Rune Grammofon is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 founded in 1998

1998 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...

 by Rune Kristoffersen

Rune Kristoffersen

Rune Kristoffersen is a Norwegian best known for being the founder and bassist of the pop rock band Fra Lippo Lippi.- Background :Rune Kristoffersen spent the eighties playing bass in Norwegian pop outfit Fra Lippo Lippi, signed to Virgin Records and had an album produced by Walter Becker from...

. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

 electronic music, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, and improvised music

Musical improvisation

Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...

 by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its artists being featured heavily in magazines such as The Wire

The Wire (magazine)

The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...

and Plan B

Plan B (magazine)

Plan B was a monthly music magazine based in London, England. It catered mainly towards independent music but did not discriminate between the relative popularity of the bands it features. Plan B also documented alternative culture such as film, comics, video games, visual art and books. The...

.

The label is home to the widely respected improvisational group Supersilent

Supersilent

Supersilent is a Norwegian avant-garde/improvisational music group formed in Bergen in 1997 and signed on Rune Grammofon. They are known for making only improvised music and for the distinctive uniformity of their album covers....

 as well as the solo work of its members including Deathprod

Deathprod

Deathprod is a musical pseudonym used by Norwegian artist Helge Sten for his ambient-influenced music.-Biography:Sten began creating music under this name starting in 1991, culminating with a box set of most of his recorded work being released in 2004...

 and Arve Henriksen

Arve Henriksen

Arve Henriksen is a Norwegian trumpet player, renowned for his distinctive, flute-like sound on the trumpet, inspired by the sound of the Japanese shakuhachi flute. He also sings; his unique wordless vocalising was central to Chiaroscuro, where he often sings in a soprano's range...

. Other notable releases are by Shining

Shining (Norwegian band)

Shining is a Norwegian band that started out as an acoustic jazz quartet in 1999. Their sound has since become more experimental and extreme, incorporating elements from metal and progressive rock as well as 19th and 20th century classical music....

, Susanna and the Magical Orchestra

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra is the moniker of singer Susanna Karolina Wallumrød , and keyboard player Morten Qvenild . Their style of music can be described as quiet, slow pop mixed with elements from electronica and jazz...

, Jono El Grande

Jono El Grande

Jono El Grande is the stage name of Jon Andreas Håtun .Jono El Grande is an autodidactic Norwegian composer, band leader, guitarist and conductor. He cites as his major sources of influence Captain Beefheart, '60s Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Igor Stravinsky and Art Rock...

, Skyphone

Skyphone

Skyphone is a Danish electronica trio consisting of Mads Bødker, Keld Dam Schmidt, and Thomas Holst. Their first album Fabula was released in 2004 on the acclaimed Norwegian label Rune Grammofon. A 55 minute concert from the Swedish Norberg Festival was broadcast by the Swedish National Radio in 2005...

, Alog

Alog

-Musical duo:The musical duo Alog was formed in Tromsoe in Troms county, Norway in 1997. Alog has been among Norway's performers of experimental electronic music....

, Phonophani and Food.

In 2000, the label signed a distribution deal with ECM

ECM (record label)

ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...

, which increased the label's audience considerably. This deal has come to an end early 2005.

In November 2003 the label celebrated its 30th release by issuing a set that included a two CD compilation and a book that displayed each of Kim Hiorthøy

Kim Hiorthøy

Kim Hiorthøy is a Norwegian electronic musician, graphic designer, illustrator, filmmaker and writer.-Biography:Hiorthøy was born and raised in Trondheim, Norway, and studied at the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art as well as the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen...

's highly praised digipak

Digipak

Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...

designs. An updated second edition of this was released in December 2008.