Top 5 Reissue Labels: A new series

Record labels no longer carry the impact they once did in the pre mega-corporate, digital download world when outfits like Motown, Stax, Atlantic, Blue Note, Elektra, Stiff and many more served as tastemakers, assembling innovative, influential groups of artists and helping them cultivate new audiences.

But, when it comes to reissuing old music that matters, labels are still important.  There are a number of reissue labels we can depend on to introduce us to artists we missed the first time around -- because we were too young or said artist was under appreciated in his or her time.

Some of these labels are famed for gathering obscure singles and compiling them onto must-hear compilations. And, in most cases, these labels take great care to present this reissued music in the best possible sound.

Over the next several days, we'll be profiling some of our favorite reissue labels. Hope you'll tune in! If there are any labels that come to your mind while reading this, please mention them in the comments to this post.