# FMP/Free Music Production

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**Free Music Production (FMP)** is a German record label that specialises in [free jazz](/source/Free_jazz).

## Origins

FMP originated from the New Artists Guild, which was an informal cooperative of musicians in the mid-1960s.[1] In 1968, The New Artists Guild sponsored the Total Music Meeting, a festival that presented different forms of music from those performed at the [Berliner Jazztage](/source/JazzFest_Berlin).[1] The name FMP was adopted the following year and the group "began operating as a cooperative venture under the administrative guidance of a former double bass player, Jost Gebers [...] At some point the operation of FMP transferred from the cooperative to Gebers alone."[1]

## Company activities

The label's first release was [Manfred Schoof](/source/Manfred_Schoof)'s *[European Echoes](/source/European_Echoes)*.[2] Specialising in free jazz from the beginning,[1] FMP soon released recordings by saxophonist [Peter Brötzmann](/source/Peter_Br%C3%B6tzmann), pianist [Alexander von Schlippenbach](/source/Alexander_von_Schlippenbach), bassist [Peter Kowald](/source/Peter_Kowald) and drummer Detlef Schönenberg.[2]

The collective ended in 1976 and Gebers, who was running the company part-time, decided to found a sub-label, SAJ, with drummer [Sven-Ake Johansson](/source/Sven-Ake_Johansson).[2] This concentrated on experimental and avant-garde music, releasing recordings by musicians such as [Hugh Davies](/source/Hugh_Davies_(composer)), [Heiner Goebbels](/source/Heiner_Goebbels)-[Alfred Harth](/source/Alfred_Harth) and [Yoshi Wada](/source/Yoshi_Wada).[2] In the late 1980s, SAJ was discontinued and CD releases were numbered from CD 1.[1]

A lot of FMP's releases have been recordings of concert performances, including those that it organised.[2] In 1988 FMP recorded *Cecil Taylor in Berlin '88*, an 11-CD, award-winning collection.[1] According to [Grove](/source/The_New_Grove_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians), "Vinyl stock was deleted in 1992".[1]

In 2000 FMP-Publishing became the new owner of FMP, but a legal battle ensued between Gebers and the new group.[2] In 2007, he returned to being in charge of the label.[2] Some albums have been reissued by other labels, which include [Intakt Records](/source/Intakt_Records) and [Atavistic Records](/source/Atavistic_Records).[2] In its first 40 years, FMP released "over 200 LPs and around 140 CDs".[2]

## External links

- [FMP](http://www.fmp-label.de/fmplabel/index.html) – official site

## See also

- [List of record labels](/source/List_of_record_labels)

## References

1. Kernfeld, Barry (2003). "FMP (Free Music Production)". *Grove Music Online*. Oxford University Press. [doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J153400](https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J153400)

1. Allen, Clifford (25 December 2009). ["FMP Records: A Snapshot of German Jazz History"](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/fmp-records-a-snapshot-of-german-jazz-history-by-clifford-allen.php). *allaboutjazz*. Retrieved 15 March 2020.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [FMP/Free Music Production](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMP%2FFree_Music_Production) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMP%2FFree_Music_Production?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.