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Astralwerks Records relaunches


Rubin Farr

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Sounds like another EDM imprint. Makes sense, they were really just an "electronica" sub-label / US distro for Virgin, something made increasing needless in the 00s. Not a curated indie like WARP or Ninja Tune. They were a gateway for me in a sense because I Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Fatboy Slim, etc. were on that label. Likewise in the mid-00s they signed folks like Hot Chip and Goldfrapp.

 

Kind of bummed it wasn't left alone. I suppose the name alone is worth enough to  market more big money / big festival oriented dance music.

 

After 25 years of success working with legendary acts, Universal Music Group's Astralwerks dance label gets a serious makeover. Since 1993, it's won the hearts of electronic music fans with releases from Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, deadmau5, Fatboy Slim, Porter Robinson and more. In 2018, it welcomes a new roster of talent and a fresh staff in an aim to refocus on its roots as an influential arm of the dance music community.

Toward this goal, Astralwerks General Manager Toby Andrews signed future-bass melody man Illenium and iconic Swedish duo Axwell & Ingrosso. The duo released its single "Dancing Alone," featuring RØMANS, via the label in June of this year. The single peaked at No. 27 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Astralwerks built on that momentum with Marshmello's recent Bastille collaboration "Happier," currently perched at No. 46 on the Hot 100.

Andrews credits the Marshmello singles' success on his international approach. Astralwerks handles worldwide communications and promotions personally from its headquarters in Los Angeles, which distills the message and eliminates room for error. His experience as General Manager of International Marketing for Sony Music International primed him for this opportunity.

Marshmello
READ MORE
Marshmello and Bastille Bounce Bright On 'Happier': Listen
Behind the scenes, Astralwerks welcomes a host of new employees, representing the dance music industry across genres and area of expertise, each with a decorated resume. Luke Armitage, Nick Sung and Catherine Corkery join the marketing department, having worked on campaigns for artists as varied as, among others, Jax Jones and Tiesto, GTA and REZZ, Whethan and Rudimental respectively. Nicole Lee, with experience running campaigns for The Chainsmokers and Diplo, will help lead strategy.

Jeremy Vuernick, Senior Vice President of A&R at Capitol Music Group, was brought on to head the A&R department of Astralwerks. He continues to work with CMG's Ryan Murphy, as well as Natalie Dodge, formerly of Big Beat, and Sergio Vega, from William Morris Endeavor. Joe Mortimer (Kygo, Snakehips) is named Creative Director, with Jin Ju Lee (TMWRK) as administrative assistant to Astralwerks.

The label celebrates the relaunch with a move to Los Angeles' famed Capitol Tower, a new logo and more. Before 2018 lets out, Astralwerks will open its first brick and mortar record store, giving new merch lines a home. It's all in the hope of digging deep into the DJ world underground while maintaining a strong hold on the mainstream ear.

Look for more from the new Astralwerks vision soon.

 

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Sounds like another EDM imprint. Makes sense, they were really just an "electronica" sub-label / US distro for Virgin, something made increasing needless in the 00s. Not a curated indie like WARP or Ninja Tune. They were a gateway for me in a sense because I Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, Fatboy Slim, etc. were on that label. Likewise in the mid-00s they signed folks like Hot Chip and Goldfrapp.

 

Kind of bummed it wasn't left alone. I suppose the name alone is worth enough to market more big money / big festival oriented dance music.

 

After 25 years of success working with legendary acts, Universal Music Group's Astralwerks dance label gets a serious makeover. Since 1993, it's won the hearts of electronic music fans with releases from Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, deadmau5, Fatboy Slim, Porter Robinson and more. In 2018, it welcomes a new roster of talent and a fresh staff in an aim to refocus on its roots as an influential arm of the dance music community.

Toward this goal, Astralwerks General Manager Toby Andrews signed future-bass melody man Illenium and iconic Swedish duo Axwell & Ingrosso. The duo released its single "Dancing Alone," featuring RØMANS, via the label in June of this year. The single peaked at No. 27 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Astralwerks built on that momentum with Marshmello's recent Bastille collaboration "Happier," currently perched at No. 46 on the Hot 100.

Andrews credits the Marshmello singles' success on his international approach. Astralwerks handles worldwide communications and promotions personally from its headquarters in Los Angeles, which distills the message and eliminates room for error. His experience as General Manager of International Marketing for Sony Music International primed him for this opportunity.

Marshmello

READ MORE

Marshmello and Bastille Bounce Bright On 'Happier': Listen

Behind the scenes, Astralwerks welcomes a host of new employees, representing the dance music industry across genres and area of expertise, each with a decorated resume. Luke Armitage, Nick Sung and Catherine Corkery join the marketing department, having worked on campaigns for artists as varied as, among others, Jax Jones and Tiesto, GTA and REZZ, Whethan and Rudimental respectively. Nicole Lee, with experience running campaigns for The Chainsmokers and Diplo, will help lead strategy.

Jeremy Vuernick, Senior Vice President of A&R at Capitol Music Group, was brought on to head the A&R department of Astralwerks. He continues to work with CMG's Ryan Murphy, as well as Natalie Dodge, formerly of Big Beat, and Sergio Vega, from William Morris Endeavor. Joe Mortimer (Kygo, Snakehips) is named Creative Director, with Jin Ju Lee (TMWRK) as administrative assistant to Astralwerks.

The label celebrates the relaunch with a move to Los Angeles' famed Capitol Tower, a new logo and more. Before 2018 lets out, Astralwerks will open its first brick and mortar record store, giving new merch lines a home. It's all in the hope of digging deep into the DJ world underground while maintaining a strong hold on the mainstream ear.

Look for more from the new Astralwerks vision soon.

 

Yeah I second that, I was into this label at the time too. Now it does sound more like it'll be a second Spinning Records.. hopefully at least it'll carry some original flavor, though talk of Marshmello and Chainsmokers sounds hella boring.

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I welcome the return of big beat :)

1/3 of me says fuck that would be cool...

1/3 of me says in our wildest dreams...

1/3 of me says the majors behind a revamped astralwerx wouldnt allow a big beat resurgence to happen unless it was 1/16ths big beat and 15/16ths big room festival edm/dubstep/future bass/trap/fill-in-the-blank, and if that's the case, fuck right off because big beat was always more about rock n roll and psychedelic flavors fused with dance than shiny poppy edm.

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Goddammmit previous post was supposed to be *Spinnin Records, not SPINNING, why doesn't watmm let me edit posts anymore even once???

Same reason you don't support WATMM financaily despite using it for years, probably :dadjoke:

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Goddammmit previous post was supposed to be *Spinnin Records, not SPINNING, why doesn't watmm let me edit posts anymore even once???

Same reason you don't support WATMM financaily despite using it for years, probably :dadjoke:

Pops, wait but I do! Thought it was on auto pay...

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lol, super hyped for new axwell & ingrosso

Always digged Angello & Ingrosso's electro house stuff from the 2000s. Also as much as I may drag around the modern edm concept in a negative light, I do like me some swedish house mafia and other artists that do that stuff right. Being at 2012 Coachella kinda gave me a soft spot for all of that, seeing Guetta, avicii and shm there was super fun. I feel like 2012/2013 was kinda the edm / festival bubble where things in that vein after that turned from cheesy but still epic and feel good to cheesy and stupid, with exceptions of course.

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