When independent music firm PIAS announced a ‘strategic global alliance’ with Universal Music Group in 2021, the message was that PIAS “remains fully independent”. UMG acquired a minority stake as part of that deal, but three years later PIAS’s co-founders are selling their remaining shares to the major label.
The new deal will see PIAS’s services division Integral merging with UMG’s Virgin Music Group, while the PIAS Label Group will remain “completely autonomous” – including a “long-term contract” for co-founder Kenny Gates to continue as CEO.
“I am selling my shares not my soul,” he promised in a statement. “Our existing leadership team will continue to steer our day-to-day work and nothing will change culturally or commercially for our existing clients and partners.” Those partners include independent labels Heavenly, Mute and Transgressive.
The bigger picture here is all three major labels doubling down on their distribution and services businesses, as both a funnel for emerging talent and a way to keep established artists who want more independence and ownership within the corporate family.
