Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest music management company in the world. It was also the world's largest independent owner of music intellectual property rights, with over 160,000 songs.
The company was formed in 1979 by Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, who met as undergraduates at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1979, they discovered Iron Maiden in a London pub and went on to manage the group. They named the record company after the band's song "Sanctuary," which was released as a single in 1980, and later included on American pressings as well as the reissued CD version of their 1980 eponymous debut album.
Sanctuary Records has historically signed artists with long-term appeal that have had a long career and steady fan base.
Between 1989 and 1991, Sanctuary was co-owned by the Zomba Group, whose music publishing arm still held the music of Iron Maiden in 2001.
In 1994, the company diversified. Amongst the new media interests included a joint venture with screenwriter and producer, Raymond Thompson, which evolved into the Cloud9 Screen Entertainment Group.
Iron Maiden's back catalog was re-issued by Sanctuary in conjunction with Columbia/SME Records in the US in 2002.
Kenny Rogers' 1980s back catalog (originally released on RCA Records) was re-issued by Sanctuary's Castle Music label in conjunction with Kenny Rogers' Dreamcatcher Records in the UK. The albums were only available as imports in the US. Rogers' 2003 release "Back To The Well" was released by Sanctuary in the UK.
Mayan Records was an imprint of Sanctuary Records, under which Lordi's UK album The Monster Show was released.
2006 saw Sanctuary's notable twentieth anniversary release of CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop, a reissue of the pivotal UK independent compilation C86.
The company incurred significant losses in its 2004 and 2005 fiscal years.
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