What are music’s greatest international artist tales of 2025?
Right here’s a trio for you: Taylor Swift’s record-shattering The Life Of A Showgirl; Unhealthy Bunny’s culture-defining residency in Puerto Rico (and subsequent, idiot-bothering affirmation for the Tremendous Bowl halftime present); and Oasis’ monumental, merch-money-printing comeback.
Need to know one thing attention-grabbing? All three of those artists independently distribute their information by way of what some within the enterprise name ‘providers offers’.
Much more attention-grabbing? Two of them achieve this by The Orchard (Unhealthy Bunny by way of Rimas and Oasis by way of Massive Brother, respectively).
Brad Navin, the New York-based CEO of The Orchard, is a grasp of deflecting credit score for these and lots of different vital achievements of the Sony Music-owned firm he leads.
Navin’s overriding message in his dialogue with MBW is one in every of modesty: we’re simply the spine – the actual geniuses run our associate labels and make the music on their information.
However there’s one reality Navin can’t bat away: the ability dynamics of right this moment’s music trade have dramatically shifted from simply 10 years in the past, and The Orchard, greater than anybody else, has been chargeable for the transformation.
“There was a time the place should you needed to achieve success – within the mainstream definition of the phrase – a significant label was your almost certainly path,” Navin acknowledges. “The panorama has modified. Artists have extra selection, and that’s an incredible factor.”
I’m undecided all of these working main labels would essentially agree. However it’s definitely been an incredible factor for artists… and The Orchard itself.
Nicely-placed sources recommend The Orchard’s turnover is now comfortably north of USD $1 billion a 12 months, making it by far and away the most important indie label providers firm on the planet.
In the meantime, Hits Every day Double lately pegged the corporate’s US market share of ‘present’ releases in 2025 YTD at 8.4% – considerably greater than the likes of Atlantic Music Group, Columbia, RCA, or Warner Information.
So what! these main labels would possibly say, it’s a lot simpler to run a low-margin enterprise than a ‘high-touch’ report firm.
Besides, whenever you take a look at the info, that ‘low margin’ accusation RE: The Orchard is price questioning.
For one factor, Sony Music Group Chairman Rob Stringer confirmed earlier this 12 months that The Orchard/Sony Music has now acquired minority stakes in over half of The Orchard’s 20 greatest shoppers (believed to incorporate Rimas, plus the likes of Fats Possum, Napalm, and Black 17).
Such offers safe beneficial long-term shoppers for The Orchard, whereas offering strategic alignment and sources for labels. But in addition they considerably bolster the margin of The Orchard, reworking it from a mere providers associate for its 26,000+ shoppers to an early-stage investor in a few of music’s hottest corporations.
Certainly, again in Might, Stringer was requested by an analyst how The Orchard’s offers would possibly dilute Sony Music’s margin in comparison with the agency’s main frontline report corporations. His response was unequivocal. “The reply is that our margin hasn’t come down [since Sony began investing in The Orchard in 2011]. In actual fact, it’s obtained higher.”
Stringer, who says The Orchard is “entrance and heart” of Sony Music’s operation globally, additionally confirmed that the mixed product sales of Sony Music’s two unbiased providers corporations (AWAL and The Orchard) doubled between Sony’s FY 2020 and FY 2024.
Navin, a veteran of The Orchard for 22 years, is equally bullish concerning the firm’s evolution from scrappy startup to trade kingmaker.
When he joined in 2003, The Orchard was actually flipping CDs over and typing in label copy, attempting to persuade skeptical indies that digital distribution had a future.
Right now, with greater than 50 workplaces worldwide, The Orchard is the ‘indie providers’ firm to beat – not least in LATAM, the place its dominance by labels like Rimas and Double P (Peso Pluma) has given it a peerless standing in one of many world’s most enjoyable territories.
Final month, shoppers of The Orchard received eight Latin Grammys, led by Unhealthy Bunny with 5. And that success is translating globally: The Orchard’s shoppers lately obtained 52 nominations for subsequent 12 months’s 68th annual Grammys, led by Unhealthy Bunny with six. (Bunny is the primary Spanish-language artist to be Grammy-nominated for Finest Album, Finest Report, and Finest Track in the identical 12 months.)
In the meantime, The Orchard continues to innovate and develop.
Navin reveals that earlier this 12 months, the agency acquired two D2C merch platforms (IndieMerch and King’s Street Merch) – an space of the enterprise he believes can develop into “very vital” for The Orchard within the years forward.
As well as, The Orchard now gives shoppers publishing administration offers by way of a partnership with Sony Music Publishing, plus neighboring rights providers by way of Kollective Neighbouring Rights (beforehand Kobalt Neighbouring Rights).
And, in fact, tentpole report offers preserve getting signed. A couple of weeks again, The Different Songs, a long-time consumer, inked an settlement to handle Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s recordings across the globe, distributed by way of The Orchard.
“I wouldn’t nonetheless be right here if it wasn’t enjoyable,” Navin tells MBW, with attribute understatement. But behind that modesty lies a extra provocative reality, maybe with a watch on rivals like Common’s Virgin Music Group: “I like successful. All people hates the winner, so I do know that we’re a goal. I wish to preserve successful and draw back even additional.”
Right here, in his first main interview in years, Navin discusses The Orchard’s evolution, the altering face of the music trade – and why he’s having the time of his life watching all of it unfold…
Let’s begin together with your path to The Orchard. You’ve been there 22 years, however what got here earlier than?
I went by the William Morris mailroom proper out of college — pushed a mail cart, paid my dues. Then I attempted my hand at artist administration. This was round ’97, ’98, when all the large [label] roll-ups began occurring, and lots of bands had been getting dropped.
That led me to a charming alternative: I joined a startup, Digital Membership Community, which ran web connections into golf equipment to report live shows, then bought the recordings. The operators who purchased Digital Membership Community — Dimensional Associates — additionally had of their portfolio eMusic, some Bluetooth know-how, and a few publishing and media belongings.
Dimensional Associates purchased The Orchard from Richard Gottehrer, a legend, songwriter, producer, typically a punk himself, and a disruptor.
[When Navin joined The Orchard], we deliberately visited markets all around the world to signal with unbiased report labels, digitizing their catalogs. As a comparatively small firm, we realized that we would have liked to construct our personal provide chain and know-how.
When do you know you had been onto one thing huge?
We work for entrepreneurs, and I seen that they liked the management. For me, that was a giant second.
I say this internally, even right this moment: Our crew is improbable and we’re a extremely sensible group of individuals, however we even have the added benefit of being client-facing.
“We’re listening to those wonderful label entrepreneurs from all around the world talk about their needs and desires.”
We’re listening to those wonderful label entrepreneurs from all around the world talk about their needs and desires. That permits [The Orchard] to mainly assess in real-time what we have to do to construct our enterprise alongside them.
It’s not an echo chamber of what we expect has to occur. It’s a virtuous cycle of knowledge out and in.
What was your intestine response whenever you had been instructed Sony Music had purchased 51% of The Orchard in 2011?
We got lots of autonomy to function the enterprise as we noticed match, which finally led to Sony Music absolutely buying us a couple of years later. [Sony Music acquired the remaining 49% in The Orchard in a $200 million deal in 2015.]
As you possibly can think about, there have been spirited debates inside the corporate when folks heard the information [in 2011]. ‘We work for the unbiased sector; Sony is a significant.’
However I keep in mind Richard Gottehrer, the center and soul of this group, making a remark in a room full of individuals again then. He stated: ‘Cling on a minute. We could be owned by a financial institution, or we could be owned by these folks – music folks. Be sure to perceive that.’
He was finally proper. It’s been nice.
Rob Stringer has talked publicly about how central The Orchard is to Sony Music’s personal international technique. How essential has that assist been, significantly throughout instances when folks questioned the logic of a ‘main report firm’ investing in an indie providers platform?
I give Rob large credit score for the autonomy we’ve been granted by Sony Music. It’s been game-changing.
April 1st of this 12 months [2025] was the tenth anniversary of The Orchard being a completely owned subsidiary of Sony Music. Within the ten years since, our progress has been astronomical.
That could be a testomony each to our capability to interoperate [within Sony Music Group] and the assist we’ve seen from Rob. It’s been invaluable to how we’ve grown and the way we’ve continued to push the envelope.
In some unspecified time in the future, The Orchard – your mannequin, no less than – sort of grew to become the report trade. Individuals speak about huge artists being ‘upstreamed’ to a significant label – however Unhealthy Bunny doesn’t have to be ‘upstreamed’ to anybody.
Unhealthy Bunny is an unbelievable artist with unbelievable conviction and perception in who he’s and the way he’s going to do issues.
Our job is to associate with Noah [Assad] and the Rimas crew to assist convey that imaginative and prescient to market. Creatively? We get the hell out of the best way.
“Unhealthy Bunny is a game-changing artist with unbelievable conviction and perception in who he’s and the way he’s going to do it.”
Nonetheless, there’s nonetheless ample alternative throughout the spectrum of music. Everyone knows there are nice, gifted artists – singers – on the market who possibly can’t play an instrument or write a music. They want these conventional components of [major label A&R] to assist convey them to market.
After which there’s Bunny, who has that locked down – and all the things in between.
Let’s speak concerning the aggressive panorama. Among the many main music corporations, The Orchard stood alone by way of funding for a very long time. Now you have got a extra heated competitor over in Santa Monica in Virgin Music Group – it’s much less straightforward than it as soon as was. How has that modified your world?
I sincerely imply this: competitors is nice. It retains you in your toes — no resting on our laurels.
There may be extra competitors right this moment than ever earlier than, and it is available in many various varieties. From absolutely baked [indie services] corporations which can be a part of a significant firm, to startups that could be doing one or two issues at a extremely excessive degree. There’s lots of selection on the market for artists and labels of all sizes and calibers.
“There may be extra competitors right this moment than ever earlier than, and it is available in many various varieties.”
Nonetheless, it was by no means straightforward for us. There was a time after we had been combating to construct applied sciences, then a time after we had been simply combating for respect. After which out of the blue, in different folks’s phrases, not mine, music from the fringes began turning into mainstream – and we had to supply nice infrastructure, providers, and partnership to essentially attention-grabbing, profitable labels and artists, whereas letting them do their factor.
Let’s speak concerning the Downtown/Common scenario. I’ve written a couple of instances that I believe, no less than on the idea of market share, blocking it’s illogical; if the EC had watched The Orchard’s story, and seen the large progress of independents in the USA and LATAM previously decade, for instance, possibly they’d perceive that higher. Nonetheless, if the EC does block it… will you chuckle your self to sleep?
It’s not my choice to make, however there’ll nonetheless be lots of alternative and selection for the whole trade, whichever route it goes.
The unbiased sector, as , is rising extra highly effective and extra attention-grabbing 12 months over 12 months. Why is that occuring? As a result of [indies] have a lot selection and alternative.
“The unbiased sector, as , is rising extra highly effective and extra attention-grabbing 12 months over 12 months.”
There’s been extra competitors in [independent distribution] within the final 5 years than within the prior ten years mixed. And new corporations proceed to launch on each a neighborhood and regional degree.
There are a complete bunch of nice distributors, artist service corporations, advertising corporations, corporations that do pub admin. The Orchard gives all of these providers and extra on the highest degree.
What do you make of the argument – put ahead by opponents of the Downtown deal – {that a} main music firm would possibly use its in-house indie distributor to beat indies to artist signings? Has that ever occurred?
We’ve by no means seen that occur. I perceive why sure sectors of the enterprise have fears. I do assume, respectfully, a few of these fears are simply dated arguments. At this level, folks can get hold of knowledge wherever they need; It’s actually publicly out there on Spotify, for instance. Let me put it this fashion: I don’t assume any unbiased label that we work with wakes up within the morning and compares itself to what Common, Sony, or Warner is doing. No [indie client] has ever requested me, ‘What would Columbia Information do?’ Essentially the most profitable ones observe their very own instincts.
The Orchard has by no means entered the DIY distribution world, taking over TuneCore, DistroKid, CD Child, UnitedMasters and so forth. Have you ever ever thought-about it?
Many instances. Why did we throw it out? As a result of I didn’t prefer it, actually. I simply didn’t prefer it.
Right now, The Orchard is… I wouldn’t say we’re overly selective, however with the appearance of all of the technological developments, together with varied types of fraud and the present state of AI, we’ve got a little bit of ‘know your buyer’ [threshold] in place. Who can we need to be in enterprise with in order that collectively we will develop – and keep away from a mess of points down the highway?
“Who can we need to be in enterprise with in order that collectively we will develop – and keep away from a mess of points down the highway?”
We’re working arduous as a technology-enabled distributor to make sure that we’re doing all the things potential to stop any sort of fraudulent exercise and monitor what’s going by the system, together with the DSPs.
Spotify lately REMOVED 75 million ‘spammy’ tracks; an infinite quantity. Had been any Orchard-specific?
I don’t know of any quantity that was Orchard-specific, which is fairly wonderful. Once more, it’s about realizing who your clients are and how much labels we need to be in enterprise with.
You’ve purchased two D2C merch corporations this 12 months: King’s Street Merch and IndieMerch. How essential is that chance to The Orchard’s future enlargement?
We’ve all the time been in companies adjoining to recorded music distribution, and D2C is a extremely vital alternative.
We purchased these two corporations as a result of we expect D2C goes to be a approach to assist our shoppers take factors of friction out of the [customer sale] course of. By having a list layer, commerce layer, and even warehouse layer, our shoppers can nonetheless work with their native producers if they need, however we’re offering infrastructure.
“I need our shoppers to be targeted on the inventive, not ‘Oh, I have to have an LLC in wherever with a view to get cash out of a society I’ve by no means heard of earlier than.’”
We really feel like this could be a actually vital enterprise for our sector of shoppers and for Sony Music, fairly frankly.
We’re working with our shoppers throughout not simply recorded [music] however D2C, pub admin [with SMP], and neighboring rights, by way of Kollective Neighbouring Rights. We’re constructing infrastructure throughout all of it, extra deliberately than ever.
I need our shoppers to be targeted on the inventive, not “Oh, I have to have an LLC in wherever with a view to get cash out of a society I’ve by no means heard of earlier than.”
Be trustworthy: how pissed had been you in 2021 when Rob Stringer known as and stated, ‘I’m shopping for AWAL’?
[Laughs] The reality of the matter is that The Orchard truly helped lead that transaction. AWAL is distributed by The Orchard right this moment, by our provide chain.
AWAL working as a standalone enterprise makes whole sense to me, as a result of they [sign artists] and we’re actually label-centric to an enormous diploma. When we’ve got the chance to work with [individual artist-labels] like Damon Albarn and Gorillaz — these are the exceptions, not the rule.
[AWAL CEO] Lonny [Olinick] and his crew are nice at what they do. Once more, there’s selection inside our household of corporations, creating alternatives. It’s all good.
When did you notice Latin America was setting the usual for what the unbiased music trade mannequin was about to develop into?
I used to be fascinated by this from my earliest days at The Orchard.
My first journeys all the way down to Brazil and Argentina had been back-to-back, mid-2000s. [The Orchard’s co-head of Latin America,] Laura [Tesoriero], introduced us down there — she’s from Buenos Aires and has been within the trade her whole life; her household was in it. She opened my eyes to the entrepreneurship.
These weren’t simply labels — they had been managers and promoters and publishers as effectively as labels. There was a motive for that: this was a time when bodily items had been being pirated. So [entrepreneurs] had to determine the way to have careers and generate revenue streams by being a part of all the things. They discovered options.
Wanting ahead, the place do you see the most important future alternatives for The Orchard geographically?
I’ve whole perception that the identical issues we skilled in now-mature markets like Korea a number of years in the past — Ok-pop out of the blue taking the world by storm — we’re gonna see that [elsewhere] out of Asia, together with India, and in addition out of Africa. These are large inhabitants bases.
Inventive individuals are in every single place, which makes it an thrilling and engaging expertise. If music could be made out there to the plenty wherever they’re, you’re going to listen to nice music come out of those markets.
I’m additionally enthusiastic about our UK partnerships. Oasis has had an amazing 12 months, the influence of which is projected to roll into 2026. I’m wanting ahead to new music from each Gorillaz and RAYE, and to collaborating with the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber by way of The Different Songs.
What does it inform us concerning the fashionable music enterprise that two of the most important international tales this 12 months have been Unhealthy Bunny and Oasis, and so they each undergo The Orchard?
It’s been a enjoyable 12 months, I can let you know that!
Oasis went by the main label system and I assume haven’t any regrets as a result of take a look at the place they’re right this moment. They’re simply at a unique level of their profession now, and The Orchard is lucky sufficient to have the ability to ship [for them].
Working with folks like Marcus [Russell, Oasis manager], Alec [McKinlay, Oasis co-manager], and Noah [Assad, Bad Bunny’s manager] — I adore it. They’re pushing us, we’re pushing one another.
For this reason I really feel like we’ve got a aggressive benefit; working with nice entrepreneurs who’ve all these concepts about how we will preserve pushing our service ahead, and the way we will execute.
You meet lots of people in lots of rooms who say, ‘You possibly can’t presumably try this.’ These guys are the alternative of that.
As a participant within the music trade, it’s been fairly a miserable 12 months — plenty of mates getting laid off at majors all around the world. The Orchard and its progress gives optimism in the course of all this. How are you going to cheer us up?
I’m very optimistic about The Orchard and the unbiased sector at massive. Corporations born out of this cycle are constructed for velocity and have the flexibility to vary in real-time.
By good instances and unhealthy, traditionally, music all the time has a spot. Music’s an emotion, as Richard Gottehrer likes to say. It’s all the time going to have worth.
What does it inform us about right this moment’s music trade that megastar artists like The Weeknd and Taylor Swift have Orchard-style buildings of their offers with main report corporations?
[Pauses] That’s query. You need to ask them!Music Enterprise Worldwide
