The labels
- Attic Records — the 70s and 80s independent (see our features): the Triumph (see our features), the Anvil (see our Anvil feature), the NWOBHM signings — the metal and hard rock bastion that competed with the majors.
- True North Records — the folk and roots independent (see our folk features): the Bruce Cockburn (see our Cockburn feature), the Rough Trade (see our women-in-rock feature), the Canadian songwriter tradition kept.
- Stony Plain Records — the roots and blues independent (see our blues features): the Alberta tradition (see our Alberta feature), the long tail kept alive.
- **Solid* Gold? no. Dine Alone? still going. FINAL: **The* folded majors' Canadian *arms** — the MCA Canada (see our features), the WEA Canada (see our features), the international infrastructure that nurtured the domestic scene before the consolidation (see our industry features).
The label's lesson
The lesson: the labels that defined the canon were the labels that took risks (see our indie feature) — the independent spirit that signed what the majors wouldn't, the domestic infrastructure that nurtured what the globals ignored. The folds don't erase the definitions. The canon remembers. The labels live on in the records.
Frequently asked questions
What Canadian record labels folded?
Attic Records (metal, hard rock), True North (folk, roots), Stony Plain (roots, blues) — the independent infrastructure that shaped the canon.
Why did these labels matter?
They took the risks the majors wouldn't — signing the metal, the folk, the roots that became the canon.
Do any of these labels survive?
Some continue in reduced form; the records and the canon endure regardless.