Renaissance Records

Renaissance Music grew out of the Renaissance club in 1994, developing from a club brand into a British record label and live events promoter with a strong focus on electronic music. Originally known as Renaissance Recordings, it paired recorded releases with DJ mixes and international club events, placing the label within the culture that connected dance floors, mix compilations and touring DJs.

The company entered administration in September 2010, and its back catalogue was sold to Phoenix Music International Ltd. Renaissance returned in 2011 after a year of inactivity, with founder and original owner Geoff Oakes guiding the revived brand. Operations ceased again in September 2014, before the label re-emerged with a 2017 digital remix of Age of Love's “The Age of Love” by Solomun. The release reached number one on electronic music charts.

In 2018, media and finance entrepreneur Scott Rudmann acquired a majority stake and began working with Oakes. The label's subsequent releases included new versions of landmark dance records, pairing established material with contemporary producers. Among them were Tale of Us' remix of “Cafe del Mar,” Maceo Plex's remix of “Bladerunner,” and Adam Beyer and Bart Skils' remix of “Sacred Cycles,” each reaching the top three of electronic music charts. Renaissance also launched the Bauhaus sublabel and promoted events in more than ten countries, including festival-scale shows in Tulum, Mexico, presented with Zamna.

Rudmann acquired the business operations, catalogue and trademark outright in 2024 through a new company, Renaissance Music. Marcus James, who has led A&R and label operations for two decades, remained in that role. That year, Renaissance also began making its archive of mixes dating back to 1994 available through Apple Music DJ Mixes. The first release, The Mix Collection: Volume One, collected three mixes by Sasha and John Digweed. Its original 1994 edition became the first electronic-music album to earn a gold record after selling more than 100,000 copies, presenting a three-hour-and-forty-minute composition assembled from vinyl records.