(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) —
The Orchard, the leading distributor and marketer of independent music in the world, has entered into a partnership with The Orange Record Label, a leading Canadian independent music company. The Orange Record Label is distributed in Canada by Universal Music Canada; Universal is also a minority stakeholder in the label. In addition to making its large catalogue available to The Orchard for global digital distribution and marketing, Orange will also serve as an aggregator for The Orchard, sourcing the best Canadian independent music into The Orchard's global distribution platform.
The Orange Record Label's catalogue features a "who's who" of Canadian independent music, including Jakalope and Paul Brandt, Billy Klippert, Melissa McLelland, Money Money and Maestro, among many others. Orange is also widely admired in the industry for its record of innovation and its forward-thinking digital strategy.
The Orchard will make Orange's catalogue of thousands of songs available across its global distribution platform, which encompasses more than 125 of the world's leading digital music stores globally, including iTunes, eMusic, Napster, MSN, MusicMatch, Real/Rhapsody, and Yahoo! In addition, The Orchard will supply the content through its distribution partnerships with the leading mobile companies around the world, over a hundred in all, including Sprint, Dwango Wireless, Zingy, 9 Squared, HIFI Ringtones, IAM Mobile, Securycast, Arvato Mobile and Hudson Soft.
The addition of The Orange Record Label enhances The Orchard's global network of aggregation partners, which include The Orchard Japan, Carmel Music (Middle East), EPSA (South America), Amped Music (Australia), ECD/AMDL (China), Saregama (India), New Sound (Palestine), K-Digital (Spain), and many more.
"We are delighted and proud to be associated with The Orchard," said Steven Ehrlick, managing director of The Orange Record Label. "They have proven that when it comes to independent music, there is indeed strength in numbers. We look forward to representing The Orchard in Canada and offering to the independent music community this unique opportunity to have their music exposed, listened to and paid for on a worldwide basis."
"Early on, we made a commitment to establish a powerful international network of savvy and strongly-positioned music companies to take advantage of The Orchard's market position and marketing capabilities," said Greg Scholl, chief executive of The Orchard and managing director of Dimensional Associates, the company that owns The Orchard, eMusic and Dimensional Music Publishing. "Our partnership with Orange deepens our existing ties with Canada's legendary music scene. We're excited to work with Orange to distribute and market globally the best Canadian independent music."
The Orange Record Label is distributed in Canada by Universal Music Canada. Universal is also a minority stakeholder in the label. –Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
