Cheetah Records was started in Orlando

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 by Tom Reich in 1988

1988 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....

 and distributed music belonging primarily to the rap music subgenera Miami Bass

Miami bass

Miami bass , is a type of hip hop music, that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Its roots are directly linked to the Electro-funk sound of the early 1980s, pioneered by Afrika Bambataa & The Soulsonic Force and later on by UK-based musician Paul Hardcastle...

. Cheetah started small with Reich selling tapes out of the trunk of his car. Cheetah’s growth accelerated after Orlando native DJ Magic Mike

DJ Magic Mike

DJ Magic Mike from Orlando, Florida is one of the most pivotal Miami bass producers.- Career :Magic Mike made his debut in the world of Miami Bass productions when he met Miami based producer/rapper Rod Whitehead in 1986...

 was signed to the label and quickly generated most of Cheetah’s sales. Other acts including Radioactive Goldfish (old school Techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

) and Schnitt Acht

Schnitt Acht

Schnitt Acht was an American industrial band from Orlando, Florida, active in the first half of the 1990s.-History:Formed in the late 1980s in Orlando, Florida by Morgan Lekcirt , Virgil L. Hibbs, Abbot ZiglerSchnitt Acht was an American industrial band from Orlando, Florida, active in the first...

 (Heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

) were also handled by Cheetah but they failed to match the sales volume generated by Magic Mike. Reich later started two addition record labels: Bush Baby Records and Magic Records, where the later featured Magic Mike exclusively. All three record labels were later consolidated under the Cheetah Distribution Group (CDG). Some people claim that the CDG was the largest independently distributed record label in America at that time. Magic Mike left Cheetah in 1995 and CDG folded in 1996

1996 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...

.

List of Bands signed to Cheetah Records

• DJ Magic Mike
  DJ Magic Mike
  DJ Magic Mike from Orlando, Florida is one of the most pivotal Miami bass producers.- Career :Magic Mike made his debut in the world of Miami Bass productions when he met Miami based producer/rapper Rod Whitehead in 1986...
  
  
• Schnitt Acht
  Schnitt Acht
  Schnitt Acht was an American industrial band from Orlando, Florida, active in the first half of the 1990s.-History:Formed in the late 1980s in Orlando, Florida by Morgan Lekcirt , Virgil L. Hibbs, Abbot ZiglerSchnitt Acht was an American industrial band from Orlando, Florida, active in the first...
  
  
• Vicious Bass
• Radioactive Goldfish
• Erotic Exotic