Tuning Spork was founded by Jay Haze, Sean O'Neal, and Bjoern Hartmann in Philadelphia in 1999. The trio threw a series of parties with the aim of bringing in their favorite national and international DJs to the region. The brand soon developed into a record label, and the first three 12"s were split releases featuring one track from each producer (under their aliases The Architect, Someone Else, and B. respectively). The label soon carved its own trademark sound, often described as funky house with a sense of humor, avant-garde and tongue-in-cheek at the same time. As TuningSpork's profile grew to an international level, Jay Haze relocated the label headquarters to Berlin in 2003, sharing a studio space with Ricardo Villalobos. Talented producers from around the world, new and established, found a home for their productions: Dan Curtin, Michal Ho, Samim, and Guido Schneider are a few examples. Over the years, TuningSpork has been a dependable source of functional yet artful dance tracks for DJs around the world, supported to this day by some of the biggest names such as Derrick Carter, Andrew Weatherall, and Laurent Garnier.

Tuning Spork releases have been charted by Floyd Lavine, Darius Syrossian, Bloody Mary, Oxia, Bloody Mary, Adriatique, Guy J, Bloody Mary, La Fleur, Rodriguez Jr., Bloody Mary, Hector, Richie Hawtin, Anthea, Bloody Mary, Anthea, Solomun, Bloody Mary, Kornél Kovács, Anthea, D'Julz, Booka Shade, Julietta and 816 others.