Partisan Records has formed a global partnership with Virgin Music Group.
Under the new deal, Partisan Records’ repertoire will be distributed globally via Virgin Music Group, alongside a collaboration on global marketing.
The Brooklyn-based independent label is teaming with Virgin under this new deal, following the Universal Music Group acquisition of PIAS. As part of the PIAS-UMG agreement, PIAS’ distribution arm Integral and Virgin Music Group joined forces. The combined teams provide services and access to a standalone international distribution network.
Partisan is home to artists including Idles, Blondshell, PJ Harvey, Cigarettes After Sex, Laura Marling, Ezra Collective, and more. The label has earned multiple Grammy nominations, most recently the three rock categories (Song, Performance, Album nominations) for Idles’ latest album, Tangk.
Idles’ Tangk peaked at No.1 in the UK and No.2 in Germany. It was the second No.1 for Idles, while Partisan also reached the summit with Fontaines DC’s Skinty Fia in 2022.
Cigarettes After Sex’s 2017 debut is certified platinum in the US (now reaching over 1.4 million sales) led by single Apocalypse, which has surpassed 1.5 billion Spotify streams. Cigarettes After Sex have sold more than 10 million streaming equivalent albums and upwards of 600,000 tickets around the globe on their current arena tour, including a sold-out Madison Square Garden, supporting their most recent album X’s.
They have identified and nurtured some of the world’s most impactful career artists
JT Myers
“Partisan Records have done what is increasingly difficult in today’s music business, forging an important cultural movement around an independent record label,” said JT Myers, co-CEO of Virgin Music Group. “They have identified and nurtured some of the world’s most impactful career artists and we are looking forward to working alongside them to expand their audiences all around the world.”
Established in 2007 in Brooklyn, Partisan has offices in New York, London, Los Angeles and Berlin.
Alongside their imprint labels, section1 and Desert Daze Sound, Partisan collectively earned 14 nominations at the 2024 A2IM Libera Awards (the most for any label), including a win for Label of the Year.
In 2023, Ezra Collective became the first jazz group to win the Mercury Prize.
Partisan’s current roster also features such artists as Geese, Angélica Garcia, Lip Critic, Beth Orton, Body Meat, NoSo, TTSSFU, Westerman, Honesty, Léa Sen, Witch, Cameron Winter, Just Mustard and more. The section1 roster features Blonde Redhead and Fazerdaze, with more coming in 2025.
“Under JT Myers and Nat Pastor, the new Virgin Music Group is the obvious partner for Partisan’s next chapter,” said Zena White, Partisan COO. “Much more than a distributor, they provide a dynamic environment, fueled by an entrepreneurial spirit, focused on achieving the highest calibre of results for our artists. The combination of the Virgin and Integral teams allows for Partisan to marry the best of the PIAS and Integral teams that helped get us here with the extra resources of Virgin required to meet our ambition to be the most trusted music company for artists of all genres, worldwide.”
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