Matador Records is a New York-based, in indie rock music specialized record label, founded in 1989 by Chris Lombardi. You can call Matador Records one of the most important Independent Labels at all. Not least because the who-is-who of indie rock was oder actually is signed here: Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power, just to name some of them. The over 20 year old history of the label is multifaceted and can only be outlined here. One year after Chris Lombardi founded Matador Records in his apartment in New York City, Gerald Cosloy – who has been the runner of Homestead Records – joined the label. Since then they run the label together. In 1994 Matador Records entered to a partenship with Atlantic Records, belonging to Warner Music. In 1996 Capitol Records bought 49 percent of the holdings of Matador, but in 1999 Lombardi and Cosloy were able to buy it back. Since 2002 Matador belongs to Beggars Group and next to the headquarter in New York they have a dependance in London.