Stiff Records was created in 1976 by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Initially intending to specialize in "pub rock" by artists such as Ian Dury and Wreckless Eric, the label quickly got caught up in the punk, ska & new wave movements, and helped launch the careers of such artists as Elvis Costello, Madness, The Damned, Nick Lowe, The Pogues and many others.

Ever the keen marketeers, Stiff billed themselves as "The World's Most Flexible Record Label". Other slogans were "We came. We saw. We left." and "If it ain't Stiff it ain't worth a fuck."

Riviera left Stiff in 1977 to form Radarscope Records / Radar Records, taking Elvis Costello and several other artists with him.

In 1984 the label entered a distribution deal with Island Records (UK). Stiff was fully purchased by Island, but the deal wasn't a success and Robinson regained control in 1986 of the newly independent label.

In 1987, after a serious cashflow crisis, the label went into liquidation. ZTT, whose product Robinson had worked on when in cahoots with Island, bought the label catalogue for a reported £300,000. On ZTT's watch the label slowly petered out - several albums by the likes of the Belle Stars, Furniture and Dr Feelgood were left in limbo, unreleased.

Autumn 2006 saw the Stiff brand resurrected with new signings and reissues. Stiff are currently listed as a member of the SPZ group, who own Sarm Studios, Perfect Songs and ZTT.

Labelcode: LC 4764