Sony Makes Deal for Electronic Dance Music

(NY Times) In the latest sign of the music industry’s gold rush over electronic dance music, Sony Music has struck a deal with a leading independent dance label, Ultra Music. The arrangement calls for the labels to share acts, and gives one of Sony’s divisions distribution rights to Ultra’s catalog in North America, which includes top D.J.’s like Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Calvin Harris and Benny Benassi.

As part of the deal, announced on Wednesday, Sony will make an unspecific investment in Ultra, and Patrick Moxey, Ultra’s president, will be named Sony’s president for electronic music, reporting to Doug Morris, the chief executive of Sony’s music division.

The arrangement raises Ultra’s profile considerably, and will give it access to some of Sony’s vast resources: the label, for example, will be able to use Sony artists for its popular compilation albums, like “Ultra Weekend” and “Ultra Dubstep.”

Ultra, which has become a substantial dance-music empire, including an artist-management arm, will also help promote Sony acts. With the distribution arrangement — through Sony’s Red division, which distributes recordings from many independent labels — sales of Ultra albums will also contribute to Sony’s market share, a source of constant competition between Sony and its biggest rival, the Universal Music Group.