Dancing Cat Records

What Dancing Cat Records does

Dancing Cat Records is a privately held record label founded in 1983 by pianist George Winston and headquartered in Hawaii, operating exclusively in the niche of Hawaiian slack key guitar music. The label's core product is the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Series, an ongoing catalog of 39 recordings featuring master musicians such as the Pahinui family (Martin, James "Bla," and Cyril), Leonard Kwan, Led Kaapana, George Kuo, and others — released on physical and digital formats and supplemented by a Masters Collection, holiday albums, and an eight-section educational Slack Key Information Book hosted on the company's website. The technology underlying the business is straightforward audio recording and production; there is no proprietary software platform, AI, or app layer, and revenue is generated via one-time album sales rather than licensing, subscription, or streaming economics.

The go-to-market is sales-led and direct-to-consumer-leaning: distribution runs through the label's own website, Amazon.com, and a dedicated storefront at Valley Entertainment, with content marketing via artist pages and liner notes on dancingcat.com. Customers are individual world-music listeners and Hawaiian music enthusiasts globally, with named markets in the US, Japan, and France. The label has accumulated cultural authority — six Na Hoku Hanohano Awards for Instrumental Album of the Year, seven Billboard World Music Chart appearances including a #4 peak, and a 1994 Living Treasure designation — but operates with no disclosed funding, no external investors, and a small 11–50 employee footprint.

Name

Dancing Cat Records

Legal name

Dancing Cat Records

Website

https://dancingcat.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Dancing Cat Records is a privately held Hawaiian record label founded in 1983 by pianist George Winston, producing and distributing a 39-album catalog of slack key guitar master recordings to world-music listeners via its website, Amazon, and Valley Entertainment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Record Label

NAICS

Record Production and Distribution (51225), Music Publishers (512230), Sound Recording Industries (5122)

SIC

Phonograph Records & Prerecorded Audio Tapes & Disks (3652)

akta.pro primary industry

Production Music Libraries (Library Music, Trailer Music, Stock Cues) (MPAIABAH)

Keywords

• Record label
• Hawaiian slack key guitar
• World music recordings
• Artist discography releases
• Music album publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Cruz

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Album Sales: Sale of physical and digital albums featuring Hawaiian slack key guitar masters through the label's own catalog and retail partners like Amazon

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Dancing Cat Records is an independent record label that produces, releases, and distributes Hawaiian slack key guitar music recordings. Its core catalog is the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Series, comprising 39 recordings featuring master slack key guitarists, supplemented by individual artist discographies, curated collections, and an educational Slack Key Information Book.

Product overview

Dancing Cat Records is a record label founded in 1983 by George Winston that specializes in Hawaiian slack key guitar music. The company's primary offering is the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Series, an ongoing collection of 39 recordings featuring master slack key guitarists. Additional products include individual artist discographies (Martin Pahinui, James 'Bla' Pahinui, Cyril Pahinui, Leonard Kwan, George Kuo), curated collections (Masters Collection, Holiday Albums), and an educational Slack Key Information Book covering history, tunings, and recordings. The label has won multiple Na Hoku Hanohano Awards and has achieved Billboard recognition with recordings reaching #4 on the World Music Chart.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Series: The label's primary recording series featuring 39 releases of traditional Hawaiian slack key guitar artists.

Products and services

• Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Series An ongoing series of 39 recordings featuring traditional Hawaiian slack key guitar music by master musicians, first released in April 1994 and distributed through the label's website, Amazon.com, and Valley Entertainment.
• George Kuo's Kiho'alu: Stories in Song, Vol 1 New Kiho'alu recording by acclaimed slack key guitarist George Kuo, the first new release since 2007 on the Dancing Cat label, available with liner notes on the website.
• Martin Pahinui Discography Solo recordings featuring Hawaiian slack key artist Martin Pahinui (1951-2017), including 'Ho'olohe – (Listen)' and 'Hui Aloha' albums, available for purchase on Amazon.com.
• James "Bla" Pahinui Discography Solo recordings featuring Hawaiian slack key artist James "Bla" Pahinui, including 'Windward Heart - Live Solo' and 'Mana' albums.
• Cyril Pahinui Discography Solo recordings featuring Hawaiian slack key artist Cyril Pahinui, including 'He'eia', 'Four Hands Sweet and Hot', 'Night Moon - Po Mahina', and '6 & 12 String Slack Key' albums.
• Leonard Kwan Discography Solo recordings featuring Hawaiian slack key artist Leonard Kwan, including 'Ke'ala's Mele' and 'The Legendary Leonard Kwan' albums.
• Masters Collection Curated collection of recordings from the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters Series, distributed through the Dancing Cat Records website.
• Holiday Albums Seasonal collection featuring 'KI HO'ALU CHRISTMAS' and other holiday-themed Hawaiian slack key recordings; KI HO'ALU CHRISTMAS was awarded Best Christmas Album in 1996 by the Hawaii Music Industry.
• Slack Key Information Book Comprehensive educational resource with sections covering history, recommended recordings, technical essay on tunings, chart of recorded tunings, Hawaiian recordings in slack key tunings, summary of non-recorded tunings, glossary, and acknowledgments.

Quantifiable outcome

• 6 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards for Instrumental Album of the Year
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• George WinstoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1983Founder of Dancing Cat Records. George Winston founded the label with the goal of recording musicians who influenced his music and those whose music needed to be preserved for future generations.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Hana Ola Records: Independent Hawaiian music label with deep slack key guitar catalog and similar mission of preserving Hawaiian musical heritage. Comparable scale, similar niche genre focus, and overlapping artist base.
• Poki Records: Small Hawaiian music label focused on traditional and slack key recordings. Operates with similar boutique scale, direct artist relationships, and preservation-oriented mission.
• Hula Records: Long-running Hawaiian music label (founded 1947) with a comparable focus on traditional Hawaiian recordings and slack key guitar artists. Similar business model as a niche indie label serving Hawaiian music enthusiasts.
• Mountain Apple Company: Hawaii's largest independent record label specializing in Hawaiian and slack key music. Directly comparable niche focus, similar artist roster strategy, and parallel distribution through retail and digital channels.

Broad incumbents

• Valley Entertainment: Distribution partner for Dancing Cat's catalog and itself a Hawaiian/world music label. Comparable catalog distribution business, broader Hawaiian and Pacific music catalog, and established retail/online channels.
• Putumayo World Music: Established world music compilation label with global retail distribution. Comparable as a curated catalog of culturally-rooted music with broad international distribution, though operating at larger scale and across many genres.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DancingCatRcrds

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dancing Cat Records