Ministry of Sound

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ministry of Sound

Type	Private company
Founded	London (1991)
Headquarters	103, Gaunt Street, London Bakerloo - Northern, Elephant and Castle station
Key people	Jamie Palumbo
Industry	Music
Products	Dance Music CDs
Revenue	£136m
Website	http://www.ministryofsound.com/

Ministry of Sound (MoS) is one of the most famous nightclubs in the world of electronic music, said to be to London what Studio 54 was to New York, and whose fame goes far across British borders. Located in Elephant and Castle, Southwark, South London, and officially opened in 1992 after weeks of 'secret' club nights, the Ministry had already been packed out through word-of-mouth. Ministry of Sound was one of the key locations in the development of house music and superclubs in Britain in the early 1990s. MoS initially set itself apart from other London nightclubs of the time with its location well away from London clubland, a non-alcoholic bar and a highly-acclaimed sound system; all features designed to attract an enthusiastic crowd of music lovers. DJs mix live sets on Friday and Saturday each week. The MoS boasts two spacious dance floors as well as a Sony PlayStation room and Absolut chill bar.

Ministry of Sound was founded by James Palumbo, Humphrey Waterhouse and DJ Justin Berkmann. It is still largely owned and controlled by Jamie Palumbo, son of property developer Peter, Lord Palumbo. Since the club's opening, the MoS brand has been extended to a number of other areas. Profits from the brand put Palumbo on the Sunday Times Rich List 2004, with an estimated worth of £136m. The club opened in the Autumn of 1991.

1 Related businesses and licensing
2 Music compilations
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Related businesses and licensing

[edit] Franchised clubs

In recent times, the Ministry of Sound brand has expanded with franchise clubs being opened in Asia, and club tours taking place worldwide. MoS Taipei (No. 310, LenQun 3rd. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan) opened March 25, 2004 and MoS Singapore (Block C The Cannery, River Valley Rd, Clarke Quay, Singapore 179022) opened December 16, 2005. The former MoS Bangkok nightclub (Sukhumvit Soi 11, Bangkok, Thailand) (2002–03), the first club outside the UK, is now closed. A new MoS club in Moscow is slated to open in March 2007. MoS parties are often held in various locations around the globe. Ministry of Sound New Delhi (India)opened on 7 February, 2007 and is located at C Block Vasant Kunj.

[edit] Record labels

Ministry of Sound is also a record label that produces many compilations each year, featuring many artists. These compilations are compiled from many different genres of music, but primarily the dance, house, and trance genres. In January 2006, the company purchased record label Hed Kandi from The Guardian Media Group and plans to continue maintaining the brand.

[edit] Ministry of Sound TV

Launched in November 2006, Ministry of Sound TV (MoSTV) is an IPTV content offering. The channel is dedicated to dance music and lifestyle programming, featuring music videos, mini-documentaries, interviews with DJs and exclusive event coverage. MoSTV has an in-house production team, but also acts as an aggregator of content. Affiliate content providers include The Professional Rockstars, www.ilikemusic.com, and Drum and Bass Arena. MoSTV can be accessed via the ministryofsound.com website, as well as other sites such as Google Video, YouTube, and Blinkx. Users can also subscribe to the Ministry of Sound TV podcast via iTunes.

Ministry of Sound TV has currently signed a syndication deal with IPTV Platform Joost providing two on-demand branded channels.^[1]

[edit] Ministry of Sound Radio

Ministry of Sound Radio operated on DAB in London on the Switch Digital multiplex, but closed in December 2002. A radio stream continues via the website. MoS radios DJs include Lottie, Allistair Whitehead and Rob Roar, Mutiny, Hed Kandi residents David Dunn and Andy Norman, Matt Jam Lamont, Ross Allen, Jazzy M, Bill Brewster, Jon Gurd, Andy Farley, Darren Tate, Matt Darey, Above and Beyond, Adam White, BK, Guy Ornadel, J00F, and Graham Gold. From March 2007 the station expanded further launching 2 on demand channels offering non-stop chill out and underground sessions.

The current team syndiates radio shows around the globe as well as running the online stream and on demand options. Headed by Chris Bailey the station has Dave Vega and Bruno Lawton as its main producers.

[edit] Electronic goods

The name has also been licensed for use on electronic goods sold by Alba, including MP3 players, home audio systems, DVD players, in-car entertainment systems and an extremely limited edition of a 3G mobile phone.