Ultra Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, 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.
In 2013, Ultra entered a global partnership with Sony Music.
In January 2022, David Waxman, previously head of A&R and general manager, was appointed president of Ultra Records.
Awards
Ultra Music has received
Grammy Awards 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”.
Ultra Music has also received the Best American Music Label award from International Dance Music Awards' Best American Music Label 10 times.
Certifications
By 2017, Ultra Records (then Ultra Music) had received Diamond, Platinum, and Gold records worldwide.
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OMI's "Cheerleader" (Felix Jaehn Remix) has received 1× Diamond, 20× Platinum, and 7× Gold certifications globally.
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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.
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“Don’t Be So Shy (Filatov & Karas Remix)” by French singer and model Imany went 2× Platinum.
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Producer and DJ Deorro’s Latin crossover ballad “Bailar”, featuring Grammy Award-winning Merengue singer Elvis Crespo went multi-Platinum and Gold.
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Deorro's collaboration with Chris Brown “Five More Hours” earned 19× Platinum and 4× Gold certifications.
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“Paradise,” a collaboration between Benny Benassi and Chris Brown went certified Gold in 2016.
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Jesper Jenset's singles released on the label in partnership with Sony Music "High" and "Painkiller" have become 2× Platinum and Gold in Norway, respectively.
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Lost Frequencies’ “Are You with Me” with multi-Platinum and Gold certifications across 14 countries.
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Pop singer Era Istrefi’s track “BonBon” went Gold in 4 countries.
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SNBRN’s “Gangsta Walk” went 2× Platinum.
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French producer Klingande went Platinum with his song “Somewhere New”.
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Grammy-nominated duo Sofi Tukker went certified Gold with their record “Drinkee”.
Partnerships
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Ultra Records has produced Steve Aoki’s I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2016) documentary, as well as Kygo and Deorro's forthcoming concert documentaries.
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Ultra Music Festival and Ultra Records collaborate on international electronic music festivals.
See also
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List of Sony Music labels
External links
