The label was founded by Tom Abbs and Adam Downey in 2010 after working for ESP-Disk.

A year later, the label threw its second festival, which took place over two weeks in venues throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Northern Spy and its management has been featured in the press through interviews, blogs and in newspapers.

The Village Voice published an extensive interview with Downey and Abbs in September 2011.

[1] In July 2011, East Village Radio named Northern Spy one of the four most important independent record labels in New York City.