Valley Entertainment
Valley Entertainment | |
---|---|
Founded | 1994 |
Founder |
Barney Cohen, Jon Birge |
Distributor(s) | RED Distribution |
Genre | Various |
Country of origin | United States |
Location | New York City, New York |
Official website | Valley-Entertainment.com |
Valley Entertainment is an American music distributor and independent record label based in New York City, United States. The company was founded in 1996 by Barney Cohen, president and CEO. In 2001, it acquired the prestigious[1] back catalogue of space, ambient, and new-age music from Hearts of Space Records. As of 2009, it has a catalogue of about 300 releases.
History
In 1979, Barney Cohen founded Valley Media (a separate company) and opened Valley Record Distributors in 1984. In 1997, he stepped down from Valley Media to focus on the proprietary independent music label he had started:[2] Valley Entertainment, founded in 1994 by Barney Cohen (owner, president, CEO) and Jon Birge (director).[3]
In 2001, they acquired from Stephen Hill the prestigious[1] trademark and back catalogue of his Hearts of Space Records[3] (including among its about 140 releases such albums as Constance Demby's 1986 Novus Magnificat, Michael Stearns's 1988 Encounter, Rich & Roach's 1990 Strata, Rich & Lustmord's 1995 Stalker, Steve Roach's 1996 The Magnificent Void, Robert Rich's 1998 Seven Veils, and solo albums by Paul Haslinger from Tangerine Dream). As Hill explained, "Despite our success, by 2000 things were getting very difficult for record companies our size, and ultimately we sold the label to a larger company in 2001. Luckily we found Jon Birge of Valley Entertainment, who recognized what we had accomplished and has kept the HOS Records catalog together and available."[4] Though not any more associated with its business side, Stephen Hill continues to work on Artist & Repertoire and to produce new recordings for the label.[5][6][7]
Discography
2016
- Land Ho! - The Forest Rangers
2015
- Traces of an Old Vineyard - Mahsa Vahdat
- Bird - Lisbeth Scott
- Legacy - Bird
2014
- A Few Images (Algumas Imagens) - Tania Saleh
- Turning Back - Dina El Wedidi
- Songs from a Stolen Spring - Various Artists
- Sacred Songs of Mary 2 - Various Artists
- Hypnosis: Deep House Sitar - Ronobir
- In Search of Divine Light - Divna
- Sacred Songs of the Renaissance - Huelgas Ensemble
2013
- Plains - George Winston
- December - George Winston
- Sacred Songs of Hope - Various Artists
- Copper: Original Soundtrack - Brian Keane
- Larry Kirwan's Celtic Invasion - Various Artists
2012
- Sacred Songs of Angels - Various Artists
- Death and the Civil War (Soundtrack) - Brian Keane
- The Long Road Down (Song from the Miniseries Hatfields & McCoys) - Lisbeth Scott
- A Deeper Tone of Longing: Love Duets Across Civilizations - Mahsa Vahdat and Mighty Sam McClain
- Colours - Finbar Furey
- Angelic Light: Music from Eastern Cathedrals - Cappella Romana
2011
- Sunday Morning Peace - Jonn Serrie
- One Drop Is Plenty - Mighty Sam McClain & Knut Reiersrud
- Songs From Before - Fionnuala Sherry
- eQuinox - Ralph Zurmühle
- The Queen's Minstrel - Therese Schroeder-Sheker
- State of Grace - Paul Schwartz
- Taproot - Michael Hedges
- Mardi Gras - Cowboy Mouth
2010
- Listen To The Banned - Various Artists
- Sacred Songs of Mary - Various Artists
- Christmas Prayers - Jonn Serrie
- Into the Deep: America, Whaling & The World - Brian Keane soundtrack to Ric Burns documentary
- Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations - Mahsa Vahdat and Mighty Sam McClain
2007
According to a statement from its director,[10][11] the company has claimed being "blacklisted" in 2007 by the George W. Bush administration for releasing in the U.S. the Norwegian album Lullabies from the Axis of Evil.
Labels
As of 2010, published or distributed labels include the following:[12]
- Sledgehammer Blues (formerly AudioQuest Music) (59 releases)[13]
- Erin (2 releases)
- Hearts of Space Records (150+ releases)[14]
- RGB (6 releases)
- Valley Entertainment-Windham Hill Records (14 reissues)[15]
- Valley Entertainment (120+ releases)
References
- 1 2 Sande, Steve (2004). "The sky's the limit with ambient music", San Francisco Chronicle, January 11, 2004, p. PK-18, at SFGate.com via Archive.org: "[...] the Sausalito record label Hearts of Space, which has carved out a dominant niche in the area of avant-garde electronica by providing what he calls "slow music for fast times." [...] The success of companies like Hearts of Space (which was purchased by New York's Valley Entertainment in 2001), the abundance of do-it-yourself home studios and an increase in tech-knowledgeable customers suggest that the market for ambient music may increase in the near future."
- ↑ AFIM, Independent Music Hall of Fame, 14th annual Hall of Fame Awards for 2000, "Barney Cohen" (biography), via Archive.org
- 1 2 Ambient News, "Valley Entertainment Announces Acquisition of Hearts of Space Records!" (scroll down), via Archive.org
- ↑ Bonk, Jamie (2005). "A Conversation With Stephen Hill", Conversations with Jamie: Artist-To-Artist Series, July 2005, New Age Reporter at NewAgeReporter.com via Archive.org
- ↑ HOS, "Hearts of Space - About": "While we still help produce new recordings for the label, we no longer run it day to day."
- ↑ HOS, "Hearts of Space - Company": "In 2001 the record label part of the company was sold to Valley Entertainment in New York, who maintain the catalog of almost 150 titles and release selected new recordings. Producer Stephen Hill continues to work on A&R and production of new releases, while maintaining work on the radio program."
- ↑ HOS, "Hearts of Space - Bios": "[Stephen Hill] produces new compilations for Valley/Hearts of Space, [...]"
- ↑ "Bio". Elicook.com. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
- ↑ "Eli Cook | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
- ↑ Original report by NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation), "Norsk CD fikk Bush til å se rødt", via Archive.org.
- ↑ Covered in English by WFMU, "Lullabies Blacklisted by the Bush Administration", via Archive.org.
- ↑ "Valley Entertainment Labels". Valley-entertainment.com. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
- ↑ "Sledgehammer Blues Catalog". Valley Entertainment. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ↑ "Hearts of Space Records Catalog". Valley Entertainment. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ↑ "Valley Entertainment-Windham Hill Records Catalog". Valley Entertainment. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
Further reading
- SEC filing about the relationship between Valley Media Inc. and Valley Entertainment at SEC.gov (two distinct companies; mostly backstory and business data)
- Barney Cohen at Zoominfo.com (recent coverage about him also gives data about the record label company; see also Archive.org to retrieve expired documents)
External links
- Valley-Entertainment.com – official website
- Valley Entertainment MySpace