NMC Recordings was originally set up in 1989 as New Music Cassettes, releasing recordings on both compact disc and cassette. As the company stopped releasing cassettes, this soon became obsolete, and in 1993 the name was changed to NMC Recordings.  We did release a cassette again in 2019; to mark our 30th anniversary we invited experimental producer/DJ Beatrice Dillon to delve into our back catalogue and the result is a 50-minute blended mix, including works by composers ranging from Judith Weir to Kate Whitley, Benjamin Britten to Huw Watkins – a brief audio snapshot of NMC’s rich archive of contemporary classical music from Britain and Ireland. Now available as a digital download.

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NMC Recordings was set up with funding from the Holst Foundation to record, distribute and promote the music of contemporary composers from Britain and Ireland. That said, a very small number of releases, including compilations, do include short works by non-British composers; and more substantial recordings of contemporary non-British works may be a possibility in the future.
 

No; one of NMC's aims is to act as an archive of recorded music from Britain and Ireland, so all recordings remain permanently available.
 

NMC is a registered charity (no 328052) because of the public benefit we provide through our contribution to enriching cultural life. We operate as a limited company and within Charity Commission guidelines. We rely on grants and donations to operate; any profit from sales of our recordings is invested back into our programme of releases. To run NMC as a business would not be viable as our recordings rarely break even - and yet we need to ensure that new music is kept alive beyond commission, premiere and limited performance options. Our recordings are selected by an independent Artistic Panel based on quality, maintaining balance in our catalogue, supporting composers’ careers, and preserving an archive of today’s best British classical music; they are not selected on sales potential or promoting one composer above another. 
 

NMC could not survive without public and private funding. We rely on public subsidy from the Arts Council, the support of trusts and foundations, the investment of our Friends and donors, and a modest income from sales and licensing to maintain our output. The Holst Foundation supported NMC from our inception and its funding ran until 2015.  NMC also receives core funding from the Delius Trust.  Find out more about how to support NMC here.
 

You can support us by becoming an NMC Friend, leaving us a gift in you will, or through a Trust or Foundation. If you'd like to find out more, please visit our Support Us page here, or get in touch with Stephen, Office and Development Assistant, at stephen@nmcrec.co.uk
 

Full details can be found on our Recording Proposals page.
 

https://www.nmcrec.co.uk/about-us/artistic-mission/recording-proposals

NMC albums are available from good record shops, digital and streaming services or via the NMC Shop.

Individual tracks can be downloaded from third-party stores such as iTunes, Chandos Classical Shop, Amazon and Qobuz provided the track is less than ten minutes long.
 

As part of NMC's mission to make recordings of new music available as widely as possible we don’t rely on just standard full-length albums. We release recordings of different lengths and in the case of downloads, in different digital formats, and this is reflected in the pricing.  

Full details relating to each album can be found in the NMC Shop.
 

Our recordings are available worldwide on CD, various download formats (mp3, FLAC 16-bit, FLAC 24-bit) and on streaming sites such as Spotify and Apple Music and from the NMC Shop.

Our CD duplication*/replication is done at Nimbus print & disc services (short-run)

* Authentic reproduction of the original product.

NMC is represented in many overseas territories, listed below. We work closely with our physical distributor, Proper Music Group, and external export partners to ensure as many CD releases as possible are available to buy in their territories. We would encourage all customers to try their local retailers, and, if they encounter problems to contact us for advice at sales@nmcrec.co.uk

UK 
Proper Music Group
1 - 5 Applegarth Drive, Questor, Dartford, Kent, DA1 1JD
Website: www.propermusicgroup.com

Worldwide Digital (streaming & download)
Fuga c/o Proper Music Group
Website: https://fuga.com/

Find a full list of our Export Partners here.

Probably our most frequently asked question of all!
The blue sheep dates back to an advertising campaign and sampler in 1996, which showed a field of white sheep facing one way, with a solitary blue sheep facing the other – going its own way. We rather liked the sheep and felt it represented the ethos of NMC so we've used it ever since. It can be seen on some of samplers here.