Armada Music was founded on 1 June 2003 by Dutch producerArmin van Buuren, Dutch business executive Maykel Piron, and music manager David Lewis. The name is an acronym containing the first two letters of each of the founders' names.[6]
In 2022, Armada launched the investment company BEAT (Best Ever Acquired Tracks) Music Fund.[7] The company bought Cloud9 Music a year later.[8][9][10]
As of December 2015, the label had won the "Best Global Record Label" award for five years in a row at theInternational Dance Music Awards (IDMA's).[2] Armada received two nominations at the 2014 IDMAs,[12] and seven in 2019.[13] The Academy of Electronic Music, a joint venture between Armada, Google, Point Blank, andDJ Mag, was the recipient of the 'People's Voice Award' at the 2014Webby Awards.[14] In 2016, Armada Music was one of the 21 labels nominated for the IMPALA FIVEUNDERFIFTEEN[15] campaign shining a light on Europe's most inspiring young labels. The label received the IMPALA Young Label Spotlight Award.[16]
