Private Music is an American independent record label, founded in 1984 by pop/experimental musician Peter Baumann, as a "home for instrumental music." Initially signing such artists as Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Andy Summers, Patrick O'Hearn, Leo Kottke, and Baumann's former bandmates, Tangerine Dream, the record label specialized in original music, including new-age music, but made a sharp turn to the mainstream, with signings of Taj Mahal, Ringo Starr, Etta James, and A. J. Croce. Its releases were distributed by then-emerging BMG (the label's earliest recordings having been distributed by RCA), which bought Private Music in 1996.