Electronic music made in Hamburg

echolot was founded back in 2011 by Lars Kemnitz aka Kämmer. He developed the idea for a netlabel when we was graduating from university. Out of passion for electronic music he wanted to create a home base for his music and those of his friends. And his aim was to make the music available for free download. Back then streaming was not such a big issue as today, so he released through SoundCloud and later Bandcamp under a Creative Commons license. After three releases from 2011 to 2014 he didn't release any new music until he revived the label in 2021. Since then the output has been constant with new releases every few months.

For a long time echolot did only digital releases. And that's still the usual case because of costs. But as we love vinyl we made an exception in 2023: To celebrate our catalog number 10 we had a special limited transparent 10" vinyl cut for us by hand by Austrian manufacturer Dr. Dub. There were only 10 pieces available which sold out very fast. More exceptions are likely to follow in the future. Get the latest news on social media.

Generally, yes. You can send us your music. But please be aware that we are an independent DIY label and can't do any large commercial releases. As well we can't pay for mastering or other promotion. But if you want to get your music out and be part of a collective of electronic music enthusiasts who simply love what they do, then feel free to drop us a note. We promise that we will listen to it and get back to you. Send your music to mail@echolot-records.com (use a file transfer service like WeTransfer or Dropbox).

Because that was the initial idea when the label was founded. Today we are no longer releasing under a Creative Commons license. But you can download all our music for free on Bandcamp. We don't charge anything. But you can, of course, pay as much as you like if you want to support us.

We are not making a living of our music. That gives us the freedom to offer it for free. And through streaming nowadays you can support us as well. It's only cents but streaming our music a lot on Spotify or Apple Music makes a difference in the long run. And so we know that you like what we do. That's what makes us happy.

No, for mastering we rely on experts who really know what they are doing. Releases until 2014 were all mastered by Fabian Tormin in Hamburg. All releases from 2021 up to now were mastered either by Sam John at Precise Mastering in the UK or by Qant in France. It's important to us to release only high-quality music. And that doesn't go without a proper mastering that makes sure the music sounds as good as it can everywhere and in every situation. We don't have the expertise and the specially treated rooms to do mastering. And in our opinion it's always worth letting someone else listen to your music with fresh ears. It pays off in the end.

Please send all your questions to mail@echolot-records.com. We will make sure to get back to you as long as your question is serious.