Reservoir acquires UK dance/electronic label New State – including recorded music catalog of 13,000+ tracks

New York-headquartered Reservoir Media has acquired prominent UK dance and electronic label New State, in a deal that includes the label’s entire recorded music catalog of over 13,000 tracks.

The deal, announced on Wednesday (February 19), will see New State continue to operate as a label, signing and releasing new artists. These new artists — along with some legacy New State artists — will benefit from marketing and promotion by Chrysalis Records, which Reservoir acquired in 2019. Reservoir didn’t reveal the acquisition’s value.

New State was established in 2004 by co-founder and CEO Tom Parkinson, who runs the label alongside A&R and Marketing Director Tim Binns and Chief Financial Officer Mike Jones.

Its catalog spans electronic genres such as house, drum & bass, UK garage, techno, trance, and progressive house, and includes electronic duo Zero 7, electronic-indie band The Beloved, legendary DJ and producer Paul Oakenfold, house music group Dirty Vegas, and Anglo-Irish pop-dance band D:Ream. has also released albums and singles by artists such as Ryan Blyth, Freejak, Guru Josh Project, Paul Van Dyk, Ku De Ta, and Drumsound & Bassline Smith, among others.

“Acquiring New State is an exciting opportunity to expand our recorded music business with yet another long-standing, high-quality independent label and showcase our ongoing commitment to championing independent music,” Reservoir President and COO Rell Lafargue said in a statement.

“With the global reach of our Chrysalis Records team now supporting New State’s legacy artists, we are well-positioned to elevate this incredible catalog, while also continuing to release new music through New State to push the brand forward.”

“With the global reach of our Chrysalis Records team now supporting New State’s legacy artists, we are well-positioned to elevate this incredible catalog, while also continuing to release new music through New State to push the brand forward.”

Rell Lafargue, Reservoir Media

Parkinson and Binns added in a joint statement: “We’re delighted to do this deal with Reservoir and Chrysalis, which will enable New State to continue working with the incredible artists and their teams, further solidify the close working relationships already in place and ultimately grow the repertoire bases in a closely curated and mutually beneficial way.”

While Reservoir may be better known for its acquisitions of recorded music and publishing rights, the company has also followed a record label acquisition strategy since its founding in 2007.

Aside from Chrysalis and now New State, Reservoir has bought such indie labels as TVT Records (in 2010), Reverb Music (2012), Philly Groove Records (2012), and Tommy Boy Music (2021).

As part of its mission to become “the largest music rightsholder in the Middle East,” Reservoir teamed up with MENA-focused indie publisher and music company PopArabia, through which it acquired Egyptian record label 100COPIES and Lebanese label and publisher Voice of Beirut in 2022.

In an investor factsheet released in early 2024, Reservoir said it had spent nearly $1 billion on acquisitions as of the end of 2023, of which $770 million went to acquisitions of catalogs and companies.Music Business Worldwide