Brooklyn-born independent label Partisan Records has entered into a global distribution partnership with Virgin Music Group, a division of Universal Music Group.
Under the new deal, Partisan Records’ tracks will be distributed globally through Virgin Music Group, with the two companies also collaborating on what they call a “dynamic global marketing approach”.
Partisan is home to artists such as IDLES, Blondshell, PJ Harvey, Cigarettes After Sex, Laura Marling, Ezra Collective,etc.
Commenting on the deal, Partisan chief operating officer Zena White said: “The new Virgin Music Group, led by JT Myers and Nat Pastor, is the clear partner for Partisan’s next chapter.
“They are more than just a publisher, they provide a dynamic environment driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and focused on achieving the highest level of results for our artists.”
“The Union of Our Lady and Our Lady [Integral] Team allows guerrillas to marry the best [PIAS] and [Integral] The team that helped us get here.
Zena White
White added: “The union of the Blessed Mother with the Blessed Mother [Integral] Team allows guerrillas to marry the best [PIAS] and [Integral] The team has helped us secure the additional resources Virgin needs to achieve our ambition to become the world’s most trusted music company for artists of all genres.
Fully acquired by Universal Music Group [PIAS] in a deal announced last month.
UMG Acquired two core business units [PIAS] group:
Label Services Division [Integral], Provides physical and digital distribution services to independent record labels;
this [PIAS] tag groupIt is home to company-owned and associated labels including Play It Again Sam, harmonia mundi, Demain, Spinefarm, Source and partner labels ATO, Heavenly, Mute and Transgressive.
After the acquisition is completed, [Integral] Merge with UMG Virgin Music Group.
Partisan has earned multiple Grammy nominations, most recently in the Rock category (Song, Performance, Album) for IDLES’ latest album Tonk at the upcoming Grammy Awards.
Tonk No. 1 on the UK Album Chart, the band’s second No. 1 following 2020 Super monochromeranked second in Germany. Partisan also achieved a number one hit in the UK charts with the album Fontaines DC Skinny FIA 2022.
Cigarettes After Sex’s 2017 debut album was certified platinum in the US (now selling over 1.4 million copies), with the lead single RevelationSpotify streams have exceeded 1.5 billion.
Cigarettes After Sex have sold over 10 million streaming equivalent albums and sold over 600,000 tickets worldwide on their current arena tour, including a sold-out Madison Square Garden, in support of their latest album X’s.
“Partisan Records has accomplished an increasingly difficult task in today’s music industry and created an important cultural movement around independent record labels,” said JT Myers, co-chief executive of Virgin Music Group.
“Partisan Records has accomplished the increasingly difficult task of creating an important cultural movement around independent labels in today’s music industry.”
JT Miles, Virgin Music Group
Myers added: “They have discovered and developed some of the world’s most influential professional artists, and we look forward to working with them to expand their audiences around the world.”
Partisan was founded in 2007 in Brooklyn, New York, and has offices in New York, London, Los Angeles and Berlin.
The company’s imprints include Section 1 and The sound of desert daze. Partisan received a total of 14 nominations at the 2024 A2IM Libera Awards (the most of any label), including Label of the Year and a “five-win sweep” award for Blondshell.
In 2023, Ezra Collective released the album “ Where I was meant to be.
Partisan’s current roster also includes artists such as Geese, Angélica Garcia, Lip Critic, Beth Orton, Body Meat, NoSo, TTSSFU, Westerman, HONESTY, Léa Sen, WITCH, Cameron Winter, Just Mustard and more.
Section1’s roster includes Blonde Redhead and Fazerdaze.
Elsewhere within the Virgin Music Group, the company recently partnered with Tokyo-based Bushiroad Music to distribute anime music globally.
Last month, VMG acquired Outdustry, an artist and label services and rights management company focused on China, India and other “high-potential markets.”
The deal marks VMG’s latest global M&A move following its acquisition of Saban Music Latin in January.global music business
