Label Guide: Trojan

Trojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica.

Trojan Records was founded by Lee Gopthal, who had previously run a record store called Musicland, and before that collaborated with Chris Blackwell of Island Records on mail order sales. Trojan's main function was not to develop new artists, but to serve as a sister label for Island with artists as Lee Perry's Upsetters, Desmond Dekker, Nicky Thomas and Dave and Ansell Collins. Island Records pulled out of its partnership with Trojan in 1971.

In 1974, Trojan had made attempts to anglicize the reggae on the label, by re-mastering and overdubbing string arrangements over the original Jamaican recordings, but weak sales led to the label being sold to Saga in 1975, which focused on releasing budget LPs. Over the next decades Trojan Records changed owners several times and is now part of BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group).