Business News Labels & Publishers

Warner music buys Russian label, Gala

By | Published on Tuesday 18 June 2013

Warner Music

Clearly in acquisitive mood, following the purchase of the Parlophone Label Group earlier this year, Warner Music yesterday announced it had struck a deal to buy a Russian record label, the Gala Records Group. The purchase of the 25 year old company also comes mere days after Stu Bergen was promoted to the role of President Of International in the major label’s recorded music division.

Taking a break from organising the stationery on his new desk, Bergen told reporters: “Gala shares our long held commitment to discovering and developing the very best in local talent and their success is apparent in their enviable roster and renowned catalogue. The entrepreneurial flair of Gala’s leadership team is evident in their impressive diversification strategy, which allows them to work with artists across multiple areas of their activities to build long-term, successful careers. We look forward to working with Gala in Russia and to tapping into our global network to further amplify the worldwide success of their artists and songwriters”.

Meanwhile, Gala’s founder and CEO Alexander Blinov added (well, sort of repeated): “We are joining one of the most experienced and professional teams in the music industry and one that shares our passion and love for music. WMG’s expertise and involvement is extremely valuable for the developing Russian music market, and will strengthen our efforts to foster its growth. WMG and Gala are driven by the same priorities and goals: we both place huge emphasis on developing great artists. WMG will make an ideal home for Gala’s artists and writers and Russia’s abundant creative talent will have a wider access to the world audience”.

In addition to releasing music from Russian artists through its main label and the dance-focussed Kontora, Gala also operates a distribution arm, Music Ltd, which releases various international catalogues in Russia, including those of !K7, FatCat and EMI. It also operates two publishing companies, SBA Music Publishing and the United Musical Publishing House.



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