The news that Universal are to merge Virgin and Mercury Records, along with Island Def Jam, into a new Virgin EMI parent label has got us thinking about the webs of former indie labels now owned by the Majors. We‘re lucky enough to work with many great independent labels here at Open Ear but sadly labels merge, change hands and get swallowed by the Majors all the time.

So we’re wondering; what are your favourite labels, past and present?