Aegean Records
Aegean Records | |
---|---|
Parent company | Nobby's Hobbies Holdings |
Founded | 1996 |
Founder | George Michael and Andros Georgiou |
Status | Active Independent |
Distributor(s) | Pinnacle Entertainment[1] |
Genre | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Official website | aegean.net |
Aegean Records was an independent record label founded by George Michael and Andros Georgiou in 1996.[2] The label was set up after Michael broke from Sony Music after his court case, which he eventually lost.[3] Andros Georgiou became the managing director of the label.[4]
The artists either signed or previously signed to Aegean Records include:
Georgiou and Michael founded Aegean Net Ltd on 15 November 1996,[6] which was the internet business of Aegean Records. Michael and Georgiou were directors of the business, although Georgiou resigned as a director on 25 January 2000, he then became managing director of mezzmusic.com.[7] In May 1997, Aegean became the first European record label to adopt the Liquid Audio secure electronic music-delivery system via www.aegean.net
, which was launched one year before BowieNet,[8] and 11 years before Spotify.
Aegean.net was the first artist-owned website to allow fans to:
- Chat with music artists (including Michael);
- Purchase merchandise;
- Purchase and download music (via Liquid Audio);
- Audio/video streaming (via RealVideo);
- Join the first online-only fan club;
- Receive news and updates from Michael and other Aegean Records artists.
See also
References
- ^ a b Lorenz, Christian (22 February 1997). "Michael's Aegean Links with Pinnacle for U.K. Distribution". Billboard. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ "Hello! – Interview with Andreas Georgiou". Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Smith, Giles (21 June 1994). "'Pop slave' George Michael to fight on". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ Weigle, Lauren (14 December 2015). "James Kennedy's Parents Jacqueline & Andros Georgiou". Heavy. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ a b c d Frieser, Mark (31 December 2016). "A Tribute to George Michael, Dot-Com Visionary". SyncSummit. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ "Aegean Net Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ Poaletta, Michael (15 April 2000). "Web Co Mezzmusic Jumps Into Inferno With Joint Venture". Billboard. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ Stuart, Keith (11 January 2016). "BowieNet: how David Bowie's ISP foresaw the future of the internet". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2017.