V2 Records facts for kids
Quick facts for kids V2 Records |
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| Parent company | PIAS Group |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder | Richard Branson |
| Distributor(s) | Virgin Music |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Location | 32 1211 GN Hilversum The Netherlands |
V2 Records, also known as V2 Music, is a company that helps musicians share their songs. It's called V2 because it stands for "Virgin 2." This company has changed owners a few times. Universal Music Group bought it in 2007. Then, it was sold to PIAS in 2013. In 2022, Universal bought a part of PIAS again, which means they now partly own V2.
In the Benelux region (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), V2 worked on its own from 2013 to 2022. This was because it was bought from Universal in 2007. Now, Universal Music Group partly owns V2.
The Story of V2 Records
V2 Records was started in 1996 by Richard Branson. He is famous for creating the Virgin Group. He started V2 five years after selling his first music company, Virgin Records, to another company called EMI.
At first, the same people who helped Branson with his famous balloon projects ran V2. A Canadian company also owned a big part of it. The company faced some money problems, so Richard Branson took over again. He helped make the brand strong once more.
Over time, V2 Records bought other smaller music companies. These included Gee Street Records, Junior Boy's Own, Blue Dog Records, and Big Cat Records. V2 also helped share music for many other labels. Some of these were Wichita, Fania, Luaka Bop, City Slang, and Modular. The band Stereophonics was the first group to sign with V2 Records.
Today, V2 Records works in many countries around the world. You can find them in places like Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.
In the US, V2's music was first shared by BMG. But they later moved to WEA. V2's main office in the US was in Manhattan, New York City.
In 2005, V2 Music Group created a new part of their company called Cooperative Music. This group helped independent music labels share their music in Europe, Australia, and Japan. They had a special team to market music in many countries.
By 2006, many songs from V2's collection were available online. Artists like Moby and The White Stripes had their music added to eMusic. This made V2 one of the biggest labels on the site. eMusic sold music that was easy to download and usually cost less.
In 2007, Universal Music Group bought V2 Music Group. Later that year, Universal's independent music branch, Fontana International, teamed up with Cooperative Music. This partnership helped independent labels from Europe reach American listeners. Cooperative Music has helped many successful bands like Fleet Foxes, Phoenix, and The Black Keys.
In 2013, PIAS bought Cooperative Music, which included V2, from Universal Music Group. Then, in November 2022, Universal Music Group bought a 49% share in PIAS. This means Universal now partly owns V2 again.
V2 in Benelux
V2 Benelux was started by Richard Branson in 1997. It was part of the larger V2 International group. In 2007, the leaders of V2 Benelux bought the company themselves. They did this with help from their music distributor, Bertus Distribution.
From 2014 to 2022, V2 Music offered full services to music labels in Benelux, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. This was done through Bertus Music Vertrieb GmbH.
Since November 2022, V2 Music still offers these services in the same regions. Now, they work with Virgin Music Label & Artist Services. This change happened because Universal partly bought V2 again.
V2 in North America
In 2006, Richard Branson sold V2 North America to a company called Sheridan Square Entertainment LLC (SSE). SSE then combined its own music label, Artemis Records, with V2 North America. This new company was no longer part of the Virgin Group. Later, Sheridan Square was bought by IndieBlu, which was then bought by Entertainment One.
In 2007, V2 North America announced some big changes. They decided to focus on selling their older music and digital downloads. Because of this, their employees left, and the artists they worked with became free to sign with other labels.
See also
You can find out more about V2 Records for kids in Spanish here: V2 Records para niños
- List of record labels
