Virginia Records

Virginia Records (Вирджиния Рекърдс) is a Bulgarian record label and music company founded in 1991 by Michael Kunstmann and Sanya Armutlieva. It was established to serve as the Bulgarian partner of PolyGram, then the world's largest music company, and is credited with helping to launch the legal music business in Bulgaria. After PolyGram was acquired by Seagram in 1999 and folded into what became Universal Music Group, Virginia Records served as Universal Music's exclusive licensee in Bulgaria for 18 years, and the partnership continued in the area of physical media distribution. From 1 February 2010, Virginia Records became the licensee of Sony Music Entertainment for Bulgaria, taking on physical and digital distribution of the company's catalogue, its marketing and exploitation at all levels, including broadcasting, public performance, cable retransmission, and synchronisation in advertising and films. The Sony Music Entertainment group includes leading global labels whose catalogues span all genres, with artists such as Beyoncé, Sade, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Britney Spears, Shakira, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Alicia Keys, Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera and Aerosmith, as well as newer stars like One Direction, Olly Murs, Calvin Harris, Rita Ora, Amelia Lily, Bring Me The Horizon, James Arthur, Labrinth, Leona Lewis and Adam Lambert. Its back catalogue includes recordings by Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis and Whitney Houston. Over the years, Virginia Records has contributed to important amendments in Bulgarian legislation for the creative industries, including ratification of the Rome and Geneva Conventions and the criminalisation of intellectual property theft in the Penal Code of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is a member of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Bulgarian Association of Music Producers (BAMP), and ProFon, the collective management organisation for producers of sound and video recordings and performing artists. The company is associated with numerous Bulgarian music projects and artists. It partners with SyCo Entertainment and manages the career of X Factor season four winner Christiana Loizu, as well as finalists from the format including Mihaela Marinova, Nevena Peykova, Kristian Kostov, Dara, Plamen and Ivo. Among the artists it works with are Pavell & Venci Venc'. Virginia Records is also the record company that produced the finalists from the three editions of the Bulgarian version of Pop Idol, "Music Idol". Virginia Records is one of the first music companies in Bulgaria with accumulated experience and infrastructure to serve new types of music content exploitation in mobile communications, digital distribution and digital marketing. It has had successful partnerships with a number of brands, notably Coca-Cola, within which the idea for the "Coca-Cola Happy Energy Tour" emerged — a national tour that Virginia Records organised for three consecutive years with leading Bulgarian artists and some of the most current international hit makers. Marketing of music events is another strength of the team; in recent years it has been behind campaigns for concerts and festivals by Balkan Entertainment, including AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Rammstein, Natalie Cole, Scooter, Children of Bodom, Joe Cocker, Kansas, Sonisphere Festival (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Rammstein, Manowar, Alice In Chains, Stone Sour), Sofia Rocks 2011 (Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Mike & The Mechanics, Saxon, Slade) and Sofia Rocks 2012 (Trivium, Clawfinger, Heaven Shall Burn, Scar Symmetry, Guns N' Roses, Kaiser Chiefs, Within Temptation, Ugly Kid Joe). Beyond its strong repertoire and deep know-how in the Bulgarian music industry, the company's main asset is its team of highly motivated, positive and dynamic people for whom music is the main protagonist.

Virginia Records was founded in 1991 by Michael Kunstmann and Sanya Armutlieva to be the Bulgarian partner of PolyGram, then the largest music company in the world, and thus marked the beginning of the legal music business in Bulgaria. In 1999 PolyGram was acquired by the Seagram conglomerate, which also owned the largest of the then "small" record companies, Universal Music — sometimes called "the sixth major". This gave birth to Universal Music Group, which brought together a significant share of the world's most successful music labels. Virginia Records was an exclusive licensee of Universal Music in Bulgaria for a period of 18 years, and the partnership continued in the area of physical media distribution. From 1 February 2010, Virginia Records became a licensee of Sony Music Entertainment for Bulgaria, taking over physical and digital distribution of the company's catalogue, its marketing and exploitation at all levels (broadcasting, public performance, cable retransmission, synchronisation in advertising and films). The Sony Music Entertainment group includes leading global labels whose catalogues contain music of all genres. A large part of the most important recordings in music history are part of Sony Music Entertainment's vast and diverse catalogue, including global superstars and some of the most influential artists from different genres and generations, such as Beyoncé, Sade, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Britney Spears, Shakira, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Alicia Keys, Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera and Aerosmith. Among them are also new superstars like One Direction, Olly Murs, Calvin Harris, Rita Ora, Amelia Lily, Bring Me The Horizon, James Arthur, Labrinth, Leona Lewis and Adam Lambert. The back catalogue of Sony Music Entertainment includes recordings by legendary artists such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Whitney Houston and many others. Over the years, Virginia Records has contributed to extremely important amendments and additions to Bulgarian legislation for the creative industries, such as the ratification of the Rome and Geneva Conventions and the criminalisation of intellectual property theft in the Penal Code of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is a member of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Bulgarian Association of Music Producers (BAMP), as well as ProFon, the collective management organisation for the rights of producers of sound and video recordings and performing artists — organisations whose activity determines the level of development of the music industry in Bulgaria. The company is also connected with a number of Bulgarian music projects and artists. It is a partner of SyCo Entertainment and manages the career of the winner of the fourth season of X Factor, Christiana Loizu, and the finalists from the format Mihaela Marinova, Nevena Peykova, Kristian Kostov, Dara, Plamen and Ivo. Among the artists the company works with are also Pavell & Venci Venc'. Virginia Records is also the record company that produced the finalists from the three editions of the Bulgarian version of Pop Idol — "Music Idol". Virginia Records is one of the first music companies in Bulgaria with already accumulated experience and created infrastructure to serve the new types of exploitation of music content — in the field of mobile communications, digital distribution and digital marketing of music content. The company has many successful partnerships with a number of brands, among which the collaboration with Coca-Cola stands out, within which the idea for the "Coca-Cola Happy Energy Tour" emerged — a national tour that Virginia Records organised for three consecutive years with the participation of both the most famous Bulgarian artists and some of the most current international hit makers. The marketing of music events is also a strong side of its team. In recent years they have been behind the campaigns of the following concerts and festivals of "Balkan Entertainment": AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Rammstein, Natalie Cole, Scooter, Children of Bodom, Joe Cocker, Kansas, Sonisphere Festival (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Rammstein, Manowar, Alice In Chains, Stone Sour), Sofia Rocks 2011 (Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Mike & The Mechanics, Saxon, Slade), Sofia Rocks 2012 (Trivium, Clawfinger, Heaven Shall Burn, Scar Symmetry, Guns N' Roses, Kaiser Chiefs, Within Temptation, Ugly Kid Joe). Besides its strong repertoire and the most stable know-how in the field of the music industry in Bulgaria, the main capital of the company is also its team, composed of highly motivated, positive and dynamic people for whom music is the main protagonist.

• 2010

  From 1 February, Virginia Records becomes licensee of Sony Music Entertainment for Bulgaria, handling physical and digital distribution and marketing.

• 1999

  PolyGram acquired by Seagram, leading to the formation of Universal Music Group; Virginia Records becomes exclusive Universal Music licensee in Bulgaria for 18 years.

• 1991

  Virginia Records founded by Michael Kunstmann and Sanya Armutlieva as PolyGram's Bulgarian partner.

Independent Bulgarian record label and music company with a long history of representing major international catalogues locally and developing domestic pop talent.

Product categories. Recorded music releases · Artist management · Music distribution (physical and digital) · Music marketing and event promotion

1. 1Home - Virginia Recordsvirginiarecords.com
2. 2Virginia Records - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Вирджиния Рекърдс - Wikipedia (Bulgarian)bg.wikipedia.org