Monitor Records (New York)

The label was started in 1956 by Michael Stillman of Leeds Music and Rose Rubin.[1][2] They founded the label to provide music to Americans from the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc.[1] Rubin and Stillman both served as company President at different points.[3][4] Monitor was created to focus on classical and folk.[2]

The first issues were from the Soviet Union featuring works by Bach and Prokofiev performed by Leonid Kogan and Sviatoslav Richter.[2] For the first year, all issues were sourced from Russia, but in 1957 the label began recording young American artists.[5] Monitor Records were available through the Diners Club record club from 1959 to 1961, an arrangement made out of "desperation" by Monitor management according to Rubin.[6] Monitor releases first became available on reel-to-reel tapes in 1963 through an agreement with Musictapes, Inc.[7] That year Monitor became distributed worldwide through Transglobal Music.[8]

In 1966, Monitor began a budget series called "Monitor Collectors Series".[9] At introduction, the series consisted of more than one-hundred releases.[9] The primary focus was on Baroque music.[10]

In 1967, Monitor became the first label to release music in North America by composer Josef Mysliveček.[11]

The label attempted to make an entry into the popular music field when they released singles and an album by The Freeborne in 1968.[12]

In 1999, Rubin and Stillman donated the label and its catalog to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.[13] Although Folkways was already strong in most folk music, it felt that the Monitor acquisition filled their gap in belly dance music.[13]

Monitor's output has been noted for the variability of its quality.[14]

Artists appearing on (but not necessarily signed to) Monitor include:

• Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company[15]
• Bethany Beardslee[11]
• Ramblin' Jack Elliott[1]
• Walter Hautzig[9]
• Ludwig Hoelscher[11]
• Heinz Holliger[9]
• Leonid Kogan[2]
• Lili Kraus[9]
• Anton Kuerti[9]
• Lado[16]
• David Oistrakh[9]
• Igor Oistrakh[9]
• Nadia Reisenberg[9]
• Sviatoslav Richter[2]
• Mstislav Rostropovich[9]
• Brother John Sellers[13]
• Sophie Svirsky[9]
• Henryk Szeryng[9]

• Official site