Aegean Records

British independent record label

Pop
R&B
soul

Country of originUnited KingdomOfficial websiteAegean Records

Aegean Records is an independent record label founded by George Michael and Andros Georgiou in January 1991.^[2] The label was set up after Michael broke from Sony Music after his court case, which he eventually lost.^[3] Andros Georgiou became the managing director of the label.^[4]

The artists either signed or previously signed to Aegean Records include:

George Michael^[2]
Trigger^[2]
Primitiva^[2]
Joanna Bryant^[1]
Toby Bourke^[2]
Surreala^[2]

Georgiou and Michael founded Aegean Net Ltd on 15 November 1996,^[5] which was the internet business of Aegean Records. Michael and Georgiou were directors of the business, although Georgiou resigned as a director on 25 January 2000, he then became managing director of mezzmusic.com.^[6] In May 1997 Aegean became the first European record label to adopt the Liquid Audio secure electronic music-delivery system via www.aegean.net,^[7] which was launched one year before BowieNet,^[7] and 11 years before Spotify.^[7]

Aegean.net was the first artist-owned website to allow fans to:

Chat with music artists (including Michael)
Purchase merchandise
Purchase and download music (via Liquid Audio)
Audio/video streaming (via RealVideo)
Join the first online-only fan club
Receive news and updates from Michael and other Aegean Records artists

Notes

^ ^a ^b Lorenz, Christian (22 February 1997). "Michael's Aegean Links with Pinnacle for U.K. Distribution". Billboard. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Frieser, Mark (31 December 2016). "A Tribute to George Michael, Dot-Com Visionary". SyncSummit. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
^ Smith, Giles (21 June 1994). "'Pop slave' George Michael to fight on". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
^ Weigle, Lauren (14 December 2015). "James Kennedy's Parents Jacqueline & Andros Georgiou". Heavy. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
^ "Aegean Net Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
^ Poaletta, Michael (15 April 2000). "Web Co Mezzmusic Jumps Into Inferno With Joint Venture". Billboard. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c Stuart, Keith (11 January 2016). "BowieNet: how David Bowie's ISP foresaw the future of the internet". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2017.