 | |
| Industry | Entertainment, Music |
|---|---|
| Genre | Various |
| Predecessor | |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Services | Distributor |
| Owner | Universal Music Group |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | virginmusic |
Virgin Music Group (VMG) is a global record label founded on 13 September 2022, and owned by Universal Music Group. [1]
On 18 February 2021, Universal Music Group announced Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, a new global network to deliver premium and flexible artist and label services. [2] Seven months after its announcement, Universal Music Group launched Virgin Music Group, as an entertainment and music company, to head operations of Virgin Music Label & Artist Services and Ingrooves. [3] Prior to its launch, UMG appointed Mtheory founders JT Myers, and Nat Pastor, to serve as Co-Chief executive officers of Virgin Music Group. [4]
On 21 February 2023, Virgin Music Group confirmed a partnership between its subsidiary Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, the UK division of Virgin Music and Modern Sky UK, a UK-based record label. Speaking with Complete Music Update Business Editor Chris Cooke, CEO of Modern Sky UK and North America, David Pichilingi says: “We’re delighted to sign this deal with Virgin Music UK, providing a global team who closely align with our values and ambition”, he goes on. “This deal will allow us to work more effectively globally and we are excited at the prospect of sending Modern Sky to new heights in 2023 alongside our friends and partners at Virgin Music”. [5]
List of labels owned by Virgin Music Group:
Artists signed to Virgin Music Group:
Geffen Records is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pictures, it is owned by the Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) faction of Universal Music Group (UMG).
Island Records is a Jamaican multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another label recently acquired by PolyGram, were both at the time the largest independent record labels in history, with Island having exerted a major influence on the progressive music scene in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. Island Records operates four international divisions: Island US, Island UK, Island Australia, and Island France. Current key people include Island US president Darcus Beese, and MD Jon Turner. Partially due to its significant legacy, Island remains one of UMG's pre-eminent record labels.
Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. They grew to be a worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Phil Collins, OMD, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, the Spice Girls, Lenny Kravitz, the Sex Pistols, and Mike Oldfield among others, meaning that by the time it was sold, it was regarded as a major label, alongside other large international independents such as A&M and Island Records.
Universal Music Group N.V. is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is, as of 2013, a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest music management company in the world. It was also the world's largest independent owner of music intellectual property rights, with over 160,000 songs.
EMI Records is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia and Parlophone record labels. The label was later launched worldwide. It has a branch in India called EMI Records India, run by director Mohit Suri. In 2014, Universal Music Japan revived the label in Japan as the successor to EMI Records Japan. In June 2020, Universal revived the label as the successor to Virgin EMI, with Virgin Records now operating as an imprint of EMI Records. In February 2024, UMG Philippines relaunched EMI as a successor to the former EMI Philippines label after 22 years.
The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on December 31, 1998 by Universal Music Group. It consisted of labels created under the operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordings. On April 1, 2014, Universal Music Group publicly announced the disbandment of the Island Def Jam Music Group, leaving IDJMG and its affiliated subsidiaries compelled as separate sister labels.
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group. The label has been dormant since 2006, due to Universal Motown and Universal Republic Records being formed and taking all of the artists from it. Those labels were eventually combined to form the latest iteration of Republic Records.
Spinefarm Records is an international record label. Founded in Finland in 1990, Spinefarm was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2002.
Fontana Distribution was a division of San Francisco–based Isolation Network. A minority stake of the company was owned by Universal Music until Ingrooves acquired Fontana Distribution from UMG in 2012 to form Ingrooves Fontana.
Virgin Music, known as Virgin Music Label & Artist Services until 2022 and originally as Caroline Distribution, was a music distributor of independent artists and record labels, most prominently Death Grips, Weezer, and Radiohead. Virgin Music operates as a subsidiary of Virgin Music Group, and is owned by Universal Music Group. The company focuses on the distribution of new or emerging partners. Virgin Music has its operation in United States, with its flagship operating in Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and across Latin America.
Capitol Music Group is an American front-line umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, itself a division of Universal Music Group. Inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog in 2013, it oversees the handling of record labels assigned to UMG's Capitol Records division. The current chair and CEO is Tom March.
Because Music is an record label based in France. The label was founded in 2004 by Emmanuel de Buretel and Eric Bielsa upon their exit from major labels. Because Music has acts such as Justice, Christine and the Queens and Aime Simone on their roster.
Sir Lucian Charles Grainge is a British record executive who has served as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Universal Music Group since 2010. Beginning as an A&R staffer in the late 1970s, Grainge has worked in the music industry his entire career. Billboard magazine named him the most powerful person in the music business on four occasions in the 2010s, and was named the inaugural Executive of the Decade in 2020.
Dirty Hit is a British independent record label founded in December 2009 by Jamie Oborne, Chuck Waite, Brian Smith, and former England footballer Ugo Ehiogu. Based in London since 2009, it has expanded operations to Los Angeles, Sydney, and Tokyo in 2020.
Ingrooves Music Group was a global independent music marketing service and distribution company which provided custom services for artists and independent record labels, owned by Universal Music Group. They used proprietary distribution systems and focused on analytics and reporting technologies, as well as their own platform that artists and labels used to manage business.
Boyd Muir is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and President of Operations for Universal Music Group.
Universal Music West Africa is the West African division of the global record label Universal Music Group. Founded in 2017, it has its corporate headquarters located in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. The label has signed at least seventeen artists from various African countries. UMGNG is engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content.
Universal Music Africa (UMA) is a multilingual music corporation of the global record label Universal Music Group, covering 25 French, Spanish, and Portuguese-speaking countries, in Africa, with its corporate headquarters located in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Universal Music Africa is known for housing Motown Gospel Africa, Blue Note Records Africa, and Def Jam Recordings Africa.
