Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

business based in London with a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

, shared workspace and

private members' club Private members' clubs are organisations which provide social and other facilities to members who typically pay a membership fee for access and use. Some were originally elitist gentlemen's clubs to which members first had to be elected; others ...

, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James Palumbo is the co-founder and former chairman and CEO of the Group. He handed over the day-to-day running of the business to Lohan Presencer in 2008. In 2018, Presencer became chairman.

Nightclub

Ministry of Sound began as the idea of

Justin Berkmann Justin Berkmann (born December 1963), is a DJ and nightclub owner. He is the second son of Joseph Berkmann and his second wife, Jean Berkmann (née Barwis) and younger brother of Marcus Berkmann, an author. They were both educated at Highgate ...

. Inspired by New York's Paradise Garage - which he described as "an amazing club. It had lights, darkness, music, quiet – everything you wanted" As opposed to striking a balance between the typical hallmarks of a live music venue, Ministry of Sound was conceived as an arena purely dedicated to sound. Berkmann stated: "My concept for Ministry was purely this: 100% sound system first, lights second, design third (in that order); the reverse of everyone else's idea." According to him, they spent £500,000 on the club's sound system, and the same amount again on soundproofing the club using

magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula ( magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic ...

: they wanted to be able to turn the sound system up as loud as possible without disturbing the neighbours, and tested it to a volume of 156 decibels without the sound leaking outside. In addition to drawing inspiration from the Paradise Garage, the club borrowed the idea of using changing set designs from another New York City club,

Area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

, with the first being based around ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's ...

'', Berkmann's favourite film. Berkmann was introduced to James Palumbo, who was working in property finance at the time, by Humphrey Waterhouse to realise the concept. The site, a disused bus garage, is located in Elephant & Castle in Southwark,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The club opened on 21 September 1991 and has remained in this location since. Having considered "a load of daft names" for the club, including Get Off My Foot and The Ghost and Mrs Chicken, Berkmann came up with Ministry of Sound after walking past the Ministry of Defence Main Building. With opening sets from American house and garage DJs

Larry Levan Larry Levan (; born Lawrence Philpot, July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992) was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern ...

David Morales David Morales (; born August 21, 1962) is an American disc jockey (DJ) and record producer. In addition to his production and DJ work, Morales is also a remixer. David Morales has remixed and produced over 500 releases for artists including ...

Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of " Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an internati ...

and Tony Humphries, as well as Paul Oakenfold, Ministry of Sound grew as a clubbing venue. According to Berkmann, it managed to empty rival nightclub Tramp for its first six months by drawing its celebrity clientele, before "they stopped coming and it was more about the dance music community". It now attracts around 300,000 clubbers per year and has hosted sets from popular DJs including:

Adam Beyer Adam Beyer (born 15 May 1976 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish techno producer and DJ. He is the founder of Drumcode Records, and is one of several Swedish techno artists to emerge in the mid-1990s, along with Cari Lekebusch and Jesper Dah ...

DJ Harvey DJ Harvey (born Harvey Bassett) is a DJ born in Cambridge, England. He was an early exponent of the US disco/garage/house sound in the UK. Career Ersatz and transition to DJing (1978–1991) At age 13, he became a drummer for a Cambridge punk ...

Dixon Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, In ...

, Marshmello, Jozeff and

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio str ...

. It has won the

IDMA The International Dance Music Awards or IDMAs is an annual awards ceremony held in Miami Beach, Florida, United States as a major part of the Winter Music Conference. The awards have been held every year since the conference's creation in 1985 e ...

'World's Best Sound System' award four years in a row - every year they ran the category. The capacity of The Box (the main room) is 600 people, and there are other smaller rooms within the club. There are three weekly club nights: Fridays feature Lock n Load brand The Gallery which are primarily trance music, whilst Saturdays host a number of club nights which are primarily house music. In 2016, these included Defected, Glitterbox, Rinse FM, Hospitality and Together. On Tuesday the club hosts a student session called Milkshake, established in 2002.

Threat of closure

Ministry of Sound's existence has been threatened on a number of occasions by nearby redevelopment in Elephant & Castle. The most notable concerned the redevelopment of Eileen House, a tower block opposite the nightclub's entrance. From 2009 to 2014, Ministry of Sound fought various public campaigns to save the club from the threat of closure. These culminated in a hearing before then- Mayor of London

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in November 2013. On 19 December 2013, a legal deal was agreed between Ministry of Sound and the developer Oakmayne to enable Eileen House to be redeveloped without jeopardizing the club's future.

Dolby Atmos

In 2016, Ministry of Sound partnered with Dolby Laboratories to bring surround sound Dolby Atmos to the nightclub, a first in the industry. The Box, Ministry of Sound's main room, now boasts a 64-speaker, 22-channel sound system, allowing the artists to control where certain sounds are sent across the space.

The Ministry

The Ministry is a new members club and shared workspace for creative businesses, which opened in 2018 in London. The first building on Borough Road includes four floors of tailored private offices, shared working areas, meeting spaces, soundproof studios, an immersive tech suite, a full-service restaurant, a bar 70 feet in length, an outdoor terrace, a 40-seater cinema and an events space with a diverse events programme.

Tours

Under its Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi brands, the business hosts approximately 500 international tour events annually across the world. In 2017, the brand featured as part of the stage line-up at festivals including The Ark (cruise ship), Adria Summer Festival and Ultra Europe.

Fitness

The fitness studio (previously the club's back-of-house vault where the alcohol was stored) opened in February 2017. The concept takes a club-style sound system and lighting rig and pairs it with a bespoke, instructor-led high intensity interval workout. Classes run from Monday to Sunday, and an on-site bar offers a range of drinks from

protein shake Bodybuilding supplements are dietary supplements commonly used by those involved in bodybuilding, weightlifting, mixed martial arts, and athletics for the purpose of facilitating an increase in lean body mass. Bodybuilding supplements may contain ...

s to alcoholic cocktails.

Music publishing

The music publishing business was established in 2015. It is independent of the record label that was acquired by Sony Music, and is headed up by Ben Bodie. The current roster of artists includes

Mura Masa Alexander Crossan (born 5 April 1996), also known by the stage name Mura Masa, is a Guernsey-born electronic music producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Crossan is best known for his song " Lovesick", which reached number one on the ...

, iLL BLU, Will Arcane, KDA and John Calvert.

Record label

Ownership

On 10 August 2016, it was announced that Ministry of Sound's A&R and compilations recorded music business had been acquired by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

. /sup> Rights to all recordings under the Ministry of Sound name are now held and mostly distributed by Sony Music (excluding London Grammar catalogue which is distributed by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in most of the world and Because Music in France), with the remaining Ministry of Sound businesses retained within the original group. Ministry of Sound was an independent record label split into two divisions:

Artist & Repertoire Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

and Compilations.

Artist repertoire

The Artist & Repertoire division was established in the early 1990s with releases on a 'Sound of Ministry' label imprint. Sound of Ministry was superseded by in-house labels Open, Data, Substance, Smoove and Rulin', which between them released a string of UK and international chart hits. In 2009, the artist labels were consolidated under 'Ministry of Sound Recordings'. The first artist signed was Example, who achieved two

UK number 1 The UK Singles Chart is a weekly record chart which for most of its history was based on single sales from Sunday to Saturday in the United Kingdom. Since July 2014 it has also incorporated streaming data, and from 10 July 2015 has been based o ...

records, three top 10s, two top 20s, two

gold albums Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

and one

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

number 1 selling album, '' Playing in the Shadows''. Other notable label signings include Wretch 32, DJ Fresh and, more recently, London Grammar, whose debut album ''

If You Wait ''If You Wait'' is the debut studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar, released on 6 September 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings and Ministry of Sound. Seven singles were released from the album: " Metal & Dust", " Wasting My Young ...

'' reached platinum sales status in the UK, gold status in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and recently hit number 1 on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

Album Chart in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. In 2014, London Grammar were nominated for 'British Breakthrough Act' at the BRIT Awards. ''If You Wait'' was also named iTunes 'Album of the Year 2013' The artist label also continue to release dance singles, achieving three number 1 records in the UK in 2013 with

Bingo Players Bingo Players is a Dutch dance and electro house musical project fronted by DJ and record producer Maarten Hoogstraten (). Bingo Players was originally a duo, which included Paul Bäumer, who died from cancer in 2013. After the death of Bäumer, ...

feat. Far East Movement's " Get Up (Rattle)",

Duke Dumont Adam George Dyment (born August 1981), better known by his stage name Duke Dumont, is an English DJ and record producer. He is best known for his hit singles " Need U (100%)" " I Got U", " Ocean Drive" and " Won't Look Back" which both reached ...

feat. A*M*E's "

Need U (100%) "Need U (100%)" is a song by British musician and DJ Duke Dumont. It features the vocals from British singer A*M*E. It was released as a digital download in the United Kingdom on 31 March 2013, and entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart ...

", and Storm Queen's "

Look Right Through "Look Right Through" is a song by American record producer Storm Queen, vocals by Damon C. Scott. It was first released on 19 October 2010, with two remix packages released through Defected in February 2012. On 3 November 2013, Ministry of Sound ...

Compilations

The compilations business was first established in 1993 with the release of ''Sessions Volume One'', a compilation album of dance music mixed by Tony Humphries. The album was a commercial success. The business has now sold more than 55 million compilation albums worldwide.

Radio show

Ministry of Sound Radio The Ministry of Sound Radio (MoS) began service as a UK-based radio station operating since 1999. It was accessible on the Ministry of Sound website as streaming audio until March 2016. Current MoS radio's DJs include: DJ Bailey, X-Press 2, He ...

was an online only service broadcasting 24-hours a day from Ministry of Sound's offices adjacent to the nightclub.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Sound Mitsui Sony Music 2016 mergers and acquisitions British brands Nightclubs in London British record labels English record labels English electronic dance music record labels Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Southwark Electronic dance music venues