
Kompakt is a Cologne-based electronic music record label, owned by Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. They specialize in microhouse and minimal techno, and are known for their Total compilation series, now in its ninth installment.
According to Grooves magazine, "Kompakt's chief aesthetic objective has always been the perfect marriage of ambient texture and linear 4x4 structure-blending deep, granular sound design with the 4-bar rhythmic intensity and patterning that makes house and techno so club-effective".
British music critic Simon Reynolds has characterized Kompakt as the "label that's contributed more than any other to Germany's dominance of electronic dance music this decade [the 2000s]".
Notable producers of the label include Superpitcher, Michael Mayer, Justus Köhncke and Jürgen Paape.
Techno & electronic artists, such as The Orb, Thomas Fehlmann, The Field, Jonas Bering, Aril Brikha and others have released material on Kompakt.
By renaming Delirium into Kompakt in the beginning of 1998, it was possible to manage the problem with the confusing jungle of names, logos, store, labels etc. By giving a long overdue trademark and brand to the meanwhile internationally known Cologne minimal sound. Under the same roof as the already known labels Profan and Studio 1, Kompakt comprises not only label and record store. Due to the constantly rising number of newcomers and new talents and the necessity to offer the utmost freedom for releases of weird, experimental sounds, it seemed only consequent enough to found Kompakt distribution. Strictly following the motto: "From the creator directly on to the turn-tables", Kompakt Distribution supplies national and international wholesalers and retailers with freshly-made home-productions. Moreover, special care is dedicated to the comprehensive back catalogue that has been developed over the years.
The label is based on the Kompakt record store located in Cologne which nowadays also has a webshop. In the last years Kompakt also got the booking agency and distributor for various artists and labels. In 2005 Kompakt started an MP3 online shop for own releases and releases by distributed labels.