More SonyBMG stuff now - and this is epic news. In that... yeah, you got it. SonyBMG UK has announced the relaunch of Epic UK. The former Sony Music division will return with immediate effect, led by Nick Raphael, and bringing together Raphael's current White Rabbit label (which has Lemar, Mylo and Imogen Heap on its roster), with SonyBMG's Red Ink UK labels (the major's indie partners) plus two brand new signings, Scouting For Girls and Go Audio. Once up and running the new division, which will sit alongside SonyBMG UK's existing primary label divisions, Columbia and RCA, will operate a new A&R team who will look to expand the new label's roster with new signings.
Announcing the launch, SonyBMG UK chief Ged Doherty told CMU: "This is an important move for the company. It gives us another significant destination for artists who want to sign to us by giving them the opportunity to sign to a label with huge history and resonance within the industry. I've been very happy with the progress of the Columbia and RCA labels since we brought them back last year, and we need to expand our A&R capability still further to help us grow the company in line with our overall plans. I'm delighted that Nick Raphael will be leading Epic, he is a hugely talented and capable executive with a track record of making successful albums with a wide variety of artists and this is the perfect role for him".
Raphael added: "This is a great opportunity. It's an honour to be leading a label that has such a rich history of great artists and music. I love the fact that even recently Epic boasted artists as diverse as Michael Jackson to the Lightning Seeds, Manic Street Preachers to Bewitched, and I hope to build up a roster every bit as diverse and successful".
Artists signed to Epic US who have been distributed in the UK to date by either Columbia or RCA, will continue to be handled by those divisions in this country.