Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and pop music to classical music and a children's catalogue. In addition to the development and marketing of music, the group also deals with the production, logistics and distribution of CDs, DVDs, vinyl records, and books at the production site of the subsidiary optimal media GmbH in Röbel/Müritz as well as with services in the online and book business.

History

Edel was founded in 1986 by the current chairman of the board of directors and the majority shareholder Michael Haentjes as a one-man company under the name ''edel Gesellschaft für Produktmarketing mbH'' and initially dealt exclusively with mail order for film music. In 1992, the company name was changed to ''edel Company Music GmbH''. In April 1993 Edel purchased the East German VEB Deutsche Schallplatten's classical music recording catalog of 2,000 recordings. Specifically, Edel's Berlin Classics imprint has carried the output of VEB's classical Eterna label. Edel grew steadily and recorded sales of more than 150 million

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

in 1995. In 1998, under the new company name ''edel music AG'', the IPO (WKN 564950) and the listing on the Neuer Markt followed. The first stock market listing was 101 DM. The IPO brought the company a gross capital inflow of almost 60 DM million. As part of a global strategy, investments were acquired abroad, for example the

PIAS Group PIAS is a Belgian corporation that specialises in independent music recording, licensing, distribution, sales, and marketing. The company was founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot in Brussels, Belgium,. Website] Play It Again, SamDiffe ...

in Belgium, which also included ''Connected Music Vertrieb GmbH'', founded by Haentjes in 1997, and '' Eagle Rock Entertainment, Eagle Rock,'' London. In 2000, more than 1 billion DM in consolidated sales was achieved. In July 1999, Edel purchased an 80% stake in

RED Distribution RED Music, stylized RED MUSIC, formerly RED Distribution, LLC (Relativity Entertainment Distribution) was a Sony Music, Sony-owned sales and marketing division that merged under The Orchard (company), The Orchard in 2017. RED previously hand ...

from

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. In connection with the general crisis in the music business, the collapse of the Neuer Markt and the high costs of integrating the additional companies, a crisis followed in 2001, which jeopardised the company's continued existence. In 2002, Edel and

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants Roland Berger is a global strategy consulting firm headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company was founded in 1967 and has since established a global presence. Currently, Roland Berger employs around 3,500 people at more than 50 locations. I ...

implemented an extensive corporate restructuring program. Parts of the company and shareholdings were repelled and loss-making companies were closed. Of more than 1,700 employees, about 750 remained in the company. Thanks to this consolidation and the stable business of the manufacturer's subsidiary, positive business figures were again achieved. At the end of the short financial year 2001 (30.09.) Edel changed from listing in the Neuer Markt to the Regulated Market / General Standard of the

Frankfurt Stock Exchange The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time). Organisation Located in Frankfurt, ...

, which was transferred to the Regulated Market in 2007. In February 2007, ''edel music AG'' took over the book division of ''Pabel-Moewig'' with cookbooks, guides, puzzle books, children's books and some licenses such as the silver volumes of the science fiction series Perry Rhodan, thus expanding its media division. At the Annual General Meeting in May 2007 it was decided to remove the addition "music" in the company name. The company then operated under the name ''edel AG'' until 2010. In December 2009, the listing on the Regulated Market was revoked. The stock has since been traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In 2010, Edel took over 75% of the then ''ZS'' publishing house, followed by the remaining 25% in October 2014. In January 2011, the spelling of the company name changed to ''Edel AG''. In March 2011, ''Edel AG'' finally acquired the evaluation rights for the TV and cinema films around the cartoon characters ''Pettersson and Findus'' from the insolvent ''TV-Loonland AG''. In October 2012, ''Edel AG'' acquired 100% of the shares in ''Brilliant Classics B.V.,'' which is one of the leading companies in the field of classical music. The label, based in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

, Netherlands, sells its products through a worldwide network of distributors. In July 2014, Edel acquired the catalogue of Jazz label MPS Records from

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. Since October 2015, Edel holds 75% of ''Pandastorm Pictures GmbH''. In March 2016, Jonas Haentjes, the son of the company's founder, took over the position of Director Corporate Development at Edel. As of December 2017, Michael Haentjes and Jonas Haentjes jointly led ''Edel AG'' as co-CEOs, and Jonas Haentjes was appointed to the board of management of ''Edel AG''. Joerg Pfuhl, Charles Caldas and Joel Weinstein are members of the Edel supervisory board. In April 2018, the executive board and supervisory board of ''Edel AG'' decided to convert the company into a limited partnership for shares ( KGaA). The change of form is intended to ensure the influence of the family after a generational succession. In addition, the general partner of KGaA should be given the legal form of a European Company (SE). In March 2019, the generational transition was completed and the change of legal form to SE & Co. KGaA was completed. Jonas Haentjes has been the sole CEO ever since.

Business divisions and participations

Sources: Business units and shares 100%: ''Edel Music & Entertainment GmbH'' with the divisions ''earMUSIC, Edel Motion, Edel Kids, Edel Kultur, Edel Distribution.'' 100%: ''optimal media GmbH'' with the areas of production and distribution of sound and data media, production and distribution of books. to 66.8%: ''Kontor Records GmbH'', dance label with the brands ''Kontor Top of the Clubs'' and ''Kontor House of House''. 100%: ''Kontor New Media GmbH'' with the areas Mobile Entertainment, Internet and Digital Distribution. 100%: ''Edel Verlagsgruppe GmbH'', Publishing Group. Furthermore, Edel holds 100% of the shares of ''Pandastorm Pictures GmbH'' and 100% of the Dutch ''Brilliant Classics B.V''.

earMUSIC

Overview

earMUSIC is a European international record company based in Hamburg, Germany mainly dedicated to rock, pop, metal and alternative rock artists. The label´s first release was Ian Gillan´s album "One Eye To Morocco" in 2009. The label is a division of Edel Music & Enterteinment GmbH.

Roster (earMUSIC)

* Albert Hammond *

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* Annihilator *

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Blackmore's Night Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpa, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyr ...

* Foreigner *

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Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

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* Joe Jackson * H.E.A.T *

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MC5 MC5 was an American rock music, rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic lineup consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis (bassist), Michael Davis, and drummer ...

* Hollywood Vampires *

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Last in Line Last in Line is a British rock band formed in 2012 by former members of Dio (band), Dio's original lineup. Their name comes from the 1984 Dio album, ''The Last in Line''. Following the death of frontman Ronnie James Dio in 2010, drummer Vinny A ...

* Myrath * Once Human * Savatage * Sinsaenum * The The * The Damned *

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Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, six DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, with no founding member left since the departure of drummer Tuomo ...

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Past roster (earMUSIC)

Andre Matos Andre Coelho Matos (; 14 September 1971 – 8 June 2019) was a Brazilian singer and musician. He was involved in the heavy metal bands Viper, Angra, Shaman and Symfonia. Since 2006, Matos had been dedicating his time to his solo career. I ...

* Anette Olzon * Angra * Dagoba * Dee Snider *

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* DragonForce * Kamelot * KMFDM *

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* Sebastian Bach * Sepultura * Unisonic * Van Canto *

Vision Divine Vision Divine is an Italian Power metal, power/progressive metal band formed in 1998. History Originally a solo project from Olaf Thörsen (born Carlo Andrea Magnani). Soon, Fabio Lione rejoined him after the first Labyrinth (band), Labyrint ...