In a music industry primarily concerned with uniformity and vapid commerciality, the perpetually adventurous Mute stands alone. One of the most consistently successful independent record labels in the world, with offices in London, Berlin and New York, Mute has nurtured some renowned best-selling international artists as Depeche Mode, Moby, Erasure and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

Mute's indelible distinctiveness also thrives with its commitment to innovatory musical expression. A variety of critically acclaimed Mute artists - including the mercurial soundscape composer Barry Adamson, the incendiary diva Diamanda Galas, the uncompromising Einstürzende Neubauten, the ravaged R 'n' B of The Blues Explosion, the witty electronica produced by Add N To (X) and a host of pioneering dance acts such as Richie Hawtin (AKA Plastikman), Luke Slater, Speedy J and Cristian Vogel - amply illustrate the diversity of talent that the label has to offer.The sheer range of the label's pop, rock and avant- experimentation reflects tastes and vision of the founder and director of Mute, Daniel Miller. Inspired by the anarchic energy and attitude of the late 1970s punk revolt, rather than the guitar based pub-rock thrash that compromised much of the music, Miller decided he wanted to become actively involved in creating his own music. Deeply influenced by the music of Kraftwerk, Can and Neu!, Miller felt that electronic music could be a more pure expression of the punk aesthetic. With synthesisers becoming affordable acquisitions for the man in the street, he reasoned that there was no need to even learn three chord punk guitar. With one only note produced on an electronic instrument, you could begin fashioning your own recordings. The minimalism of punk could be fused with electronica - half Ramones, half Kraftwerk. The synthesiser was the ultimate egalitarian instrument, an instrument of the future. In 1978 the 26 year old Daniel Miller put his ideas in practice. Having bought a KORG700S and a TEAC four track recorder he produced his first electronic single as The Normal. The highly influential tracks, TVOD and Warm Leatherette (later covered by Grace Jones) were inspired by the dystopian novels of JG Ballard, in particular the auto-eroticism of Crash. "I never thought of myself as a musician, I thought it was an idea, rather than a piece of music," says Daniel Miller. "But I did hope it might trigger other people's imagination." In order for his recording to be readily available, Daniel Miller would have to form his own record label. Mute was born. Initially Mute was a one man operation. However, the success of The Normal single would allow Miller to make the label a full time concern, allowing him to release records by the likes of Fad Gadget, confrontational avant garde musician Boyd Rice, AKA Non and the fabricated teenage electronic band The Silicon Teens. The first Mute album release was by influential German electro-disco pioneers DAF and by the end of 1980, Miller had discovered Depeche Mode. A unique alliance between record company and group was forged, with Depeche Mode becoming undoubtedly one of the most successful and significant British groups of the past two decades. Together with the commercial achievements produced by Vince Clarke, who left Depeche Mode in 1981 to first form Yazoo, then Erasure with Andy Bell five years later, Miller was able to expand the Mute label in order to cater to the needs of his artists. Under the protective Mute umbrella, a number of equally important labels have flourished. Blast First brought a whole wave of US underground rock to the fore, with releases by Sonic Youth, the Butthole Surfers, The Afghan Whigs and Big Black. Together with a roster that includes Labradford, Pan Sonic and Hovercraft, Blast First also recently re-released the first two classic albums by the seminal New York electronic band, Suicide. Since 1993 NovaMute has established itself at the very forefront of the Techno music genre, with a series of groundbreaking and eclectic recordings by Plastikman/Richie Hawtin, Steve Stoll, Speedy J, 2nd Gen and Cristian Vogel. 13th Hour Recordings discovers new rock talent, with the driving guitar dynamics of Foil being their freshest discovery; while The Grey Area continues to be an indispensable archive of historic industrial/electro and alternative rock recordings, introducing a new generation to the works of Can, DAF, The Buzzcocks, Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle. Though Mute has enjoyed world-wide success for the past twenty four years, with Depeche Mode, Erasure, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and most recently with Moby, who is set to release his new album '18' in May 2002, the label continues to operate as a counterbalance and critique of the practices of the mainstream music industry. With Luke Slater's perfect Electronic pop, the neo-psychedelic post-rock of Echoboy, Appliance's Motorik roadtrip soundtrack and Goldfrapp, whose stunning debut album "Felt Mountain" captured the imagination of critics and public alike, Mute persistently advances along its own idiosyncratic path, breaking down musical boundaries and presumptions. Daniel Miller chose the name for his celebrated label well. In the end, the music must speak for itself.