Sanctuary Group
| Sanctuary Records Group Ltd. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Parent company | BMG Rights Management |
| Founder | Rod Smallwood, Andy Taylor |
| Defunct | 2007 |
| Distributor(s) | Warner Music Group |
| Genre | Rock, heavy metal, pop, electronic, hip hop |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Sanctuary Records Group Limited is a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world. It was also the world's largest independent owners of music intellectual property rights, with over 160,000 songs.
The company was formed in 1979 by Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, who had first met as undergraduates at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later organized dance events for students together. In 1979, they discovered (in a London pub) and then managed Iron Maiden. They consequently named the record company after the band's song "Sanctuary", an early Iron Maiden composition which was released as a single in 1980, and later included on American pressings as well as the reissued CD version of their 1980 eponymous debut album.
Sanctuary Records are noted for preferring to sign artists with long-term appeal, usually the artists are those considered heritage acts, being artists that have had a long career and steady fan base.
Between 1989 and 1991, Sanctuary was co-owned by the Zomba Group, whose music publishing arm still held the music of Iron Maiden in 2001.
In 1994, the company diversified. Amongst the new media interests included a joint venture with screenwriter and producer, Raymond Thompson, which evolved into the Cloud9 Screen Entertainment Group.
Iron Maiden's back catalog was re-issued by Sanctuary in conjunction with Columbia/SME Records in the US in 2002.
Kenny Rogers' 1980s back catalog (originally released on RCA Records) was re-issued by Sanctuary's Castle Music label in conjunction with Kenny Rogers' Dreamcatcher Records in the UK. The albums were only available as imports in the US. Rogers' 2003 release "Back To The Well" was released by Sanctuary in the UK.
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