Earthworks was started in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of Virgin Records (UK). Shortly after Virgin was sold to EMI, Earthworks was sold to Stern's because of that label's specialty. Earthworks product that was released in the UK prior to the puchase was not repressed to reflect its new parent. Earthworks product in the US was discontinued and imported from the UK instead. It is very rare to see Virgin/Atlantic or Virgin/EMI pressings of Earthworks titles in the US.