The Rajon Music Group was formed in July
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
by John Evans after the merger of 3 leading independent record labels (Rajon Entertainment, RedX Entertainment and Startel Entertainment). Consequently, the group became one of the largest
independent record label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
s in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Rajon's core business was TV compilations; budget, mid price and catalogue marketing and concepts; single artist development, third party licensing; synchronisations for TV and film, and premium CD's. The company has also expanded into the DVD/Video market with the launch of
Rajon Vision in December 2001.
Rajon owned and controlled a very successful catalogue of artists, which has earned many awards including 32 gold records, 6 platinum records and 42 major industry awards.
Rajon Music Group was distributed by Sony Music in Australia who supplies product to major music and DVD retailers such Sanity, HMV, Blockbuster, K-Mart, Target, Myer/Grace, Leading Edge. The company has recently expanded the operation into New Zealand, Asia and the UK. Distribution is handled by Sony Music in Asia and Zomba/BMG in New Zealand.
Rajon was a member of ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) and AMCOS (Australasian Mechanical Copyrights Owners Society).
Rajon acquisition of Big Records
Through an acquisition of 90% Rajon took control of
Big Records. Prior to the acquisition, Big Records was an independent record company established by Paul Paoliello and Peter "Reggie" Bowman. New artists that fell under the Rajon umbrella included
Tina Cousins, The Teenage Idols, 888,
Melissa Tkautz, Groove Armada, Ashanti, Melanie C, and Hanson.
Rajon was sold to the digital media and marketing firm
Destra Corporation in 2005. Destra's purchase of these sorts of businesses over three years failed to produce a media empire where all the business units integrated with each other. Destra collapsed in 2008.
See also
*
List of record labels
*
Sony Music
*
Big Records
External links
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{{Authority control
Australian independent record labels
Record labels established in 2000
2000 establishments in Australia