Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement.

The label's roster includes Fleet Foxes, Tad, Beach House, The Postal Service, Sleater-Kinney, Flight of the Conchords, Foals, Blitzen Trapper, Father John Misty, clipping., Shabazz Palaces, Weyes Blood, Guerilla Toss, Bully, La Luz, Low, METZ, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Kiwi Jr., TV Priest and The Shins.

[6] Also in 1987, Jonathan Poneman provided $20,000 in funding for Sub Pop to release the debut Soundgarden single "Hunted Down"/"Nothing to Say" in July 1987, followed by the band's first EP Screaming Life that October.

[12] Pavitt and Poneman studied earlier independent labels ranging from Motown to SST Records and decided that virtually every successful movement in rock music had a regional basis.

In March 1989, Pavitt and Poneman flew Melody Maker journalist Everett True to Seattle to write an article on the local music scene.

"[15] By 1991, Sub Pop were in financial difficulties, leading Mudhoney and Tad to depart the label and delaying the release of The Afghan Whigs' Congregation (1992).

[11] When Geffen Records bought Nirvana's contract from Sub Pop for $72,000, it was agreed that the former would pay the latter a percentage of any profits from the band's major label debut, Nevermind (1991).

[11] A stipulation was also implemented where selected future Nirvana studio LPs were required to carry the Sub Pop logo alongside Geffen's.

[15] The mainstream success of Nirvana also brought Poneman and Pavitt worldwide media attention as the self-stylized "creators of the grunge scene".

[11][19] After the suicide of Kurt Cobain and the subsequent decline of grunge, Poneman began signing acts that were "not typically Sub Pop-ian", such as 5ive Style, Combustible Edison and Eric Matthews.

[19] The label opened offices worldwide and began major investment in new artists, but without achieving great commercial success, prompting a scaling down and a return to Seattle.

[25] Domestically, Sub Pop has released three albums that have been certified as platinum, for sales of over 1 million units, by the Recording Industry Association of America: Bleach by Nirvana, Give Up by The Postal Service, and Oh, Inverted World by The Shins.

[26] Ten albums released by the label have been certified gold for sales of 500,000 copies: Chutes Too Narrow and Wincing the Night Away by The Shins; Fleet Foxes and Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes; The Head and the Heart by The Head and the Heart; Everything All the Time and Cease to Begin by Band of Horses; Our Endless Numbered Days and The Shepherd's Dog by Iron & Wine; and Depression Cherry by Beach House.

Sub Pop, its founders, and some acts on the label were featured on season 1, episode 5 of Vice Media's Dark Side of the 90's entitled "Grunge and the Seattle Sound".