Universal Music Combines Distribution Under Virgin Music Group Banner – Billboard

Universal Music Group has consolidated its artist services activities into a new global division of Virgin Music Group, the company announced on Tuesday (September 13).

Virgin Music Group is led by music entrepreneurs and mtheory founders JT Myers and Nat Pastor, who will serve as Co-CEOs. In their new roles, Myers and Pastor will lead the expansion of UMG’s independent music capabilities across all businesses and geographies, reporting to UMG’s Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge.

The new business includes Virgin Music Label & Artist Services and Ingrooves Music Group, as well as mtheory’s bespoke label business, mtheory Artist Partnerships, which UMG has acquired. All Virgin Music Label & Artist Services regional hubs will immediately become part of Virgin Music Group and operate under a unified strategy while continuing to leverage local A&R expertise and creative networks in their respective countries. This includes Virgin Music Label & Artist Services in the US, which will split from Capitol Music Group to become a separate company serving all of UMG’s US labels and partners.

In terms of market share, a source close to the situation says all market share calculations will remain the same, meaning Virgin will continue to contribute to Capitol Music Group’s market share – but that could change down the road.

UMG is the latest of the major labels to consolidate its independent distribution operations, following Warner Music, which combined its Independent Label Group and Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) under one roof in 2012, and Sony Music, which merged The Orchard and RED into one global company under the Orchard brand in 2017.

Under the terms of the transaction, mtheory’s manager services business will remain fully independent and will be led by a newly appointed CEO Cameo Carlson. Mtheory will also spin off its MPRS Global producer royalty management platform, which will be led by its new CEO (and co-founder of mtheory). Jon McMillan.

“To remain the best home for artists and entrepreneurs, we must drive innovation within our own businesses – offering new and quality resources for artists from every corner of the world, while leading the transformation of the industry,” Grainge said in a statement. “Nat and JT’s track record of building forward-thinking partnerships with artists built on trust, creativity and business acumen is exactly the kind of leadership we want for Virgin Music Group’s new division. Combined with our frontline labels and global footprint, Virgin Music Group offers artists unrivaled creative and commercial support.”

Boyd Muir, Executive Vice President, CFO and President of Operations of UMG, added: “Expanding the community of artists, labels and entrepreneurs we work with represents a significant opportunity for us by strategically complementing our labels and existing ones use first-class infrastructure from UMG. Having worked with mtheory, I know that the vision for growth in the industry that Nat and JT bring will be a great fit for UMG and our artists today and in the future.”

In addition to leading Virgin Music Group, Myers and Pastor will support UMG’s business development activities and leverage their “experience in advising mtheory clients, music industry entrepreneurs and large corporations on strategic initiatives and music transactions,” according to a press release.

Myers said, “mtheory was founded on the idea that we could transform the music industry by offering better, more aligned partnerships with artists. By bringing these incredible global teams and resources together, we have the opportunity to advance that vision and bring even more value to artists, labels and music entrepreneurs.”

Pastor added: “We are so grateful to Sir Lucian and Boyd for entrusting us with the legendary Virgin Music brand, one of the most successful independent labels in the history of the industry, and InGrooves, arguably the most advanced music technology platform in the world.”

Virgin Music began as Virgin Records, the label founded by Richard Branson in the UK in 1972. Throughout its history the company distributed labels such as Frontline, Stiff, Charisma and Circa, and also founded Caroline and Astralwerks, which became thriving divisions within UMG after the music giant acquired Virgin’s parent company EMI in 2012 would have.

Below is a brief overview of the businesses that make up Virgin Music Group.

Virgin Music Label & Artist Services: Launched in February 2021 as a network of regional hubs in the world’s top music markets. Virgin handles global distribution for indie labels including 10K Projects (Surfaces, Trippie Redd, Internet Money, iann dior), Work Show (Brazil), Mushroom Group (Australia and UK), Mavin Records (Nigeria), Photo Finish Records (SHAED, McKenna Grace), Primary Wave Music (including Sun Records, Green Hill and Gaither Music) and Range Media Partners (USA). It has helped artists like Lauv, Lil Baby, NCT 127 and St. Vincent to worldwide success. It also works with domestic labels to represent artists – including DAVE (UK), Tame Impala (Australia) and NF (US) – on a global basis.

Ingrooves music group: Ingrooves was acquired by UMG in 2019 and is headquartered in Los Angeles. It provides marketing strategy, insights and analytics, rights management, advertising, innovative and patented technology, royalty billing, video monetization and music licensing. Ingrooves has acquired local distributors Electromode in South Africa and Alda Music in Iceland, and has partnered with frontline labels to develop distribution relationships with artists such as BTS/HYBE (Interscope/Geffen Records) and Daddy Yankee (Republic Records). It has offices throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Mtheory Artist Partnerships: UMG has acquired mtheory’s bespoke labels business, mtheory Artist Partnerships, although mtheory’s artist services business was not part of the transaction and will remain independent. The label division boasts “aligned, equal partnerships” with artists such as Major Lazer, Tove Lo, Tom Odell, Empress Of, RL Grime, bbno$ and Porter Robinson and claims more than 80 gold and platinum certifications in 23 countries.