music, into a cohesive but widespread hub of distribution, booking, publishing, and management. Founded by Wolfgang Voigt, Jürgen Paape, Reinhard Voigt, and Michael Mayer in 1993, Kompakt is looking back at a past dominated by a discography of a surprisingly large variety. Much-acclaimed and highly distinct artists like The Field, Kölsch, DJ Koze, Gus Gus, The Orb, Superpitcher, Matias Aguayo, Justus Köhncke, COMA, Gui Boratto, Kaito, Robag Wruhme or Saschienne have shaped their careers via the iconic imprint, just to name a very few. The complete story is surely much more complicated than that, but Wolfgang always says it best: “Forward ever, backward never.”