The Orchard was co-founded in New York City in 1997 by renowned producer and songwriter Richard Gottehrer and artist manager Scott Cohen. The company sprung from the belief that every independent label and artist deserves the opportunity to make its music available throughout the world.

"Until we came along, distribution for independent labels and artists was extremely limited, and competing with major labels was almost impossible," says Gottehrer. "We thought, 'How great would it be to create a new gateway for thousands of independent labels and artists, within a system dominated by major labels?'" Echoing the sentiment, Cohen adds, "Do we really want to live in a world so homogenous that the only music available is music that's deemed most profitable by major labels?"

And so they accepted the daunting and exciting task of providing distribution for indies everywhere. Early efforts were grassroots; less than a handful of people maintained the warehouse, shipped out orders, stickered every CD with new barcodes and answered phones in a cramped office and warehouse on Orchard Street in NYC's Lower East Side. The beginnings were humble, but The Orchard's unique ideology was fully formed.

A few artists blossomed to 100 artists and kept growing into the thousands. The record labels using The Orchard for distribution became more and more prestigious. Because of its democratic embrace, The Orchard's catalogue contains a veritable "aural smorgasbord" of talent. From bluegrass to blues, Hawaiian to Indian, and choral classics to classic rock, The Orchard's catalogue offers something for everyone and ample riches for music lovers of every stripe. There are hit-makers like Coldplay and Green Day, who recorded great music before they were signed to major labels. There are veteran artists like Simply Red, Chris DeBurgh and Art Garfunkel, who chose the independent route. And there are classic tracks from the likes of Ray Charles, Ike & Tina Turner and Nancy Sinatra.

One of the company's greatest success stories is The Raveonettes. The Orchard discovered the Danish band in 2002 and negotiated its recording contract with Columbia Records. The band is currently managed by Cohen for Orchard Management. Gottehrer, who previously produced hit albums for Blondie, Joan Armatrading, and the Go-Go's, co-produced both Raveonettes albums with lead singer Sune Rose Wagner.

Since The Orchard's beginning, Gottehrer and Cohen have publicly extolled the virtues of a digital marketplace. So when iTunes launched in 2003, The Orchard finally realized the dream of selling digital music with the same passion that defined its inception. Since then, The Orchard has forged partnerships with more than 100 digital stores, from major players like iTunes, eMusic, MSN and Napster to niche sites like Bollyvista.com and Downloadpunk.com. And now mobile music sales - both ringtones and full-track downloads - have become an important part  of The Orchard's revenue stream. Over 200 mobile carriers offer music from The Orchard's catalog. This "digital revolution" has created new global sales avenues for The Orchard's artists and labels.

In 2003, The Orchard was purchased by Dimensional Associates, a company that also owns eMusic and Dimensional Music Publishing. With the acquisition, Greg Scholl -- a veteran of the media and entertainment industries and a managing director of Dimensional Associates -- took the helm of The Orchard as president and CEO.

Under Scholl’s direction, The Orchard has grown its catalogue to nearly 1 million tracks, further broadened its stylistic diversity, and extended its geographic reach with representation in 73 countries. The company has also expanded beyond its core business of digital distribution to encompass other repertoire licensing opportunities and ancillary services – including mechanical licensing and royalty administration, song sync placement, royalty collection, and copyright and publishing administration.

What started out as "the little office that could" on Orchard Street has expanded into a huge international distribution network. The future? It lies in our artists and labels. Our plan? To keep helping them grow