MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch"), formerly known as Koch Records and Entertainment One (eOne) Music/Records, is an American

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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

and music

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

company based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was formed in 1987 as a music division of Koch Entertainment, which was acquired by and absorbed into Entertainment One (or eOne for short) in 2004. eOne was acquired by toy and multimedia company

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

in 2019, absorbed its family brands division in the process and announced the sale of this division to

the Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter G. Peterson, Peter Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, Stephen Schwarzman, who h ...

in April 2021, which then adopted this name. Hasbro then sold the remains of eOne to Lionsgate, who then rebranded it initially as eOne Canada and then Lionsgate Canada. MNRK owns the libraries of Artemis Records, Dualtone Records, and Last Gang Records.

History

Background

The label as a whole has its origins in the Canadian music distributor Records on Wheels, which was acquired by the Canadian retail chain CD Plus in 2001 to expand its wholesale business. Darren Throop joined the company after CD Plus acquired his record store chain Urban Sound Exchange. The combined company later became known as ROW Entertainment, with Throop as president and CEO. In June 2005, ROW acquired the American independent music distributor and home entertainment publisher Koch Entertainment, including its label Koch Records. From 1999 to 2005, Koch operated a

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, division dedicated to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

, originally known as Audium Records. The Nashville division's roster included Restless Heart,

David Lee Murphy David Lee Murphy (born January 7, 1959) is an American country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American ...

, Daryle Singletary, Cledus T. Judd, and the Tractors. This division was closed in October 2005. In 2008, Koch launched HipHopCanada Records, in partnership with the publication HipHopCanada.

As eOne Music

Koch was renamed E1 Music in 2009. E1 acquired IndieBlu Music, parent of Artemis Records and V2 Records North America, in 2010. In 2013, eOne acquired the library of defunct hip-hop label

Death Row Records Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. D ...

. In January 2016, eOne acquired Dualtone Records. In March 2016, eOne acquired Canadian label Last Gang Records, and hired its founder, music industry lawyer Chris Taylor, as global president of eOne Music. In 2016, eOne acquired the management firms Hardlivings and Nerve Artist Management. In November 2016, eOne Music hired Ted May, the former senior international marketing manager of Universal Music UK, as director for its UK division, operating from eOne's offices in London. In March 2018, eOne Music acquired the live event production company Round Room Entertainment. In 2019, Amelia Artists partnered with eOne's management division. Later in 2019, eOne partnered with the Latin management and marketing group Entotal. In November 2020, it signed AMPED Distribution as its new physical distributor in North America.

Sale and rebrand as MNRK

In April 2021, following the acquisition of its parent company by toy and entertainment company

, eOne announced that it would divest its music business to the private equity firm

The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter G. Peterson, Peter Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, Stephen Schwarzman, who h ...

for $385 million, in order to focus more on its film and television entertainment businesses. The sale was completed in June, and the unit continued to use the eOne branding until September 2021; when the company was subsequently renamed MNRK Music Group. On February 9, 2022, MNRK sold the rights to the Death Row Records brand and catalogue to hip-hop rapper

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

. In 2022, MNRK's Management division added 2 managers, Phil Jones and Keith Hagan.

References

External links