British dance music label.
The label is part of a multimedia entertainment business based in London which includes a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio.
In August 2016, Ministry Of Sound's A&R and compilations business was acquired by the UK branch of Sony Music Entertainment. Rights to most recordings under the Ministry Of Sound name are now held and distributed by Sony Music, with the remaining Ministry Of Sound businesses retained within the original group.
Managing Director of the label from July 2023: Negla Abdela.
The business was founded in 1991 by British entrepreneur James "Jamie" Palumbo (now Baron Palumbo of Southwark), his school friend Humphrey Waterhouse and DJ Justin Berkmann.
Key personnel in the 1990s:
Lynn Cosgrave: ran Saturday nights at the club from mid-1992, started the label in 1993, appointed a director in 1996, resigned in September 1997.
Jim Masters: worked in press and promotion from 1991, started the Open sub-label in 1994, appointed a director in 1994, resigned in July 1996.
Mark Rodol: joined the company in 1992, appointed a director in 1993, promoted to CEO in March 2003, resigned in July 2004.
Palumbo temporarily stepped down from running the company in March 2003 when Rodol, then creative and marketing director, was promoted to CEO.
After Rodol resigned, Palumbo resumed his role as CEO before he handed over the day-to-day running of the business to Lohan Presencer in 2008.
Presencer became Chairman in 2018.
The record label was initially split into two divisions: Compilations and A&R.
The compilations division was established in 1993 with the Sessions (5) series.
The A&R division was established in the early 1990s and two imprints Sound Of Ministry and Open were launched in 1994.
Further in-house labels followed including Frisky? Records (1996), Excession (1997), Timewave (1997), FSUK (1998), Data Records (1999), Substance Records (1999), Sport (1999), Rulin Records (2000) and Smoove Records (2001).
Ministry Of Sound grew to become one of the UK's largest independent labels and diversified into include magazines, satellite/internet radio stations and selling DRM-free downloads on their websites. The company part-funded the launch of Defected in 1999.
At the turn of the millennium, Ministry Of Sound Australia Ltd and Ministry Of Sound Germany GmbH were established. The German branch of Ministry Of Sound became independent from the UK headquarters in 2007 and changed its name to Embassy Of Music three years later.
In the United States, Ministry Of Sound non-import releases were relabeled and distributed through Ultra Records, while in Spain they were released through Blanco y Negro.
Regional Ministry Of Sound offices:
Ministry Of Sound Ltd: Cremorne NSW, Australia (formed in 2000)
Ministry Of Sound GmbH: Berlin, Germany (formed in 2000)
Ministry Of Sound Music Group Nordic: Stockholm
Sweden (formed in 2001 as a sub-label of Bonnier Amigo Music)
