After rumours in recent days, Sony Music has confirmed that it’s buying German metal label Century Media Records, in a deal reportedly worth $20m. The label’s owner Robert Kampf will remain in place as CEO of Century, with Sony handling its international distribution. According to Sony Music’s Adam Granite, the deal is “a tremendous opportunity to grow our respective hard rock and heavy metal businesses globally”,
while Kampf said that under Sony’s wing Century will be able “to further grow…as a dominant force in rock, prog, alternative and metal”. The label’s key artists include Lacuna Coil and Queensrÿche. In 2011, it was one of the first independent labels to pull its catalogue from Spotify, before returning to the streaming service in 2012 saying that “after practicing some due diligence, we’re moving ahead confident that both the artist and the fan are being fairly served by this developing platform” (Bulletin, 31-Jul-12).
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