EarMusic has renewed its UK partnership with Absolute Label Services, which originally began in 2011.

earMUSIC is the recorded music label of German entertainment group Edel AG and boasts a roster of global artists including Deep Purple, Babymetal (pictured), Def Leppard, Thunder, Lisa Stansfield, Ash, Status Quo and many more.

Edel AG is an independent media company based in Hamburg whose other divisions includes Optimal (one of the world’s biggest vinyl manufacturers and manufacturers of CD, DVD, Blu Ray and books), independent digital and physical music distribution, a book publisher, and children’s entertainment, home entertainment, jazz and classical music divisions.

earMUSIC established a permanent in the UK presence last year – headed by former Mercury /Def Jam/EMI/Red Bull Records exec Jonathan Green.

Since then, the partnership has delivered Top 10 albums from Def Leppard, and Thunder, the highest charting album of all time by a Japanese artist in the UK with Babymetal’s UK Top 15 album and No.1 music DVDs from Deep Purple, Status Quo and Thunder.

In other news, earMusic has announced the signing of two well-known bands for new albums, both due in September: Deacon Blue, who have sold over 7 million albums, and Marillion, who have sold over 15m albums.

earMUSIC director Max Vaccaro said: “We are thrilled that, as part of our on-going global expansion as a label, the UK has become our second home market alongside Germany at a time when both markets are experiencing healthy growth again.

“With Deacon Blue and Marillion we have two iconic UK artists who have already achieved so much, yet creatively they are making some of the best music of their career which we are happy to be a part of, taking them to new heights. After a great year with Absolute we are also very excited to be renewing our partnership with Henry who shares our goals for UK success.”

Jonathan Green said: “In only our first year together it has been rewarding to see how the immediate album success of earMUSIC, whether with brand new artists such as Babymetal or returning legends such as Def Leppard, has brought the label to wider awareness in the UK.

“In this next year we will be building on this, and to be working with the likes of Deacon Blue and Marillion is a huge honour for us. We are offering UK artists and their managers a home in which to fully realise the potential of their artistic vision delivered to the public as albums.

“It further illustrates the importance, in the current UK market, how great artists and managers need a label that shares their vision to build their career with. It’s also a pleasure to be working with Henry again, who together with his team at Absolute are integral in the next phase of our planned growth in the UK. “

Absolute MD Henry Semmence said: “We are very proud to have been a major part of the last five years development seeing earMUSIC grow from a rock label to a fully fledged pop and rock label with a wide range of acts in various genres.

“The growth and success over the past 12 months has been sensational and, with the very strong list of releases already scheduled, we are sure of even greater success over the next 12.”Music Business Worldwide