Close to 30 years after starting up as an indie imprint, helping kickstart the careers of Shadows Fall, Lacuna Coil and many more along the way, German metal label Century Media has reportedly been acquired by Sony Music for $17 million USD.
Though the deal has not yet been confirmed by either faction, Music Business Worldwide [via Blabbermouth] reports that a deal has been brokered between Sony Music CEO Doug Morris and Century Media. The value of the indie label had been estimated as being between $15 million and $20 million.
The label's current roster includes genre heavyweights like Napalm Death and At the Gates, as well as acts including Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquility, Iced Earth, Butcher Babies, Deicide, Entombed A.D., Intronaut, Queensryche, Sick of It All, Voivod and the Haunted, among others. You'll find the label's upcoming release schedule over here.
Founded back in 1988, Century Media's vast back catalogue also includes releases from 3 Inches of Blood, Behemoth, Blind Guardian, Celtic Frost, Crytopsy, Fu Manchu, Eyehategod, Nightwish, Satyricon, Rotting Christ, Turmoil, Earth Crisis, Sworn Enemy and more.
In addition to the label proper, the Century Media empire also includes Magic Arts Publishing, Lonely Planet Publishing, Inside Out Music, Super Ball, Rock the Nation America, and various management and merchandising subsidiaries.
Sadly, Century Media co-owner Oliver Withöft, who had been running the label for years with business partner Robert Kampf, passed away in 2014. He was 49 years old.
Though the deal has not yet been confirmed by either faction, Music Business Worldwide [via Blabbermouth] reports that a deal has been brokered between Sony Music CEO Doug Morris and Century Media. The value of the indie label had been estimated as being between $15 million and $20 million.
The label's current roster includes genre heavyweights like Napalm Death and At the Gates, as well as acts including Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquility, Iced Earth, Butcher Babies, Deicide, Entombed A.D., Intronaut, Queensryche, Sick of It All, Voivod and the Haunted, among others. You'll find the label's upcoming release schedule over here.
Founded back in 1988, Century Media's vast back catalogue also includes releases from 3 Inches of Blood, Behemoth, Blind Guardian, Celtic Frost, Crytopsy, Fu Manchu, Eyehategod, Nightwish, Satyricon, Rotting Christ, Turmoil, Earth Crisis, Sworn Enemy and more.
In addition to the label proper, the Century Media empire also includes Magic Arts Publishing, Lonely Planet Publishing, Inside Out Music, Super Ball, Rock the Nation America, and various management and merchandising subsidiaries.
Sadly, Century Media co-owner Oliver Withöft, who had been running the label for years with business partner Robert Kampf, passed away in 2014. He was 49 years old.
