Island Records

British-Jamaican record label

Follow Island Records on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!

2024 Island Def Jam France shifted focus to exclusively promoting French-speaking artists, with international Island and Def Jam artists now distributed by Polydor.
2024 Universal Music rebranded Island and Def Jam under Republic Records, creating Republic Corps.
January 2023 Guenael 'G.G.' Fray was appointed as deputy director of both Island Def Jam and Polydor Records' French operations.
2022 Mercury Records was reactivated by Universal Music and later moved to Republic Records. Ethiopia Habtemariam also left her position as president of Motown Records.
June 2021 Imran Majid and Justin Eshak were named co-CEOs of Island Records, assuming the position on January 1, 2022.
2020 Tame Impala wins 5 ARIA Awards, including Album of the Year, representing a significant achievement for Island Records Australia.
2020 Dean Lewis' debut album 'A Place We Knew' reaches 5 billion streams, marking a major milestone for the label.
2020 Hilltop Hoods becomes the #1 streaming Australian artist for Island Records Australia.
July 23 2020 Universal Music Group and MCA Music launched Island Records Philippines, marking the first Southeast Asian branch of the label. Enzo Valdez, a former Sony Music Philippines and Sindikato Management executive, was appointed to lead the new branch.
March 2020 During the COVID-19 lockdown, Island Records Australia launches 'Live From The Island' livestreaming series, featuring performances by roster artists, live online events, trivia nights, and painting sessions.
2018 Safehouse Records concludes its affiliation with Island Records.
2018 Steve Bartels completed his tenure as CEO of Def Jam, and David Massey concluded his role as president and CEO of Island Records.
May 2018 David Massey left Island Records to join Sony Music Entertainment's Arista Records, and Darcus Beese became president.
February 2017 Drake was named the world's best-selling recording artist of 2016 by IFPI.
2016 Catfish & The Bottlemen were crowned British Breakthrough Act at the BRIT Awards.
March 2016 Drake's single 'One Dance' became the UK's biggest-selling single of 2016, with 1.95 million sales and a 15-week run at number one.
2015 Mercury Records and Safehouse Records (founded by Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, and Phil Mclntyre) become subsidiaries.
2014 4th & Broadway and EmArcy Records reactivated as subsidiaries.
2014 Catfish & The Bottlemen signed to Island Records and won the BBC Introducing Award at the first BBC Music Awards.
2014 Island France (previously known as Vertigo France) was officially renamed as part of the Island Records brand.
April 1 2014 Universal Music Group publicly announced the disbandment of the Island Def Jam Music Group, separating its affiliated subsidiaries into individual sister labels.
2013 Iggy Azalea's single 'Change Your Life' went gold, despite debuting at number 47 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
2013 Mercury UK was absorbed into the new Virgin EMI Records, effectively ending Def Jam UK. All Island, Def Jam, Republic, Virgin, and Motown artists were to be distributed under the new imprint in the UK.
2013 Neon Trees' single 'Sleeping with a Friend' reached number seven on the Adult Top 40 chart after receiving positive feedback.
2013 Fall Out Boy's album 'Save Rock and Roll' debuted at number one on Billboard, selling 154,000 copies.
2012 Mumford & Sons' album Babel became the UK's fastest-selling album and won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards.
2012 Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) became the number-one rhythmic label, achieving seven number-one songs on rhythmic radio stations, featuring hits from artists like Rihanna, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, and Justin Bieber.
2011 PJ Harvey won the Mercury Music Prize for her eighth studio album Let England Shake, becoming the first artist to win the award twice.
2011 GOOD Music received a 10-year distribution partnership with Island Def Jam Music Group, with GOOD Music handling marketing and Def Jam managing manufacturing and distribution.
2011 Barry Weiss was assigned as chairman of Universal Motown Republic Group and CEO of Island Def Jam Music Group, leading to Motown Records becoming an imprint of IDJMG.
August 2011 Jay-Z and Kanye West's collaborative album 'Watch the Throne' was released under Island Def Jam, selling 436,000 copies in its first week and becoming the highest-selling hip hop album of 2011 and the label's highest-selling album since Mariah Carey's 2005 release.
May 2011 Def Soul Records was folded into Island Def Jam as part of a multi-genre strategy reorganization.
February 2011 Mumford & Sons won best British album at the BRIT Awards for their debut album Sigh No More.
2010 Island Def Jam gained significant public success through artists Justin Bieber, Kanye West, and Rihanna, with notable releases including Bieber's 'Baby', West's 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy', and Rihanna's 'Only Girl (In the World)'.

This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles The Island Def Jam Music Group, Island Records Australia & Island Records, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

See Also