Cargo Records (Canada)

Cargo Records
Founded	1987
Founder	Eric Goodis Randy Boyd Phil Hill
Defunct	1997
Status	Defunct
Genre	Alternative rock
Country of origin	Canada
Location	Montreal, Quebec

Cargo Records was a Canadian independent record label and distributor, active in the 1980s and 1990s. Based in Montreal, the company both released albums directly as a label, and distributed albums on behalf of many other small independent labels, making it one of the largest and most influential Canadian record companies of the alternative rock era.

By the mid-1990s, the company was so powerful that its decline toward bankruptcy between 1995 and 1997 initially appeared destined to set off a cascading failure of the entire Canadian music industry; however, these early predictions of disaster were averted as affected labels sought out new distribution arrangements. This period of retrenchment, in turn, has been credited with stabilizing the industry and in turn paving the way for the Canadian indie rock boom of the early 2000s.

The label was originally formed in 1987 by Eric Goodis, Randy Boyd and Phillip Hill, three former staffers at Bonaparte Records, an independent record store in Montreal. Boyd was also formerly a partner in the short-lived punk label Psyche Industry Records.

Labels distributed in Canada by Cargo included both Canadian companies such as Mint Records, Murderecords and Sonic Unyon, and international labels such as Epitaph,Dischord,Taang!,Restless,Amphetamine Reptile,Alias,SST, Caroline, Ninja Tune and Sub Pop.

Artists signed directly to Cargo's label arm included Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet,Dyoxen, Change of Heart,Lost Dakotas, The Smalls, Nomeansno,The Killjoys, Asexuals,SNFU and Grimskunk; through its distribution deals, Cargo also held the Canadian rights to acts such as Mudhoney, Archers of Loaf, The Offspring,NOFX and Rancid, as well as to the earlier, pre-breakthrough albums by bands such as Nirvana, Green Day and Soundgarden.

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