Tomorrowland launches label, inks global distribution deal with Universal Music

Global dance music festival and brand Tomorrowland is launching a record label – and its releases will be distributed worldwide by Universal Music.

The label will partner with Virgin Records Germany, with global distribution through Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, to give Tomorrowland access to market resources and label teams worldwide.

Tomorrowland has been held annually in Boom, Belgium, since 2005, and welcomes more than 400,000 people from 200 countries over two weekends.

Through its festival, Tomorrowland has grown into a global music and lifestyle brand, with its new festival Tomorrowland Winter in the French Alps, its own fashion label TML by Tomorrowland and the radio station One World Radio.

While Tomorrowland’s 2020 & 2021 festival editions were cancelled, the brand has expanded its global reach through a series of digital festivals and events during the global lockdown.

Through this label partnership, Tomorrowland will enjoy direct access to a collective pool of UMG’s international label divisions.

The partnership will be led in Berlin by Alexander Neipp, Daniel Schmidt and Magnus Textor (Virgin Records) and Tina Adams (Virgin Music Label & Artist Services).

The first release under the new label will be from Never Sleeps, a new project from Afrojack ft. Chico Rose, with the track You Got The Love available on all platforms worldwide on August 27.

In recent years, Virgin Records Germany has achieved international success in signing, releasing and marketing dance and electronic artists, with recent hits from Topic & A7S, MEDUZA and twocolors.

The partnership allows future projects to be aligned with other labels within the UMG global family to further expand the footprint of Tomorrowland and its artist projects around the world.

In the US, Astralwerks will help expand the reach and awareness of future Tomorrowland projects and artists.

“Creativity is something that can’t be stopped @ Tomorrowland.”

Michiel Beers, Tomorrowland

Michiel Beers, CEO and founder of Tomorrowland, said: “Creativity is something that can’t be stopped @ Tomorrowland.

“I’m very proud of how resilient our team was to find new ways of bringing Tomorrowland into the reality of the last period.

“We have taken the extra time to focus on projects that were on our list for a long time and one of them was definitely launching our own Tomorrowland Music label.

“Michel Van Buyten, Music Manager Tomorrowland, Tomorrowland Music will work closely together with artists to help create strong stories around their releases.

“With the combined forces of our dedicated label team, Tomorrowland’s broader Media House, and the different Virgin Music teams worldwide, our aim is to introduce fans in every corner of the world to the most exciting projects in electronic music.”

Peter Rigaud

“Tomorrowland has built a reputation as one of the world’s leading festivals and electronic music brands.”

Frank Briegmann, Universal Music Central Europe & Deutsche Grammophon

Frank Briegmann, Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Central Europe & Deutsche Grammophon, said: “Over the past 15 years Tomorrowland has built a reputation as one of the world’s leading festivals and electronic music brands by consistently expanding and evolving their relationship with music fans.

“Today, Tomorrowland is one of Europe’s most innovative music brands, respected by artists and loved by the millions of people who have attended their events around the world.

“We are delighted to have partnered with them to support the launch of their new label venture and to have created a uniquely flexible model utilizing our expert and proven teams at Virgin Records Germany, Virgin Music Label & Artist Services teams around the world and other flagship UMG labels worldwide to help drive success and create global hits for Tomorrowland.

“We look forward to a very successful partnership together, and to further enhancing our ability to provide partners, labels and artists with new and innovative ways to achieve global success.”

“Joining forces with Tomorrowland Music feels like love at first sight.”

Magnus Textor, Virgin Records Germany

Magnus Textor, Head of A&R, Virgin Records Germany, added: “Joining forces with Tomorrowland Music feels like love at first sight.

“It’s great to see that we sharing the same passion for electronic music & artists.

“Everyone who has ever been to Tomorrowland or even just seen one of their event films has experienced their dedication.

“Therefore, I’m confident the new label is going to be a special place and a great home for artists.”Music Business Worldwide