It is named "679" as this was the address of the Pure Groove record shop on Holloway Road.
The label's first release was The Streets' debut, Original Pirate Material (which was named The Observer's best album of the 2000s).
The label progressed with subsequent albums from artists including Death From Above 1979, The Futureheads, Kano, King Creosote and Mystery Jets, and also included the million-selling second Streets album, A Grand Don't Come for Free.
[1] In 2011, it released Plan B's The Defamation of Strickland Banks which has sold over one million copies.
The founder of 679 has recently formed a new record label called 37 Adventures.