Infectious Music is an independent

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

owned by

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

, whose bands have included

Alt-J Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwilym Sainsbur ...

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

and

The Subways The Subways is an English rock band from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Formed in 2002, the band consists of Billy Lunn (lead vocals, guitar), Charlotte Cooper (bass guitar, lead vocals), and Camille Phillips (drums). Founding-drummer Josh ...

History

Infectious Music was established in 1993 as Infectious Records by former Zerra One drummer Korda Marshall after leaving Bertelsmann (

BMG-Ariola Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...

, the original major label BMG company), where he was the A&R manager of

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

and was involved with the running of Dave Stewart's

AnXious Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

label. Marshall left BMG as one of the acts he had co-signed,

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

, were not getting enough of a return on BMG's investment in the early 1990s (this being the time before they had released "

Pray Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified an ...

)" with Marshall going on to launch Infectious on 27 April 1993. The first band signed to Infectious was PWEI, who had followed Marshall from

/BMG (

) where they had released a number of albums such as ''This Is The Day, This Is The Hour, This Is This!'' and '' The Pop Will Eat Itself Cure for Sanity''. Infectious Records became part of Michael Gudinski's

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

(now

A&E Records A&E Records is a United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group (WMG). It operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG. A&E Records was formalised in May 2003, when the NewsCorp Music Group of independ ...

) operation in the mid-1990s, when the Australian businessman wanted to expand his record company internationally and decided to buy half of Infectious. Marshall became the Managing Director of Mushroom Records (UK) Ltd, with his Infectious Records label being merged into the new British operation. Whilst at Mushroom Records UK, Marshall was responsible for signing

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

and

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mass ...

(with

Perfecto Records Perfecto Records is a British Trance music, trance record label, founded by Paul Oakenfold in 1989. Perfecto was also a remix team consisting of Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne and in its later years, Osborne was replaced by Andy Gray (musici ...

) to the company. In 1998, Infectious Records came under the full control of News Corporation, when Gudinski sold the rest of the company's shares to

James Murdoch James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is a British-American businessman, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and was the chief executive officer (CEO) of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019. He was the chairman and CEO fo ...

. After a planned

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

failed, a deal was made with Roger Ames at Warner Music (WMG) to buy Mushroom Records UK, with the UK company becoming

and the Australian label becoming

Festival Mushroom Records A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

(also now owned by Warner Music). With the sell-off of

' UK operations to the

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

, the role of Infectious within the A&E operations was decreased, with most acts being labelled under Warner's main brands such as

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, where Marshall had become Managing Director. Even so, the record label was used again by the multinational group for newly signed "developing" indie acts such as The Subways, who feature under a joint City Pavement/Infectious brand name.

Relaunch

After leaving WMG, it was announced that Korda Marshall would be relaunching Infectious Records in January 2009 as Infectious Music Ltd. with financial support coming from theatre and sports entrepreneur Michael Watt. Marshall also brought the Mushroom Group's Michael Gudinski onto the board of directors of the company. Hiring former Infectious Records executives Pat Carr of

Remote Control Records Remote Control Records was established in 2001 by Steve Cross and Harvey Saward. It provides publicity, label management, distribution and marketing services to international and local artists and labels. Remote Control's roster of internatio ...

and Mirelle Davis of Wind Up Bird as consultants to oversee General Management and International Marketing respectively for the new company, he has engaged Robert Horsfall and Mike Skeet's teams at Sound Advice to handle the company's legal and financial affairs. The first signing to the newly relaunched label was

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

band

The Temper Trap The Temper Trap are an Australian indie rock band formed in 2005 by Dougy Mandagi, Jonathon Aherne, and Toby Dundas. In 2008, the group relocated from Melbourne to London. The band released their debut album '' Conditions'' in June 2009 to favou ...

(also signed to Gudinski's new Australian label

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

), with

alt-J Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwilym Sainsbur ...

, Drenge and Vance Joy being some of the acts subsequently signed to the label. Infectious Music was acquired by

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...

(the new 'indie' BMG) in September 2014, with Marshall going on to work with other BMG acts like The Charlatans,

Jack Savoretti Giovanni Edgar Charles Galletto-Savoretti (born 10 October 1983), known professionally as Jack Savoretti, is an English acoustic singer, songwriter, and musician. He has released seven studio albums to date: ''Between the Minds'' (2007), ''Harde ...

and

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...

Artists

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler), Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards), Justin Harris (bass guitar, keyboards, saxophones, backing vocals) and Loui ...

DMA's DMA'S (stylised in all caps) are an Australian three-piece rock band formed in 2012 in Sydney. The band is composed of Tommy O'Dell, Matt Mason, and Johnny Took. They gained popularity for their debut single " Delete" and for their self-titled ...

Garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

Symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

My Vitriol My Vitriol are a British alternative rock band, formed in 1999 in London. The band currently comprises singer and guitarist Som Wardner, drummer Ravi Kesavaram, guitarist Seth Taylor and bassist Tatia Starkey. The band had success with their de ...

Seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

The Paradise Motel The Paradise Motel are an independent Australian rock band that formed in Hobart, Tasmania in 1994. They relocated to Melbourne and issued two albums on Mushroom Records, ''Still Life'' (1996) and '' Flight Paths'' (1998) before moving to the Un ...

General Fiasco General Fiasco are an indie rock group from Bellaghy, Northern Ireland. Since their formation in 2006, they have toured with Little Comets, Fighting With Wire, The Wombats, One Night Only, The Pigeon Detectives, The Enemy, Jet and Kids in Gl ...

Local Natives Local Natives is an American indie rock band based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The band consists of Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), Matt Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (ba ...

Cloud Control Cloud Control was an Australian alternative rock band, originating from the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia. The band was signed to the Australian record label Ivy League Records, on which they released their first album, '' Bliss Releas ...

* Drenge * Ry X *

The Acid The Acid are an electronic music quartet consisting of British DJ and record producer Adam Freeland; Californian producer, composer and professor of music technology Steve Nalepa; American singer/songwriter Jens Kuross Jens Kuross is an Ameri ...

These New Puritans These New Puritans are an English music group/band from Southend-on-Sea, England. It consists mainly of Jack Barnett (principal songwriter, vocalist, producer, multi-instrumentalist) and his twin brother George Barnett (drums, electronics, prod ...

Thom Sonny Green Thomas Stuart Green (born November 5, 1985), known professionally as Thom Sonny Green, is an English drummer and electronic music producer. Green attended Leeds University, where he met the musicians with whom he would found the band Alt-J ...

* The Sherlocks * Vance Joy *

Charlie Cunningham Charlie Cunningham (born August 23, 1948) is a mountain biker from Fairfax, California. Along with frame builder Steve Potts and his helper Mark Slate, Cunningham co-founded Wilderness Trail Bikes (WTB). Cunningham and Potts were forced out ...

References

External links

*
The Temper Trap Official Website

General Fiasco Official Website

Local Natives Official Website

Cloud Control Official Website

An Infectious Attitude : Korda Marshall on A&R
-

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

s Blog, 18 March 2015 {{Authority control British record labels Record labels established in 2009 Record labels based in London British independent record labels