US Record Labels Accepting Demos (2026)

US Record Labels Accepting Demos in 2026

The American list splits cleanly in two, and knowing which half you are submitting to matters more than anything else here.

One half is the canon: Chicago and New York labels that invented house music and are still releasing — Strictly Rhythm, Nervous, Relief. These desks have a deep institutional memory and they can tell instantly whether you know the lineage you are working in.

The other half is modern and West Coast — Dirtybird, Night Bass, Catch & Release — built on bass house, tech house and a much more playful relationship with the dancefloor. Fast-moving, big audiences, and far more interested in whether a record is fun than whether it is reverent.

Looking for a genre rather than a country? The house, tech house and dubstep and bass guides cover what dominates here.

How We Ranked These Labels

Audience reach blended with Beatport chart data, filtered to labels that are active, publishing, and genuinely reachable for a demo. Every entry below can receive a submission today.

The Labels

DIRTYBIRD

Claude VonStroke's label, now running out of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and the single most recognisable American tech house brand. Dirtybird signs records with humour and physical low end — the label's whole identity is that dance music is allowed to be fun. A weird, funny, well-produced record does better here than a technically flawless serious one.

Submit your demo to DIRTYBIRD →

Night Bass

AC Slater's Los Angeles label and the definitive home of American bass house. The remit spans bass house, UK garage, bassline and grime — anything with weight and swing. If your record lives in the space between house tempo and bass music sound design, this is the desk.

Submit your demo to Night Bass →

Catch & Release

Fisher founded Catch & Release in 2019 and it became one of the fastest-growing labels in dance music almost immediately. Upbeat, direct, dancefloor-first tech house with an obvious hook. Not the place for subtlety, and it does not pretend otherwise.

Submit your demo to Catch & Release →

Strictly Rhythm

New York, since 1989, and one of the labels that literally defined house music. Strictly Rhythm has released nearly every significant name in the genre. The bar is the catalogue itself — a record here has to stand next to thirty-five years of canon, which is intimidating and also a genuinely clear brief.

Submit your demo to Strictly Rhythm →

Nervous Records

Founded in New York in 1991 and specialising in underground house. Nervous is one of the most active American desks for demo submission and one of the longest-running independents anywhere in dance music. Soulful, raw, unmistakably New York.

Submit your demo to Nervous Records →

Relief Records

Green Velvet started Relief in Chicago in 1993 and it still sounds like it: raw, gritty productions blending techno, acid and classic house. If your records are stripped-back and a little dirty rather than polished, Relief is the natural American home for them.

Submit your demo to Relief Records →

Dim Mak Records

Steve Aoki's Los Angeles label, founded in 1996 and covering electro house, bass music and the wider dance-crossover space. Big audience, fast-moving, and receptive to festival-facing production.

Submit your demo to Dim Mak Records →

Salted Music

Miguel Migs founded Salted in San Francisco in 2004 as an outlet for soulful, deep and disco-inflected house. The West Coast counterweight to the New York desks — warmer, slower, and more interested in musicality than impact.

Submit your demo to Salted Music →

Late Checkout

A bass house and electronic label spanning house, deep house and tech house. Smaller than Night Bass and correspondingly more accessible for a producer working in the same lane without a name yet.

Submit your demo to Late Checkout →

Country Club Disco

Golf Clap's tech house and house imprint, with a consistent release schedule and a taste for groove-led, slightly tongue-in-cheek club records. A realistic target in the Dirtybird stylistic neighbourhood.

Submit your demo to Country Club Disco →

Where The Heart Is

David Hohme's label for organic and progressive house — driving beats with an emotional pull. The clearest American home for the organic-house sound if your records are melodic and long-form rather than punchy.

Submit your demo to Where The Heart Is →

ICONYC

A US techno and deep house desk releasing steadily across the darker end of the American market. Worth a submission if your records lean European in style but you want a US home.

Submit your demo to ICONYC →

A Note on Coverage

This list covers the United States labels we hold a published base for. Just over half the active labels in the directory carry a country at all — a label that has never published a city or a registered address simply has no country on its row, and that is a gap in our data rather than a statement about where it operates. So read this as "13 United States labels we can place and route a demo to", not as the complete national picture.

If you know a United States label that belongs here, the directory takes requests: browse the directory and use the request form.

How to Submit Your Demo

1. Filter the directory — open the label directory with the United States filter already applied
2. Upload your track — WAV preferred, release-quality mastering expected
3. Write a targeted message — name a specific release and say why your track sits next to it
4. Submit for 2 credits: your demo goes to the label's demo inbox with a 14-day reply deadline, or your credits back
5. Read the reply: labels that reply in-app score production quality, originality and marketability, plus written notes

No label is obliged to reply. What we hold to is the deadline: if a label stays quiet for 14 days, your credits come back automatically.

FAQ

Which US record labels accept demos in 2026?

Dirtybird, Night Bass, Catch & Release, Strictly Rhythm, Nervous, Relief, Dim Mak and Salted Music are all active and reachable for demo submissions right now, alongside the rest of the list above.

Do the major US labels accept unsolicited demos?

No. Universal, Sony and Warner do not take unsolicited submissions from anyone — it is a legal policy rather than a taste one. The full explanation, and what does open instead, is in do major record labels accept demos.

Do US labels sign artists from outside the US?

Constantly. None of the labels above restrict submissions by nationality, and Dirtybird and Night Bass both have substantially international rosters. Where you live affects touring, not whether an A&R opens your track.

Where to Go Next

If your record is bass house or garage-leaning, the dubstep and bass guide goes deeper. For a different country, see UK record labels accepting demos or German record labels accepting demos.

Browse the full label directory and submit your demo. Every label gets 14 days to reply, or your credits come back.