Absolute Label Services has today (February 12) revealed it has signed a worldwide digital distribution deal with Cherry Red Records for catalogues obtained by Cherry Red through the Warner Music Group divestment  process. As part of the deal, Absolute will provide an independent route to market, offering global digital distribution for the catalogue.

Cherry Red previously announced its acquisition of artist discographies as part of Warner Music Group’s divestment program at the end of 2017. The deal includes 13 discographies, including Dinosaur Jr, Renaissance, Four-play, Third Ear Band, Greenslade, Marc Almond, Howard Jones, Kim Wilde, Mel & Kim, Curved Air, Be-Bop Deluxe, Barclay James Harvest and Chris Squire.

Speaking about the deal, Absolute Label Services director Simon Wills said: “We are so pleased to be working with a label as distinguished as Cherry Red Records. It feels like the independent sector is getting smaller every day in our world, but we’re going to work alongside the fantastic team at Cherry Red to make sure that these great albums benefit from our shared work ethic and philosophy.”

Adam Velasco, MD of Cherry Red, added: “These deals mean another exciting year ahead for Cherry Red. We are honoured to expand our catalogue even further and represent such a varied and thrilling range of music. We will work alongside the artists to release enduring artifacts that will nurture their formidable legacy.”

You can read Music Week's complete A-Z of WMG's Parlophone divestment here. 

For more stories like this, and to keep up to date with all our market leading news, features and analysis, sign up to receive our daily Morning Briefing newsletter