Record label of The London Symphony Orchestra.
Launched 2000.
The label and its recordings are owned by LSO Ltd whose only shareholders in turn are the orchestra’s players.
One of the first classical labels to embrace digital downloads.

LSO Live is the London Symphony Orchestra’s own record label and uses the latest technology to capture the orchestra’s most exciting performances. Launched in 1999 with the aim of reaching new audiences for classical music as well as dedicated listeners, it was the first of the new breed of artist-owned labels which have helped revitalise the market for classical music.

LSO Live recordings are owned by the Orchestra itself. The players, conductors and soloists are stakeholders in the recordings on which they appear and LSO Live works with some of the world’s leading producers and sound engineers. The musicians not only choose what should be recorded, but are also involved throughout the production process, ensuring only recordings they are happy with get released.

By seamlessly editing together several live performances, LSO Live recordings retain the vitality of the live experience combined with a level of refinement that was previously only possible to attain by recording in a studio. The label was a pioneer in digital music, and the first classical label to make its entire catalogue available for download.

LSO Live has released over 100 recordings conducted by many of the world’s greatest artists, including Sir Simon Rattle, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Sir Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink. Since collecting its first Grammy Award in 2002 it has won numerous international prizes including Gramophone Awards, BBC Music Magazine Awards, Classical Brit Awards, Opus Klassik, Orphées d’or, Chocs de l’année and Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.