Don Giovanni Records

{{Infobox record label

| name = Don Giovanni Records

| image = Dongiovannirecordslogo.jpg

| founded = {{start date|2003}}

| founder = Joe Steinhardt
Zach Gajewski

| distributor = Redeye

| genre = Alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, experimental, hip hop

| country = United States

| location = New Brunswick, New Jersey
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lansing, Michigan

| website = {{URL| http://www.dongiovannirecords.com/}}

}}

Don Giovanni Records is an independent record label originally specializing in punk rock from the New Brunswick, New Jersey music scene but eventually working with a variety of artists from different genres. Its also operated out of Lansing, Michigan.

History

Don Giovanni Records was founded by Joe Steinhardt and Zach Gajewski while they were living in Boston in 2003.{{cite web|last1=Sherman|first1=Maria|title=The Don Giovanni Story: Nothing Jersey Shore About It|url=https://myspace.com/article/2013/02/08/perfect-10-the-don-giovanni-story-nothing-jersey-shore-about-it|website=myspace|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307152141/https://myspace.com/article/2013/02/08/perfect-10-the-don-giovanni-story-nothing-jersey-shore-about-it|archivedate=2016-03-07}} Steinhardt and Gajewski started the label while playing in bands and attending college at Boston University, where the two had met. After graduation they moved to New Brunswick, where Steinhardt was from, in order to make the label a full-time operation.

The label is best known for developing artists like Screaming Females, Mitski, Waxahatchee, Laura Stevenson, Moor Mother, and Irreversible Entanglements, as well as fostering a geographically diverse community of artists, including Mal Blum, Native American Music Award “Best Artist” winner Keith Secola, Holy Modal Rounders founder, Peter Stampfel, Lavender Country, Swamp Dogg, Alice Bag, and comedian Chris Gethard.

In 2016, Steinhardt launched the New Alternative Music Festival.{{Cite web|last=Knox|first=Ron|date=2016-11-10|title=Joe Steinhardt Launched the New American Music Festival to Stave Off the Impending Death of Indie Music|url=https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/193761/joe-steinhardt-launched-the-new-american-music-festival-to-stave-off-the-impending-death-of-indie-music/|access-date=2020-09-16|website=Washington City Paper|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=New Alternative Music Festival {{!}} Music in New York|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/new-alternative-music-festival|access-date=2020-09-16|website=Time Out New York|date=6 September 2016 |language=en}}{{Cite web|date=September 19, 2016|first=Maria |last=Sherman|title=The New Alternative Music Fest Defies Commodification|url=https://clrvynt.com/new-alternative-music-fest/|access-date=2020-09-16|website=clrvynt.comT|language=en}}

The label has been vocally critical of Record Store Day and streaming music as well as other social issues within the music industry.{{Cite web|date=April 18, 2017|first=Fred|last=Pessaro|title='Fvck Record Store Day' Manifesto Author Doubles Down|url=https://clrvynt.com/joe-steinhardt-interview/|access-date=2020-09-16|website=clrvynt.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Repressed: How Independent Artists and Labels Are Getting Squeezed Out by the "Vinyl Revival"|url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/689g83/how-independent-artists-and-labels-are-getting-squeezed-out-by-the-vinyl-revival|access-date=2020-09-16|website=www.vice.com|date=31 March 2015 |language=en}}{{Cite web|title=We Must Destroy the Spotify Business Model|url=http://thesparkmag.com/artists/modern-hut/|access-date=2020-09-16|website=Spark Mag|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Punknews.org|title=Don Giovanni Records owner asks labels to drop The Queers and Screeching Weasel, then apologizes|url=https://www.punknews.org/article/55795/don-giovanni-records-owner-asks-labels-to-drop-the-queers-and-screeching-weasel-then-apologizes|access-date=2020-09-16|website=www.punknews.org|date=27 August 2014 |language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Jordan|first=Chris|title=NJ's Don Giovanni Records heads to SXSW after immigration fight|url=https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/03/07/immigration-flap-jerseys-don-giovanni-label-headed-sxsw-after-change/98867802/|access-date=2020-09-16|website=Asbury Park Press|language=en-US}}

In 2020 the label relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.{{fact|date=January 2023}}