[1] Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oliver Withöft in Dortmund, Germany, in 1988 and has gone on to launch or further the careers of bands such as Grave, Samael, Tiamat, Unleashed, Asphyx, Architects, Butcher Babies, Devin Townsend, Diecast, Divine Heresy, Eyehategod, God Forbid, Iced Earth, In This Moment, Lacuna Coil, Moonspell, Nevermore, Shadows Fall, Suicide Silence, Warbringer, Winds of Plague and Skinlab.

[2] A number of artists listed are licensed to Century Media for the American market from labels mostly based in Europe.

Other notable artists on the label that have also made appearances on the Billboard 200 include In This Moment, Arch Enemy, Stuck Mojo, Nightrage, Behemoth, Strapping Young Lad, Suicide Silence and God Forbid.

The Finnish metal band Sentenced were awarded on August 14, 2008 for their platinum Buried Alive live DVD labeled by Century Media.

[6] The label has since acquired breakout bands New Years Day, XO Stereo, Like a Storm, Awaken the Empire, and Stitched Up Heart.

[10] In August 2011, Century Media decided to pull all of their acts from Spotify, an online music streaming service, citing this as "an attempt to protect the interests of their artists".

Metal blog MetalSucks[11] criticized Century Media in a post, which was later replied to by the label in an email.