THE ORCHARD CELEBRATES ITS 15TH ANNIVERSARY
Commemorating a Digital Media Business That’s Older Than Google, iTunes, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
Cannes, France and New York, NY — January 28, 2012 — The Orchard (www.theorchard.com) today announced the celebration of its 15th anniversary. Founded in 1997 by Richard Gottehrer and Scott Cohen to enable independent artists to sell their music through the same stores as major label artists, The Orchard has since established itself as a music industry pioneer, built on technology, talent and the profitability that results from its sustainable business model.
Today, The Orchard has evolved to empower artists, managers and labels by providing them with a comprehensive platform that connects them to audiences, creates promotional and commercial opportunities and maximizes growth potential. Preceding the arrival of music industry revolutionaries such as Napster and the iPod, The Orchard has been instrumental in shaping the music industry. It has redefined media distribution to include many services beyond fulfillment and sales, such as fan engagement, converting fans to consumers, on and offline consumer targeting, global royalty collection and administration, trend analysis across fans and sales, ancillary revenue opportunities for Advertising, Film and Television and comprehensive business solutions.
“Looking back and seeing how The Orchard has evolved into a powerful distribution, sales and marketing platform while remaining faithful to its self-made music roots makes us proud,” says Brad Navin, CEO of The Orchard. “We constantly strive to provide a better, more comprehensive distribution experience for our clients worldwide, and I look forward to seeing where we will stand 15 years from now.”
With offices in more than 20 markets around the world, including headquarters in New York City and London, more than 64% of The Orchard’s music comes from outside of North America, and many clients, such as Epsa Music (Argentina), Frenchkiss Records (USA), Saregama (India), Cleopatra Records (USA), Nuclear Blast (Germany) and Daptone Records (USA) have been with the company for up to 10 years.
Some notable moments in The Orchard’s history include:
1997: Richard Gottehrer and Scott Cohen found The Orchard on the Lower East Side of New York City.
1998: The Orchard is the first company to supply independent music to online retailer CDNOW (USA).
2003: The Orchard supplies the largest catalogue of independent music in the world to iTunes.
2004: The Orchard becomes the first independent distributor to hit one million paid downloads and streams.
2008: The Orchard adds physical distribution to its platform of services, launches the Release Builder content management system and begins to digitally distribute and monetize video through YouTube and iTunes.
2009: Deloitte ranks The Orchard as the 66th fastest growing technology company in North America, ahead of Sirius, Constant Contact and RIM.
2010: The Orchard celebrates profitability.
2011: The Orchard launches Artist Builder to enable clients to publish information and assets to their social networks and The Orchard Marketplace debuts with 20 third-party sales and marketing tools integrated via an API.
About The Orchard®
The Orchard, a pioneering independent music and video distribution company operating in more than 20 global markets, provides an innovative and comprehensive sales and marketing platform for content owners. With industry-leading technology and operations, The Orchard’s creative, tailored approach streamlines its clients’ business complexity while amplifying reach and revenue across hundreds of digital and mobile outlets around the world, as well as physical retailers in North America and Europe. The Orchard was founded in 1997 to foster independence and creativity in the music industry. For further information, please visit www.theorchard.com.
