Univision Music Group, a subsidiary of Univision Communications Inc., the U.S. sales and distribution arm of the Universal Music Group, have reached an exclusive distribution agreement for Univision Music Group's wholly owned label, Fonovisa Records. The agreement provides for Fonovisa Records to be distributed by UMVD in the U.S. and Mexico and license for the rest of the world.
The unparalleled partnership makes UMVD the leading distributor of Latin music in the U.S. and significantly strengthens Fonovisa's position with U.S. retailers while broadening Fonovisa's reach globally. Fonovisa Records is one of the leading Latin music labels in the U.S. and Mexico, consistently dominating the top of the Billboard charts with some of the industry's highest grossing multi-platinum artists like Los Tigres del Norte, Conjunto Primavera, Marco Antonio Solis, Los Temerarios, Banda el Recodo, Los Huracanes del Norte and Los Angeles de Charly, among others.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for us to achieve greater access with U.S. retailers while providing wider global exposure for our artists," said Jose Behar, president and chief executive officer, Univision Music Group. "We are thrilled with the opportunity to broaden our relationship with Universal Music Group which currently distributes Univision Records in the U.S. and Mexico and Disa Records in the U.S. This agreement will allow our international division to work closely with Universal affiliates around the world to provide greater global reach for our artists."
"UMVD's agreement with Fonovisa is an incredible opportunity to expand our relationship with Univision Music Group," said Jim Urie, president, Universal Music &Video Distribution. "The addition of Fonovisa Records will clearly place Universal as the No. 1 distributor of Latin music in the U.S. We are both proud and excited about this partnership and look forward to many years of continued success."
"Latin music is achieving phenomenal popularity, both in the U.S. and around the world," said Zach Horowitz, president and chief operating officer, Universal Music Group. "Over the past 18 months, Universal has gone from last among the majors in Latin music in the U.S., to a close second place. With the addition of Fonovisa Records, Universal becomes the clear market leader. In the last year alone, we have increased our Latin music sales by over 63%. Univision Music Group has played a unique and important role in our success. We welcome Fonovisa Records to the Universal family. We look forward to working closely with Jose Behar and his team in bringing the music from this leading and most notable label to fans around the world."
