Remember when BMG sold its mega-share of Sony BMG vowing to exit the recorded music business. In the last 2 years, they’ve re-entered the record marketplace via acquisitions and creative partnerships; and now they’ve partnered with former rival WMG for distribution.
Warner Music Group’s independent distribution operation ADA Music has signed an exclusive global distribution deal with BMG over the company’s extensive recorded music catalog. The deal includes material from the catalogs a number of labels acquired including Sanctuary, Mute, Dreyfus, Skint/Loaded, Infectious, Union Square, Vagrant, S-Curve and Rise Records.
ADA will also oversee the lion’s share of BMG’s new releases across the globe, with Sony Music internationally, in addition to [PIAS] (ex-US), Absolute Label Services (UK), and GoodToGo (Continental Europe) handling some releases.
“The rapid pace of our growth in the past three years has led to our inheriting or acquiring more than 50 digital and physical distribution relationships around the world. This will now gradually fall to a handful as we consolidate with a small number of suppliers,” BMG CFO Max Dressendörfer wrote in an internal company email obstained by MBW.
He added: “We have been incredibly impressed by the ADA team, their infrastructure and determination to deliver for our artists. We are delighted to be working with them.”
via Celebrity Access