Editing Warp Records (section)

=== First singles and bleep ===
[[File:Mark Bell (LFO) on stage in Moscow.JPG|thumb|LFO performing in 2013]]Mitchell and Beckett felt there was a market for dance music created by Sheffield musicians, which they felt "sounded fresher" than music being created in the US at the time.<ref name="Trask-1993">{{cite journal |last=Trask |first=Simon |date=December 1993 |title=Warped vision |url=https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/warped-vision/7664?theme=2 |journal=Music Technology |publisher=Music Maker Publications}}</ref> In 1989, Warp released its first single, "Track With No Name" by Gordon's band [[Forgemasters (band)|Forgemasters]].<ref name="King-2012" /> Financed through a grant from the government's [[Enterprise Allowance Scheme]], they pressed 500 [[White label record|white label]] copies and distributed them to shops around the UK by car, selling out in a week.<ref name="Birke-2007" /><ref name="King-2012" /><ref name="Trask-1993" />

Beckett said they did not necessarily think they were creating a record label and instead wanted to see if they could "have an effect".<ref name="King-2012" /> However, they discovered the market was larger than they expected.<ref name="King-2012" /> Beckett conceived Warp as a northern independent label similar to [[Factory Records]], sharing 50% of their profits with artists.<ref name="Simpson-2009" /> The Sheffield company [[Designers Republic]] created Warp's logo and distinctive purple record packaging.<ref name="Simpson-2009" /><ref name="Anniss-2019" /> According to ''[[Resident Advisor]]'', the packaging became "instantly recognisable in an age when dance music was becoming increasingly disposable",<ref name="Anniss-2019" /> and ''DMY'' described it as "at one moment garish and brutal, the next pristine and beautiful".<ref name="Jones-2009" />

In 1990, Warp released successful dance singles by acts including [[Nightmares on Wax]], [[LFO (British band)|LFO]], [[Sweet Exorcist (band)|Sweet Exorcist]] and [[Tricky Disco]].<ref name="King-2012" /><ref name="Simpson-2009" /><ref name="Anniss-2019">{{cite web |last=Anniss |first=Matt |date=12 November 2019 |title=Label of the month: Warp Records |url=https://ra.co/features/3557 |access-date=13 April 2025 |website=[[Resident Advisor]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Groves |first=Nancy |date=14 October 2014 |title=Music producer Mark Bell of LFO has died, label confirms |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/14/mark-bell-lfo-died-label-confirms |access-date=13 April 2025 |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The singles received attention from the influential [[BBC]] DJ [[John Peel]].<ref name="King-2012" /> Warp became associated with [[bleep techno|bleep]], a "minimal, funky" subgenre of techno emerging in Sheffield.<ref name="Simpson-2009" /> ''Resident Advisor'' described bleep as a "distinctly British mutation of techno that married the weighty sub-bass of '[[Steppers (reggae)|steppers]]' reggae with the rush of rave culture and futuristic vision of [[Detroit techno]]".<ref name="Anniss-2019" /> Beckett connected bleep to the advent of music technology such as [[Sampler (musical instrument)|samplers]] and software such as [[Logic Pro|Logic]],<ref name="Morse-2010" /> and said its sound evoked the Sheffield steelworks: "You'd almost see sparks and hear anvils clanging."<ref name="Simpson-2009" /> The journalist Richard King described bleep as "an evocation of the nocturnal energy of an industrial city in decline, whose empty, industrial spaces were being turned into illegal and autonomous party zones".<ref name="King-2012" />

[[Jarvis Cocker]], a member of the Sheffield band [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]], created music videos for Warp acts between 1990 and 1993.<ref name="Crossan-2013">{{cite web |last=Crossan |first=Jamie |date=14 April 2013 |title=Rare Jarvis Cocker-directed music videos revisited as part 'BUG: Warp Records' special |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/jarvis-cocker-19-1251635 |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=[[NME]] }}</ref> Warp created an [[Imprint (trade name)|imprint]], Gift Records, to release acts by pop and rock records including Pulp.<ref name="Morse-2010" /><ref name="Banks-2023b">{{cite book |last=Banks |first=Nick |title=So It Started There: From Punk to Pulp |date=2023 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-1-78759-259-9 |edition= |location=London |chapter=Chapter 23: More Problems (Goodnight)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Paine |first=Andre |date=6 September 2017 |title=AIM Awards: Jarvis Cocker on how Warp rescued Pulp |url=https://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/aim-awards-jarvis-cocker-on-how-warp-rescued-pulp/069703 |access-date=17 April 2025 |website=[[Music Week]] }}</ref> After releasing some early Pulp singles, Gift closed after Pulp signed to [[Island Records]].<ref name="Morse-2010" />