Ultra Records

Ultra Records
Company type
  • Record label
  • Publishing
  • Artist management
IndustryMusic
Founded
FounderPatrick Moxey
Key people
David Waxman (president)
ParentSony Music Entertainment
WebsiteOfficial website

Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Sony Music Group.

Company history

Established in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey, a former executive of PolyGram and Virgin Records, Ultra Records is home to various electronic music artists such as Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, deadmau5, and Tiësto.

In 1999, Ultra Records commenced litigation with the upstart Ultra Music Festival. Ultra Records demanded that Ultra Music Festival limit its use of the name Ultra to Florida.[1] In 2012, after Ultra Records adopted a new logo and started using the name Ultra Music, the dispute resulted in a two-week jury trial in federal court in the Southern District of New York between Ultra Records and Ultra Music Festival (known formally as Ultra Enterprises, Inc.)[2] that was resolved by an out of court settlement.[3][4]

In 2012, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music.[5] In December 2021, Sony Music fully acquired Ultra Records from Patrick Moxey.[6]

In January 2022, David Waxman, previously head of A&R and general manager, was appointed president of Ultra Records.[7]

Artists

Awards

Ultra Music has received Grammys for Benny Benassi's remix of Public Enemy's “Bring The Noise” (2008) and Skrillex’s remix of Benny Benassi's "Cinema" (2012), and nominations in 2017 for Best Dance Recording with Sofi Tukker's “Drinkee,” Best Dance Electronic Album with Jean-Michel Jarre's “Electronic 1: The Time Machine”, and Best Music Film with Steve Aoki’s “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”.[8] Ultra Music has also received the Best American Music Label award from International Dance Music Awards' Best American Music Label 10 times.[9]

Certifications

By 2017, Ultra Records (then Ultra Music) had received Diamond, Platinum, and Gold records worldwide.

  • OMI's "Cheerleader" (Felix Jaehn Remix) has received 1× Diamond, 20× Platinum, and 7× Gold certifications globally.
  • Steve Aoki and Louis Tomlinson, a member of One Direction, released their collaboration “Just Hold On,” which went Gold and Silver in 6 countries in four months.
  • “Don’t Be So Shy (Filatov & Karas Remix)” by French singer and model Imany went 2× Platinum.
  • Producer and DJ Deorro’s Latin crossover ballad “Bailar”, featuring Grammy Award-winning Merengue singer Elvis Crespo went multi-Platinum and Gold.
  • Deorro's collaboration with Chris Brown “Five More Hours” earned 19× Platinum and 4× Gold certifications.
  • “Paradise,” a collaboration between Benny Benassi and Chris Brown went certified Gold in 2016.
  • Jesper Jenset's singles released on the label in partnership with Sony Music Norway "High" and "Painkiller" have become 2× Platinum and Gold in Norway, respectively.[10]
  • Lost Frequencies’ “Are You With Me” with multi-Platinum and Gold certifications across 14 countries.
  • Pop singer Era Istrefi’s track “BonBon” went Gold in 4 countries.
  • SNBRN’s “Gangsta Walk” went 2× Platinum.
  • French producer Klingande went Platinum with his song “Somewhere New”.
  • Grammy-nominated duo Sofi Tukker went certified Gold with their record “Drinkee”.

Partnerships

Compilations

Dance music compilations that have been released via Ultra Records include the following:

  • Club Anthems
    • Club Anthems Vol. 1 – Denny Tsettos (September 7, 2004)
    • Club Anthems Vol. 2 – Bad Boy Joe (March 8, 2005)
    • Club Anthems Vol. 3 – The Riddler (March 7, 2006)
  • Ultra.Chilled
    • Ultra.Chilled 01 – (November 27, 2001)
    • Ultra.Chilled 02 – (April 30, 2002)
    • Ultra.Chilled 03 – (October 29, 2002)
    • Ultra.Chilled 04 – (July 29, 2003)
    • Ultra.Chilled 05 – David Waxman (March 22, 2005)
    • Ultra.Chilled 06 – (November 17, 2009)
    • Ultra Chilled 2016 – (May 27, 2016)
  • Ultra Electro
    • Ultra Electro – David Waxman (April 4, 2006)
    • Ultra Electro 2 – David Waxman (August 21, 2007)
    • Ultra Electro 3 – David Waxman (December 9, 2009)
  • Ultra.Summer 01–02
  • Ultra.Dance 01 – 18[12]
    • Ultra.Dance 01 – Johnny Vicious (January 22, 2002)
    • Ultra.Dance 02 – DJ Encore (June 25, 2002)
    • Ultra.Dance 03 – Johnny Vicious (February 25, 2003)
    • Ultra.Dance 04 – Louie DeVito (August 26, 2003)
    • Ultra.Dance 05 – Vic Latino & David Waxman (April 20, 2004)
    • Ultra.Dance 06 – The Riddler & Vic Latino (January 25, 2005)
    • Ultra.Dance 07 – Bad Boy Joe & Johnny Budz (January 24, 2006)
    • Ultra.Dance 08 – The Riddler & Trevor Simpson (January 23, 2007)
    • Ultra.Dance 09 – David Waxman (January 22, 2008)
    • Ultra.Dance 10 – Jason Nevins (January 6, 2009)
    • Ultra.Dance 11 – DJ Enferno (January 26, 2010)
    • Ultra.Dance 12 – Vic Latino (January 25, 2011)
    • Ultra.Dance 13 (February 7, 2012)
    • Ultra.Dance 14 (February 12, 2013)
    • Ultra.Dance 15 – Jump Smokers (January 21, 2014)
    • Ultra.Dance 16 (February 24, 2015)
    • Ultra.Dance 17 (January 29, 2016)
    • Ultra.Dance 18 (January 27, 2017) (digital only)
    • Ultra.Dance 19 (January 26, 2018) (digital only)
    • Ultra.Dance 20 (February 15, 2019) (digital only)
    • Ultra.Dance 21 (February 21, 2020) (digital only)
    • Ultra.Dance 22 (February 19, 2021) (digital only)
  • Ultra.Trance 1 – 10[13]
    • Ultra.Trance:1 – David Waxman (October 2, 2002)
    • Ultra.Trance:2 – David Waxman (May 20, 2003)
    • Ultra.Trance:3 – Johnny Vicious (January 27, 2004)
    • Ultra.Trance:4 – (September 7, 2004)
    • Ultra.Trance:5 – The Riddler (September 20, 2005)
    • Ultra.Trance 06 – Johnny Budz & DJ Irene (September 26, 2006)
    • Ultra.Trance 07 – DJ 4 Strings (October 9, 2007)
    • Ultra.Trance 08 – (April 22, 2008)
    • Ultra.Trance 09 – (April 21, 2009)
    • Ultra.Trance 10 – (April 3, 2012)
  • Out.Anthems Vol. 1 – 8[14][15] (the first gay-themed musical compilation).[16]
    • Out.Anthems – (May 30, 2006)
    • Out.Anthems 2 – DJ Ricardo! (May 22, 2007)
    • Out.Anthems 3 – DJ Ricardo! (May 20, 2008)
    • Out Anthems 4 – DJ Ricardo! (July 28, 2009)
    • Out Anthems 5 – DJ Ricardo! (June 22, 2010)
    • Out Anthems 6 – DJ Ricardo! (June 28, 2011)
    • Out Anthems 7 – DJ Ricardo! (June 19, 2012)
    • Out Anthems 8 – DJ Ricardo! (June 11, 2013)
  • Ultra.80's vs Electro 1
  • Ultra.Club Classics: '90s 1
  • Ultra.Video (DVD) 1 – 2
  • Ultra.Weekend 1 – 9
  • Ultra.Rock Remixed
  • Ultra.2008
  • Ultra.2009
  • Ultra.2010
  • Ultra.2011
  • Ultra.2012
  • Ultra.2013
  • Ultra.2014
  • Ultra 2015
  • Ultra 2016
  • Ultra.2017 (digital only)
  • Ultra.2018 (digital only)
  • Ultra.2019 (digital only)
  • Ultra.2020 (digital only)
  • Ultra.2021 (digital only)
  • Ultra.2022 (digital only)
  • Ultra.10 1
  • Ultra Deep House 1
  • Ultra Dubstep 1
  • Ultra Trap 1
  • Ultra Hits 1 – 2
  • Ultra.Mix 1 – 10 (8-10 digital only)
  • Just Dance 1 – 3
  • Ultra.Latino 1
  • The Jersey Shore 1 – 3
  • Electric Daisy Carnival Vol. 1 – 3
  • Ultra Music Festival Compilation 2013 – 2024 (2018 - 2024 digital only)
  • DJ Kai Song: School Sessions 1

See also

References

  1. ^ Moayeri, Lily (March 20, 2023). "Which Ultra? Dance Music Festival, Label and Publisher Share Name but Are Not Connected, Market Confusion Be Damned". Variety. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "Herrick, Feinstein Achieves Success for Ultra Enterprises in Trademark Infringement and Breach of Contract Suit". Businesswire. August 15, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "Ultra Music, Ultra Music Festival Announce 'Global Alliance'". Herrick. August 12, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  4. ^ "THREE QUESTIONS ON HERRICK'S REPRESENTATION OF ULTRA ENTERPRISES, INC. IN A FEDERAL TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT AND BREACH OF CONTRACT TRIAL" (PDF). Herrick. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Ultra Music and Sony Announce Partnership, Patrick Moxey Named President of Electronic Music". Billboard. January 23, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  6. ^ "Sony Music fully acquired Ultra Records from Patrick Moxey". December 13, 2021.
  7. ^ "David Waxman Named President of Ultra Records". January 20, 2022.
  8. ^ "59th Annual GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  9. ^ "31st Annual International Dance Music Awards – Winter Music Conference 2017 – WMC 2017". Winter Music Conference. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  10. ^ "IFPI" (in Norwegian). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  11. ^ "Exclusive: Ultra Music, Ultra Music Festival Announce 'Global Alliance'". Billboard. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  12. ^ Ultra.Dance at Amazon.com
  13. ^ Ultra.Trance at Amazon.com
  14. ^ "DJ Ricardo at Allmusic.com".
  15. ^ Out.Anthems at Amazon.com
  16. ^ "Out.Anthems at About.com". Archived from the original on September 1, 2007. Retrieved October 30, 2018.