SST

Headquarters: Lawndale, CA

Founded: 1978

Founded by: Greg Ginn

Link: Official Site

Genre(s):
 * Punk
 * Noise
 * Experimental
 * Jazz
 * Alternative Rock

Active Roster

 * Greg Ginn

Inactive Roster

 * Black Flag
 * Negativland
 * Sonic Youth
 * Zoogz Rift
 * Meat Puppets
 * The Minutemen
 * The Descendents
 * The Stains
 * fIREHOSE
 * Soundgarden
 * Hüsker Dü
 * Bad Brains
 * Dinosaur Jr.
 * Elliott Sharp
 * Blind Idiot God
 * Fred Frith
 * Henry Kaiser

Key Releases

 * Black Flag - Damaged
 * Negativland - U2
 * Greg Ginn - Getting Even

Biography
SST was originally started as an electronics company by Greg Ginn when he was in high school, but turned into a record label when he was finding it difficult for anyone to release the first Black Flag releases. From there, it grew into a big punk label with a lot of die-hard fans, releasing a lot of really influential records. Unfortunately, SST's accounting practices weren't the best, and in the 1990s, many bands started suing SST and taking their masters back, as they were not being paid royalties. (Also, the U2 lawsuit didn't help matters much, nor did Greg Ginn's aggressive personality -- Henry Rollins has written several times about Greg Ginn attacking him out of nowhere in the press, and during the Negativland flap, he sued the band for re-publishing press releases (!), and when given four pages in their book Fair Use, he chose not to give his side of the story, but spend those four pages insulting Negativland and calling them ingrates.) This caused SST many problems, and the band hasn't released anything for years, though what's left of its back catalog remains mostly in print. In 2002, they signed with Koch for distribution, and Greg Ginn claimed that there would be a slate of new releases, though none have been forthcoming.