Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Fever Ray, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.

The label's origin story is both humble and serendipitous. During 1978, Daniel Miller began recording music, using synthesisers, under the name The Normal. He recorded the tracks T.V.O.D./Warm Leatherette and distributed them through Rough Trade Shops under the label name Mute Records. The label was formed initially just to release the one single, but T.V.O.D./Warm Leatherette became a cult hit ensuring the future of the label.

Mute's early catalog established its experimental credentials. In 1980, Miller released the single Kebab-Träume by the German band Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (D.A.F.), who had recently moved to London. The band's 1980 album, Die Kleinen und die Bösen, was the first album released by the new label. The album had the catalogue prefix STUMM, a play on the record label's name, meaning mute in German. This prefix was used through most of the label's album catalogue.

The label's trajectory changed dramatically when Miller approached Depeche Mode in 1980, after seeing them perform in London, wanting them to record a single for his label; that first single was Dreaming of Me. Emerging out of the British electronic pop scene, Depeche Mode quickly asserted themselves as a radio-friendly pop group, and they had hits with their next three singles, including the UK top ten single Just Can't Get Enough. This success enabled the label's rapid expansion to cope with their success.

In May 2002, Mute Records was bought by EMI for £23m, and later in September 2010, EMI and Daniel Miller reached an agreement in which EMI would support Miller in the establishment of a second record label. The Mute brand once again became an independent record label as Mute Artists Ltd. The label has maintained its commitment to innovative and boundary-pushing music across electronic, experimental, and alternative genres.