Linus Entertainment is a music company operating as an

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 ...

, distributor and music publisher. While founded in

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

, Linus spent many years in

Burlington, Ontario Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is a city and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region at the west end of Lake Ontario in Ontario, Can ...

before recently moving operations to

Waterdown, Ontario Waterdown is a community in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario. Waterdown is approximately 60 km west of downtown Toronto and, as of 2021, has a population of approximately 24,400 residents. On Jan ...

a community within the city of

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, Canada. In August 2023, Linus was acquired by Round Hill Music. At the time, Linus Entertainment's catalogue included releases by artists including

Big Wreck Big Wreck are a Canadian-American Rock music, rock band formed by Ian Thornley and Brian Doherty in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1992. The band was rounded out with David Henning and Forrest Williams. They disbanded in 2002 and Ian Thornley pursued ...

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirit ...

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie (born Beverley Jean Santamaria; February 20, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and social activist. Sainte-Marie's singing and writing repertoire includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism, and h ...

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

Stan Rogers Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter who sang traditional-sounding songs frequently inspired by Canadian history and the working people's daily lives, especially from the fishin ...

, and

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

Foundation

The company was founded in 2001 by President Geoff Kulawick, who previously served as head of A&R for

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

EMI Music Canada EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and as the creative head of Warner/Chappell Music Canada. Linus Entertainment's owned properties now include the labels Linus Entertainment,

True North Records True North Records is a Canadian independent record label. History True North Records was founded in Mississauga, Ontario in 1969 by Bernie Finkelstein. By 1971, True North was producing albums for various Canadian musicians, including Bruce Co ...

, Solid Gold Records, The Children’s Group, Divergent Recordings and Spring Hill Records, as well as the Independent Digital Licensing Agency aka IDLA Associated Label Distribution.

Growth and acquisitions

Linus Entertainment has grown to acquire a controlling interest in global music distributor IDLA (Independent Digital Licensing Agency) in 2010, and in 2007 acquired Canada’s

with partners Harvey Glatt and Michael Pilon. It was also in 2010 that Linus acquired The Children’s Group Inc. In 2013, Linus Entertainment acquired 1980’s rock label Solid Gold Records.

References

External links

* Record labels established in 2001 Canadian independent record labels Companies based in Toronto {{Independent-record-label-stub