Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and pop music to classical music and a children's catalogue. In addition to the development and marketing of music, the group also deals with the production, logistics and distribution of CDs, DVDs, vinyl records, and books at the production site of the subsidiary optimal media GmbH in Röbel/Müritz as well as with services in the online and book business.
Edel was founded in 1986 by the current chairman of the board of directors and the majority shareholder Michael Haentjes as a one-man company under the name edel Gesellschaft für Produktmarketing mbH[1] and initially dealt exclusively with mail order for film music. In 1992, the company name was changed to edel Company Music GmbH. In April 1993 Edel purchased the East German VEB Deutsche Schallplatten's classical music recording catalog of 2,000 recordings.[2] Specifically, Edel's Berlin Classics imprint has carried the output of VEB's classical Eterna label.[3] Edel grew steadily and recorded sales of more than 150 million Deutsche Mark in 1995.[4] In 1998, under the new company name edel music AG, the IPO (WKN 564950) and the listing on the Neuer Markt followed. The first stock market listing was 101 DM. The IPO brought the company a gross capital inflow of almost 60 DM million.[1] As part of a global strategy, investments were acquired abroad, for example the PIAS Group in Belgium, which also included Connected Music Vertrieb GmbH, founded by Haentjes in 1997,[5] and Eagle Rock, London. In 2000, more than 1billion DM in consolidated sales was achieved.[citation needed]
In connection with the general crisis in the music business, the collapse of the Neuer Markt and the high costs of integrating the additional companies, a crisis followed in 2001, which jeopardised the company's continued existence. In 2002, Edel and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants implemented an extensive corporate restructuring program. Parts of the company and shareholdings were repelled and loss-making companies were closed.
Of more than 1,700 employees, about 750 remained in the company. Thanks to this consolidation and the stable business of the manufacturer's subsidiary, positive business figures were again achieved.[7] At the end of the short financial year 2001 (30.09.) Edel changed from listing in the Neuer Markt to the Regulated Market / General Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, which was transferred to the Regulated Market in 2007.[1]
In February 2007, edel music AG took over the book division of Pabel-Moewig with cookbooks, guides, puzzle books, children's books and some licenses such as the silver volumes of the science fiction series Perry Rhodan, thus expanding its media division.[8]
At the Annual General Meeting in May 2007 it was decided to remove the addition "music" in the company name. The company then operated under the name edel AG until 2010. In December 2009, the listing on the Regulated Market was revoked. The stock has since been traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
In 2010, Edel took over 75% of the then ZS publishing house, followed by the remaining 25% in October 2014.[9]
In January 2011, the spelling of the company name changed to Edel AG.[10]
In March 2011, Edel AG finally acquired the evaluation rights for the TV and cinema films around the cartoon characters Pettersson and Findus from the insolvent TV-Loonland AG.[11]
In October 2012, Edel AG acquired 100% of the shares in Brilliant Classics B.V., which is one of the leading companies in the field of classical music. The label, based in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, sells its products through a worldwide network of distributors.[12]
Since October 2015, Edel holds 75% of Pandastorm Pictures GmbH.[14]
In March 2016, Jonas Haentjes, the son of the company's founder, took over the position of Director Corporate Development at Edel.[15][16]
As of December 2017, Michael Haentjes and Jonas Haentjes jointly led Edel AG as co-CEOs, and Jonas Haentjes was appointed to the board of management of Edel AG.[10]
Joerg Pfuhl, Charles Caldas and Joel Weinstein are members of the Edel supervisory board.[17]
In April 2018, the executive board and supervisory board of Edel AG decided to convert the company into a limited partnership for shares (KGaA).
The change of form is intended to ensure the influence of the family after a generational succession. In addition, the general partner of KGaA should be given the legal form of a European Company (SE).[18]
In March 2019, the generational transition was completed and the change of legal form to SE & Co. KGaA was completed. Jonas Haentjes has been the sole CEO ever since.[19]
earMUSIC is a European international record company based in Hamburg, Germany mainly dedicated to rock, pop, metal and alternative rock artists. The label´s first release was Ian Gillan´s album "One Eye To Morocco" in 2009. The label is a division of Edel Music & Enterteinment GmbH.[21]
Jesco Hans Heinrich Max Freiherr von Puttkamer was a German-American aerospace engineer, senior manager at NASA, and a pulp science fiction writer.
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RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC was a Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard in 2017. RED previously handled releases for more than sixty independent record labels.
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Playground Music Scandinavia AB(PGM) is an independent record company from Scandinavia, founded in 1999. The company operates across Scandinavia with offices in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway. Additionally, it has established local distribution partnerships in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Iceland.
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CashPool is a cooperation of a multitude of smaller or virtual German private banks, in which they mutually waive ATM usage fees for their customers. It is not an interbank network but uses the pre-existing German ATM or Maestro/Cirrus networks. With more than 3200 ATMs, the cooperating banks' ATM networks form the smallest ATM group in Germany.
Soulfood Music Distribution GmbH is a German company distributing music and video games as well as related merchandise products. The company's distribution deals usually cover Germany, Austria and Switzerland (G/A/S). The headquarters of the company are located in Hamburg, Germany.
MPS Records was a German jazz record company and label founded in 1968 by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald".
Bellevue Investments GmbH & Co. KGaA is a German holding company that controls numerous subsidiaries and investments domestically and abroad. The subsidiaries have different business models and are active in the fields of software, online services, entertainment and digital content, as well as real estate. The subsidiaries currently employ approximately 350 people.
Analytik Jena AG, based in Jena, is a provider of analytical, bioanalytical and optical systems for industrial and scientific applications. Analytik Jena was founded in 1990 as a sales and service company for analytical technology. The company has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange from July 3, 2000 until March 27, 2015. Analytik Jena and its subsidiaries employ about 1,000 people in more than 90 countries. The international Group earns two-thirds of sales abroad and maintains business relationships in more than 120 countries around the globe.
Zebralution is a German digital distribution company for independent record labels, audiobooks and podcasts operating worldwide from their Berlin headquarters. In December 2019, GEMA, the German society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights, acquired a majority stake.
Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also specialises in new recordings of early music, chamber, organ and piano music.
Armin Wirth who is also known by his pseudonym DJ Swam is a German dance-DJ, record producer and record label manager.
CTS Eventim is a German company in the leisure-events market, with ticketing and live entertainment, headquartered in Bremen. It is one of the 50 companies comprising the MDAX index.
Simone Bagel-Trah is a German businesswoman who serves as chairwoman of the Supervisory Board and of the Shareholders' Committee of Henkel.
El Puerto Records is a German music label that was founded in 2014 in Gerstetten near Ulm by Bernd Stelzer and Torsten Ihlenfeld. The main focus of the label is on rock / hard rock / heavy metal. In the beginning the distribution extends over Europe and North America (Soulfood-Amped). In 2022, the distribution changed in favor of Edel Music and Kontor New Media.
Innovative Communication was a German record label founded in 1978 by musician and electronic soloist Klaus Schulze and music journalist Michael Haentjes.
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€214 million (2019/2020)
