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Ministry of Sound

Coordinates: 51°29′52″N 0°5′57″W / 51.49778°N 0.09917°W / 51.49778; -0.09917
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51°29′52″N 0°5′57″W / 51.49778°N 0.09917°W / 51.49778; -0.09917

Ministry of Sound
Company typePublic
IndustryMusic
Founded1991
HeadquartersLondon, England, United Kingdom
Key people
Jamie Palumbo
ProductsDance Music CDs, Nightclubs
Revenue£136m
Websitewww.ministryofsound.com
Ministry of Sound lights
Bar in Ministry of Sound
"Box" in Ministry of Sound
"Box" in Ministry of Sound

Ministry of Sound London, commonly referred to as simply Ministry of Sound or MoS, is a nightclub based in London, England and an associated record label. It was ranked fourth in the 2010 DJ Magazine top 100 clubs poll 2010.[1] The Ministry of Sound brand also includes various other products such as dance music compilations and clothing.

Ownership

Ministry of Sound is owned by MSHK Group Limited, which has offices in London, Sydney and Berlin. The Chairman is James Palumbo, who is also the majority shareholder, a small minority share-holding having been sold to private equity house 3i in 2001. The Chief Executive Officer is Lohan Presencer. MSHK Group has global sales of £80 million and employs up to 500 personnel worldwide. Its mission statement is: "to create the moments that people live for".[2] The company also owns the Hed Kandi, Euphoria, and Hard2Beat brands, and co-owns Ministry of Sound Australia's Hussle Recordings, along with MoSA and Hussle's founder and MoSA's Managing Director/Founder DJ Tim McGee. MSHK Group though Ministry of Sound Australia also own Downright Records, etcetc and Astrx.

Ministry of Sound London

Inspired by New York’s Paradise Garage, Ministry of Sound’s London nightclub was the brainchild of DJ Justin Berkmann, who set out to create London’s first club devoted to the American house music scenes of New York, Chicago and Detroit, with a room purely dedicated to sound. Berkmann stated: "My concept for Ministry was purely this: 100% sound system first, lights second, design third (in that order); the reverse of everyone else’s idea."[3] Berkmann partnered with James Palumbo and Humphrey Waterhouse to bring the concept to life and a site, a disused bus garage, was located in Elephant & Castle in Southwark, London. The club opened on 21 September 1991.

With opening sets from American house DJs such as Larry Levan, David Morales, C+C Music Factory, Roger Sanchez and Tony Humphries, the UK’s first 24-hour dance license, and a 150dB(A) sound-system built by Austen Derek, Ministry of Sound London quickly grew in popularity as a clubbing venue, despite the lack of an alcohol license for the first three years and notoriously strict door policies.

Today, the club remains at the forefront of the global dance music scene, with DJs playing mix sets every Friday and Saturday night. Since April 2008,[4] Fridays have been hosted by The Gallery, with sets from leading hard house and trance DJs. Saturdays are Ministry of Sound’s long-standing Saturday Sessions with house, electro and techno sets from popular DJs including Tiësto, Sasha, Erick Morillo, Pete Tong and David Guetta. Ministry of Sound London also hosts a range of other parties and events during the week and is available for private hire.[5]

The club comprises five main areas; the Bar, the Baby Box, the VIP and the Loft and the Box, the latter housing the club’s primary sound-system, with a specially-built roof to contain sound and a sprung floor intended to enable clubbers to dance for many hours without tiring, inspired by the dancefloor at the Paradise Garage.

Southwark Council has a policy for the regeneration of the Elephant and Castle area. Ministry of Sound has run a campaign to prevent the residential development of sites near to it, citing concerns that noise complaints would endanger the club's future. In October 2011 Southwark council refused permission for a 41-storey tower designed by Allies and Morrison, but the following month the council approved a nearby proposal for a 22-storey tower by Panter Hudspith Architects which the club had also opposed. [6][7][8]. Overwhelming support for the preservation of the venue has come in from former London mayor Ken Livingstone[9], liberal democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick[10]and top DJ's around the globe including Armin Van Buuren, Example (Musician), Dave Seaman, Pete Tong, Wretch 32 and Calvin Harris[11]. On the 12th of March 2012 current London mayor Boris Johnson will be holding a public hearing into his proposed plan to overturn the Southwark council's decision.[12]

Record label

Ministry of Sound has a global network of international labels including dedicated offices in Australia, Germany and the United States. Its record label was first established in 1995 with the release of The Annual, a compilation album of various dance music tracks mixed by UK DJs Boy George and Pete Tong. The Annual went on to sell over 160,000 copies and paved the way for a now-global label with over 50 million dance albums and singles sold to date, award winning music videos from artists like Eric Prydz and Benny Benassi and continuing sales of over 4 million copies per annum. Ministry of Sound remains an independent label, and continues to deliver albums and singles via its compilation brands including The Annual, Sessions, Clubber's Guide and Anthems. In January 2006, the company purchased record label Hed Kandi from The Guardian Media Group and plans to continue maintaining the brand.

Imprint label Data Records, created to house Ministry of Sound’s more commercial dance music single releases, has enjoyed a string of number 1, Top 5 and Top 10 hits across the globe since its inception in 1999. Recent releases include Eric Prydz's "Pjanoo" and Kid Cudi vs Crookers' "Day 'n' Nite", both of which hit the #2 spot in the UK Singles Chart.

Ministry of Sound Australia

See Ministry of Sound Australia

Ministry of Sound America

In 2008 Ministry of Sound launched its American operations after ending its relationship with Ultra Records. Its first release under the Ministry of Sound America imprint was Clubber's Guide America. In the same year, the company launched HARD2BEAT records with Basshunter's "Now You're Gone" as its first single and Bigtunes 2008 as its first compilation. Ministry of Sound won the Music Week Award for "Independent Record Company Label of the Year".[13]

International activities

In 2005 Ministry of Sound expanded its network of own-brand venues with nightclub franchises starting with the Ministry of Sound Egypt. The venue was opened by Marc Hughes, one of the leading London club's resident DJs, where he was joined by up to 2500 revelers all celebrating the New Year.[14] Refurbishing the former Papas Beach Club venue, the Ministry of Sound Beach Club remains the only beach-side MoS outlet in the world to date, capable of hosting events for a capacity of 3000. The site is also open for day-time private beach use and offers an onsite restaurant as well. Within six months of the big opening night in Hurghada, Ministry took over Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at the huge open-air venue of Pacha Sharm El Sheikh.

Aside from this, Ministry of Sound run 600 international events per year which span across The UK, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Europe. Events range in size from intimate 500 capacity spaces to a yearly European Festival in Malta, which is 5000 capacity. Annually these events are attended by up to 600,000 clubbers.

Ministry of Sound runs a number of different touring sub-brands which comprise of main touring property MoS World Tour, and compilation branded tours: Addicted to Bass, Clubbers Guide, Dubstep, Housexy, R&B Anthems, Anthems II, Dance Nation. They also have residencies in many major European cities including Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne, Essen, Manheim, Tallinn and The Hague, as well as regular events in Brazil, Panama, Pakistan, Colombia, Dubai, Singapore, Japan, India, and Thailand.

Digital media

Internet

Ministry of Sound's official website is the main web portal for Ministry of Sound containing club listings and product information, as well as Ministry of Sound Radio. The Ministry of Sound online shop retails physical and digital music,[15] Ministry own brand headphones, club artwork, clothing and a range of accessories. Local websites also exist for Ministry of Sound Australia, Germany and USA.

Ministry of Sound also has official pages on social networking sites Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+.

Ministry of Sound Radio

Main article: Ministry of Sound Radio

The Ministry of Sound Radio started as a syndicated programme in 1996, then graduated to an audio stream on the Ministry of Sound website in 1999. It was also broadcast as a DAB station via the Switch Digital consortium in 2000 and ran on FM via a Restricted Service License in October 2001.

In 2002, Ministry of Sound Radio reverted to an online audio stream and stopped broadcasting on DAB. It launched a new schedule in January 2009, featuring a mix of programming linked in to Ministry of Sound’s leading album brands such as Anthems, to specialist shows with DJ’s such as Mark Knight. It also produces several syndicated radio shows from its London studios that are broadcast on radio stations all over the world. There will be new syndicated programmes available for broadcast later in the year.

Mobile

Ministry of Sound is the UK’s biggest independent label on mobile, selling content to many of the major operators and direct-to-consumer stores. There are Ministry of Sound branded channels on Vodafone, 3, O2 and T-Mobile and a Ministry of Sound direct-to-consumer WAP website.

Ministry of Sound also recently launched their first applications for the iPhone via Apple Inc.’s iTunes Store. The first of the applications, "iDrum", allows the user to create their own electronic drum patterns.

Branded products

The Ministry of Sound name has been licensed for use on a range of lifestyle products including electronic goods sold by Alba (including MP3 players, home audio systems, DVD players, DAB radio players and in-car entertainment systems), mobile handsets, festival camping gear, vodka, clothing, luggage products and fragrance products.

Subsidiaries

References

Notes
  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ James Palumbo's opening statement on MSHK corporate site
  3. ^ Brewster, B. and Broughton F. (1998). The Manual: The who, the where, the why of clubland. Headline Book Publishing. pp.95
  4. ^ Gallery marks 1st Birthday at Ministry of Sound
  5. ^ Ministry of Sound Corporate Hire
  6. ^ [2]
  7. ^ [3]
  8. ^ [4]
  9. ^ http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2012-02-06-Livingstone-backs-Ministry-of-Sound-campaign-to-block-41-storey-tower-development
  10. ^ http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/5823
  11. ^ http://www.digitalspy.com.au/music/news/a339623/example-wretch-32-back-ministry-of-sound-as-deadline-looms.html
  12. ^ http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/5823
  13. ^ http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1033778
  14. ^ MINISTRY OF SOUND EGYPT ABOUT US, Press release retrieved 2007-03-26.
  15. ^ Ministry of Sound Biography [5], IMO Records, Retrieved on 2 Dec 2011.


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