Balance Music
Melbourne label behind the acclaimed Balance mix series.
Balance Music is a Melbourne-based independent record label founded in 2000 by Tom Pandzic as a sublabel of EQ Recordings. It launched the Balance compilation album and DJ mix series, which became known for its progressive house and progressive breaks sound and is considered one of the leading mix series in the progressive genre.
Quick Facts
- Parent
- EQ Recordings
- Founder
- Tom Pandzic
- Distributor
- Warner
- Genre
- Progressive house, Progressive breaks
- Country
- Australia
- Location
- Melbourne
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Balance Music was founded in 2000 by Tom Pandzic as a sublabel of EQ Recordings. The Balance series began with Balance 001 mixed by local Australian DJ Sean Quinn and Balance 002 by Kasey Taylor, then expanded to international DJs starting with Balance 003 by Bill Hamel. The series gained attention in 2002 when Balance 004 by Phil K received a Dance Music Awards' compilation of the year honor. Balance 005 by James Holden, released in 2003, received critical acclaim and propelled the series further into prominence. Balance 010, mixed by James Zabiela in 2005, became the first compilation in the series to be packaged with three CDs.
Reader's Guide
Balance Music's Balance series has been described as progressive house and progressive breaks, with each issue mixed by a featured artist and typically packaged with two CDs, though some mixes like Balance 007 and 010 included more discs. Resident Advisor noted that Balance 'arguably became one of the leading mix series in the progressive genre,' maintaining a more consistent standard of quality compared to mixes by Global Underground and Renaissance Recordings. The series placed two entries—Balance 005 and Balance 014—in Resident Advisor's top 50 mixes of the 2000s at numbers 5 and 28 respectively. LA Weekly put Balance 014 in the top 10 dance albums, describing it as an 'edgy, postmodern blur of sampl-adelic art.' During the 2010s, Balance Music started the Balance Presents mix series and has since held music festivals, including a Croatia festival in 2025 celebrating the label's 25th anniversary.
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