AWAL (an initialism of Artists Without a Label) is a British music distribution company owned by

Sony Music Entertainment 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 ...

. The company serves as an alternative to the traditional music label deal, offering deal structures to artists and independent labels without them giving up ownership or control. In 2021,

purchased AWAL from Kobalt Music Group for $430m.

Services

AWAL's main service is digital music distribution, but also includes marketing, physical distribution, data analytics, radio, and synchronization licensing. AWAL's artists keep their music and creative rights, unlike the traditional record label. In November 2018,

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

wrote an article titled, "Can Kobalt Disrupt the Label Game With AWAL?," outlining the company's approach and how it pays out as much as 80 percent of streaming revenue to its artists. In March 2017, AWAL introduced its music analytics app designed to collect and display data from an artist's presence on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

and

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple ...

History

AWAL was originally founded in 1997 by record producers Kevin Bacon and Jonathan Quarmby. In December 2011, AWAL was acquired by the Kobalt Music Group and operated as the company's digital music distribution arm. In January 2018, Lonny Olinick was named CEO of Kobalt's recording division. By March 2018, Kobalt announced it was investing $150 million into AWAL and that all of Kobalt's recording business will be combined under the AWAL brand. AWAL acquired In2une Music in June 2018, which provides multi-format radio promotion to independent labels and artists. AWAL announced a strategic partnership with independent label, Glassnote Records, in November 2018. Other notable announcements from the company include signing artists such as You Me At Six, Austin Burke,

deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house music, though he also produces ...

Little Simz Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo (born 23 February 1994), better known by her stage name Little Simz, is a British rapper, singer and actress. She rose to prominence with the independent release of her first three albums; ''A Curious Tale ...

, The Night Cafe, Kevin Garrett, Gabrielle Aplin, Gus Dapperton, and Ella Vos. In November 2018, AWAL was named to Billboard's 2018 Digital Power Players - Music Groups list. AWAL has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Berlin, Hong Kong, Miami, Nashville, Stockholm, and Sydney. In December 2018, AWAL announced it was opening an office in Toronto. On September 7, 2021, the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...

, the United Kingdom's antitrust regulator, raised concerns that Sony's purchase of AWAL would reduce competition from other distributors. The CMA gave Sony and AWAL five days to address the CMA's concerns and offer legally binding remedies, or else the CMA would enter a Phase 2 investigation. The phase two investigation was launched on September 16, 2021.

Artists

Aly & AJ Aly & AJ are an American pop rock duo that consists of sisters Alyson (Aly) and Amanda Joy Michalka (AJ) and signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2004. Their debut album, '' Into the Rush'', debuted at number 36 on the US ''B ...

* Alaina Castillo * Banks * Ber * Bonesteel * BurrSoCold * Bruno Major * Claudia Alende * Corrupt Colour *

Dayglow Sloan Christian Struble (born August 10, 1999), is an American singer, songwriter, and producer from Aledo, Texas. He is best known as the founder and lead of the indie pop project Dayglow. Dayglow released its debut album, ''Fuzzybrain'', on S ...

* Daði Freyr *

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternat ...

Die Antwoord Die Antwoord (, Afrikaans for "The Answer") is a South African alternative hip hop group formed in Cape Town in 2008. The group comprises rappers Watkin Tudor "Ninja" Jones and Anri "Yolandi Visser" du Toit, a male/female duo, and producers ...

* Everything Everything * The Aubreys *

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes are an English punk rock band formed in 2015 by frontman Frank Carter with guitarist Dean Richardson. Famed for their raucous live shows, the band released their debut album ''Blossom'' in 2015, and the follow- ...

* Gabrielle Aplin * Girl in Red * Greyson Chance * Gus Dapperton * Jowynalex *

Joshua Morata Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. ' Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

Jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

Jae Jin Jae Jin (born in Seoul, South Korea) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, SAG-AFTRA actor and public speaker from Baltimore known for his soulful singing, award-winning songwriting, and sought-after public speaking/storytelling. He indep ...

Jesse McCartney Jesse McCartney (born April 9, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He achieved fame in the late 1990s on the daytime drama ''All My Children'' as JR Chandler. He later joined boy band Dream Street, and eventually branched out into a solo mus ...

* JVKE *

iamamiwhoami iamamiwhoami ( ) is the electronic music and audiovisual project of Swedish singer-songwriter Jonna Lee in collaboration with her longtime record producer Claes Björklund. The project has, since 2009, released audiovisual series on their ...

ionnalee Jonna Emily Lee (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer and visual director. Lee is the creator and artist of audiovisual online project iamamiwhoami who since 2009 have released their audiovisual series online, gat ...

* Katelyn Tarver *

Kira Kosarin Kira Nicole Kosarin (born October 7, 1997) is an American actress and singer, known for her role as Phoebe Thunderman on the Nickelodeon series '' The Thundermans''. On April 10, 2019, she independently released her debut album, ''Off Brand'', ...

Kyle Dion Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrsh ...

* Laufey *

Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is a British folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for the same award at the 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 Brit ...

* Lauren Jauregui *

Lauv Ari Staprans Leff (born August 8, 1994), known professionally as Lauv (), is an American singer and musician, best known for his breakout hit " I Like Me Better"; included on his compilation album '' I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist)'', ...

Lil Peep Gustav Elijah Åhr (November 1, 1996 – November 15, 2017), known professionally as Lil Peep, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was a member of the emo rap collective GothBoiClique. Helping pioneer an emo revival-style of ...

Lisa Heller Lisa Heller (born April 16, 2000) is an American singer and songwriter from Simsbury, Connecticut. She achieved global recognition after the release of her song "Hope" along with its video, which after premiering on ''Twist'' Magazine trended f ...

Lizzy McAlpine Elizabeth Catherine McAlpine, also known as Lizzy McAlpine (born September 21, 1999) is an American singer-songwriter. Early life and education Lizzy McAlpine grew up in Narberth, Pennsylvania, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She has writte ...

* LOKRUMENTAL * * Maximum Love *

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

* mxmtoon * Naked Eyes *

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and p ...

* Now United *

Pritam Mandal Pritam Chakraborty (born 14 June 1971), also known mononymously as Pritam, is an Indian composer, instrumentalist, guitarist, and singer. After working as an ad jingles composer, he debuted as a co-composer in the 2001 Hindi film Tere Liye (fi ...

* Pouya * Quadeca *

R3HAB Fadil El Ghoul ( ar, فضيل الغول; born 2 April 1986), performing under the stage name R3hab (stylized in all caps as R3HAB; pronounced "rehab"), is a Dutch-Moroccan disc jockey and music producer. Ranked at number 12 on the DJ Mag Top 1 ...

Rex Orange County Alexander James O'Connor (born 4 May 1998), known professionally as Rex Orange County, is an English singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. O'Connor rose to prominence in 2017 following multiple features on Tyler, the Creator's Grammy-no ...

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, and jazz. A two ...

* Shandell Crutchfield *

Spacey Jane Spacey Jane are an Australian indie rock band from Fremantle, which formed in 2016. The group consists of Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu (guitar), Caleb Harper (vocals, guitar), Kieran Lama (drums) and, since 2019, Peppa Lane (bass guitar). Their debu ...

Steve Lacy Steve Lacy may refer to: Music * Steve Lacy (saxophonist) (1934–2004), American jazz saxophonist and composer * Steve Lacy (singer) (born 1998), American musician Other occupations *Steve Lacy (coach) (1908–2000), American college sports coach ...

The Kooks The Kooks () are an English pop-rock band formed in 2004 in Brighton. The band consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals/rhythm guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesizer/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums). Their music is primarily influenced by t ...

The Night Café ''The Night Café'' (french: Le Café de nuit) is an oil painting created by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh in September 1888 in Arles. Its title is inscribed lower right beneath the signature. The painting is owned by Yale University and is curr ...

The Wombats The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals, keyboards), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals, keyboards) ...

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describ ...

* Todd Terje *

Tom Misch Thomas Abraham Misch (born 25 June 1995) is an English musician and producer. He began releasing music on SoundCloud in 2012 and released his debut studio album ''Geography'' in 2018. In 2020, he released his second studio album ''What Kinda Mus ...

Vérité Kelsey Regina Byrne (born May 6, 1990), known professionally as Vérité (stylized as VÉRITÉ), is an American singer and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York City. Her first single "Strange Enough" was self-released in July 2014, reaching n ...

* You Me at Six * Yung Bans *

Zolita Zoë Montana Hoetzel (born September 23, 1994), known professionally as Zolita, is an American singer-songwriter. In 2015, she gained recognition when the music video for her song, "Explosion" became a viral video. Following its success, she re ...

Record labels

* Glassnote Records *

mau5trap Mau5trap (stylized as mau5trap; pronounced "mousetrap") is an independent record label, independent Canadian record label founded in 2007 by electronic music producer Deadmau5. The label was formerly a vanity label, hosting releases through labe ...

* EEM Records * Good Soldier Songs * Nickelodeon Records *

B-Unique Records B-Unique Records is a London-based record label, and publishing company founded in 2001 by Mark Lewis and Martin Toher. B-Unique's current roster includes John Newman, Kodaline, James Bay, The Mispers, Darlia, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Lu ...

SideOneDummy Records SideOneDummy Records is an independent record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1995 by Bill Armstrong and Joe Sib. The label began as a way for them to release music for their friends' bands. Thereafter SideOneDummy launched the car ...

* World in Red (personal label for Girl in Red)

Albums released

* '' Sunlight'' —

References

External links

* {{Authority control Online music stores of the United Kingdom Record label distributors Companies based in London British independent record labels Record labels established in 1997 2011 mergers and acquisitions 2021 mergers and acquisitions Sony Music