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Young Turks rebrands as Young

By | Published on Wednesday 7 April 2021

Young

The Young Turks record label and management firm has rebranded as simply Young. Founder Caius Pawson says that he decided a rebrand was necessary after learning more about the early 20th century political movement from which his company ultimately took its name.

In an Instagram post, Pawson writes: “From today, Young Turks will become Young. The name change follows a long period of reflection and I wanted to explain the origins of the Young Turks name and the reasons for the change”.

“We originally named Young Turks after the Rod Stewart song of the same name. When I first heard the song, it took a week of 2005-era internet searches to find out what it was and even longer to understand its meaning. The name intrigued me, evoking the solidarity of youth. In 2005, it seemed to perfectly sum up what we were: teenagers, wanting and waiting to do something, anything”.

“However”, he went on, “we were unaware of the deeper history of the term and, specifically, that the Young Turks were a group who carried out the Armenian Genocide from 1915 onwards. Through ongoing conversations and messages that have developed our own knowledge around the subject, it’s become apparent that the name is a source of hurt and confusion for people”.

“We loved the name for what it meant to us, but in retrospect should have listened more carefully to other voices and acted more quickly. We have always tried to affect positive change and knowing what we do now, it’s only right that we change our name”.

He concluded: “24 Apr is the day of commemoration of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. In memory of those who were killed and those who survived, we have made a donation to the Armenian Institute, London, a cultural charity that explores contemporary Armenian diasporan life in all its global diversity through research and the arts”.

The Beggars-allied Young label’s roster currently includes the likes of FKA Twigs, John Talabot, Sampha and The xx, while management clients include Ethan P Flynn, Romy and The Haxan Cloak, and the firm’s publishing unit works with Arlo Parks, Fred MacPherson and Kwes Darko.



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