http://www.byte.be

The past

Over the past ten years, Byte Records has grown from being a desktop label to one of Europe's most successful independent dance label. Former DJ Jean-Paul De Coster set the ball rolling when he composed 'We're Gonna Get You' with Michel Heylen for the group Bizz Nizz in 1989. The first real break, however, came with the follow-up. 'Don't Miss The Party Line' hit #7 in the UK, and went top-10 in the most European countries. The third single, 'Get Into Trance', also did well. But by that time, the line up of the band was undergoing changes which made promotion difficult. Bizz Nizz eventually split and Byte was put in the fridge for a year.

The beginning of the success

By 1991, De Coster was back in the studio. Together with Phil Wilde, a young DJ from Gent Belgium, he began knocking together dance tracks in a small home studio. 'Get Ready For This' was first released as an instrumental track, and later as a vocal track after DeCoster discovered Anita Dels and Ray Slijngaard in Amsterdam. 2 Unlimited was born, and with it one of the most extraordinary success stories of popular music. In three years, 2 unlimited spawned no less than 11 top-10 singles right across Europe, Asia and Australia. Unusually for a band which is above all known for its aggressive dance singles, 2 Unlimited has also released highly successful albums: 'Get Ready', 'No Limits', and 'Real Things'. Sales total of 2 Unlimited is around the 15 million worldwide, including the singles. As you may aspect, 2 Unlimited were not the only successful Byte artists. Artists like C.B. Milton, Ice MC, Sash, Phats & Small and the summer 2000 hit Spiller may not forgotten to be mentioned.

Today

Nowadays it's impossible to think about Byte without a charted-track. They score one hit after another, from a commercial pop-dance song to underground tracks. They score box-office success nowadays with acts like Libbie, Sylver, D-Devils, Zippora and The Moon. Byte records is also famous for the excellent dance compilations.

The labels

Over several years Byte Records has set up some sub-labels, besides the Byte label. Each sub-label specifically focuses on particular dance genres.

• Byte Commercial dance
• B2 Trance
• Byte Progressive Hard house
• La Belle Noir House, garage and vocal house
• Discomatic Disco
• Diversion Club, focussed on the Dutch club scene
• Major Playerz Techno
• Fridge Tribal, New York Sound