Searching Spotify by record label

[Spannko]

I asked Grok3 AI if we can search for record labels on Spotify. Here is its answer:

Yes, you can search for record labels on Spotify! It’s not a heavily advertised feature, but there’s a handy trick to do it using the search bar. Simply type label: followed by the name of the record label you’re looking for. Here’s how it works:
• Basic Search: Enter label:"Label Name" (e.g., label:"Sub Pop"). This pulls up tracks, albums, and artists associated with that label available on Spotify.
• Multi-Word Labels: If the label has multiple words, use quotes around the full name—like label:"Atlantic Records"—to ensure accuracy. Without quotes, it might not work as well, especially on the desktop app where you might need dashes (e.g., label:Atlantic-Records), though quotes are usually enough.
• What You Get: Results show releases tagged with that label, sorted by popularity. You might need to scroll for lesser-known artists or older tracks.
Does It Always Work Perfectly?
Not quite. It’s a bit of a legacy feature, so:
• Incomplete Results: Some labels’ catalogs are spotty—metadata might be inconsistent (e.g., “Hospital Records” vs. “Hospital Records Limited”).
• Name Clashes: Labels with similar names (e.g., “V Recordings” and “Saturn V Recordings”) can muddle things.
• No Chronology: You can’t sort by release date or see a full, tidy discography like an artist page..
Try It Out
Open Spotify now and test it—say, label:"Ninja Tune" for some eclectic beats. Works on mobile and desktop. Want a workaround for a full catalog view? Sites like ListenByLabel (lbl.fm) can bridge the gap, though they’re unofficial.
So, yes, you can—and it’s a cool way to dig into music’s underbelly. What label you thinking of searching first?

[tokenbrit]

Interesting - thanks for sharing. Bit of a boring choice but I'd likely start with Geffen for a mix of artists, US distribution for UK/EU, as well as discog handling as a Warner/Universal subsidiary. I'm sure there are more interesting &/or eclectic choices... What was yours?

[Spannko]

Initially, I wondered if I could search for Opus 3 recordings like this one https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/3318330 which is an example of some interesting recordings in churches made in the 1970’s. The early recordings were made with just one coincident crossed pair of microphones feeding directly into a two track Revox tape recorder. The church acoustic provided natural reverb and no additional processing was applied. Unfortunately they’re not available on Spotify, but I found this later recording (probably digital) which has managed to capture the acoustic of the church very well https://open.spotify.com/album/3LgYGYr ... sjMcTA0jKg.

[matthias]

Searching on Spotify for Opus 3 records I got 14 albums, but for ECM records I got only 30 albums which is strange.

[Spannko]

Searching on Spotify for Opus 3 records I got 14 albums, but for ECM records I got only 30 albums which is strange.

Why strange?

[matthias]

Why strange?

Only a tiny fraction of the ECM albums they offer...

[matthias]

Multi-Word Labels: If the label has multiple words, use quotes around the full name—like label:"Atlantic Records"—to ensure accuracy. Without quotes, it might not work as well, especially on the desktop app where you might need dashes (e.g., label:Atlantic-Records), though quotes are usually enough.

Another example, did try this for the finnish Jazz label "TUM Records" which imo produce from a musicality perspective better records than ECM but got nothing. But Spotify offer them, like this one:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6NnfGqxk ... Dieo-qNBtw
So this label search doesn't work for me.

[Spannko]

Another example, did try this for the finnish Jazz label "TUM Records" which imo produce from a musicality perspective better records than ECM but got nothing. But Spotify offer them, like this one:
https://open.spotify.com/album/6NnfGqxk ... Dieo-qNBtw
So this label search doesn't work for me.

The Spotify link you provide doesn’t work for me either. The track listing is greyed out, suggesting that TUG are restricting which countries have access to their catalogue.

As mentioned in the op, the search isn’t perfect.