3 Beat was founded in 1989 by Jon Barlow and began life as a second-hand record stall in Liverpool’s Quiggins market. At the time the UK was falling under the spell of house music and the shops of London and Manchester were stuffed with Chicago Trax, Italo House and New York’s funky garage.
In Liverpool there were few places to buy it until Barlow and two other vinyl addicted students (Dave Nicoll and Phil Southall) decided that the hours journey to Manchester’s Eastern Bloc was becoming a bit dull and 3 Beat opened its doors with a shop on Wood Street. In 2007 the label was reborn as 3 Beat Productions building up a hugely talented roster of artists. With the likes of Alyssa Reid, Duck Sauce, Inna, Martin Solveig, Skepta, Alexandra Stan and Sway the label is now a hotbed of hits. And after 20 years at the forefront of dance music we had our first UK number 1 in 2011 with Sak Noel “Loca People”.
