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| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 (1979) |
| Defunct | June 5, 2017 |
| Fate | Merged Into The Orchard[1] |
| Successor | The Orchard |
| Headquarters | New York City ,United States |
Key people | Bob Morelli (president) |
| Parent | Sony Music |
RED Music, stylizedRED MUSIC, formerlyRED Distribution, LLC (RelativityEntertainmentDistribution) was aSony-owned sales and marketing division that merged underThe Orchard in 2017. RED previously handled releases for more than sixty independent record labels.
Founded in 1979 as mainly a hard rockmusic distributor called Important Record Distributors, which originally distributedMetallica's first two LPs in the US, it became RED Distribution in the 1990s.
In October 1999,Sony Music Entertainment sold 80% of RED Distribution toEdel SE & Co. KGaA.[2]
In March 2016, Sony announced the acquisition of Essential Music and Marketing. As part of this deal, a new company was launched,Red Essential, which is based at theCooking Vinyl Group's West London offices. The company is now located in Farringdon. This division had very little correlation to RED in the United States besides its name.[3]
On June 1, 2017, Sony Music announced that it would merge RED's British affiliate, Red Essential, intoThe Orchard.[1] On June 5, Sony also included the American RED Distribution in its merger with The Orchard. The "RED" name will remain active as a new entity named RED MUSIC, which will provide marketing, label services, and joint ventures between Sony's labels and independent labels.[1] As of September 2019, RED MUSIC was completely shuttered and consolidated into The Orchard.
