Dirty Hit, the UK-born independent label behind The 1975, Wolf Alice and others has expanded into the US & Asia Pacific markets, launching operations in Los Angeles & Sydney, respectively.
In addition to the The 1975 and Wolf Alice, Dirty Hit, which was established in West London by Jamie Oborne (pictured) in 2010, is currently home to Beabadoobee, Rina Sawayama, The Japanese House, Pale Waves, No Rome, Oscar Lang, 404 Guild, AMA, Beaux, Benjamin Frances Leftwich, Boyband, Bryce Hase, Leo Bhanji, Lowertown, Blackstarkids, Pretty Sick, Kasai and Sipho & Viji.
Dirty Hit operates independently with the support of Ingrooves Music Group as a digital distribution partner, under a newly signed global deal.
In addition to its deal with Ingrooves, Dirty Hit has an existing licensing agreement with Universal labels – Interscope in the US and Polydor in the UK – for records made by The 1975.
Based in LA, Greg Carr has joined the company and will oversee label operations for the US market, taking on the role of General Manager USA.
Prior to joining Dirty Hit, Carr worked at Interscope Geffen A&M for over seven years. He was most recently Marketing Director, working with the likes of Lana Del Rey, Dermot Kennedy and Cuco.
Joining the team in Sydney, Rachel Jones-Williams takes on the role of General Manager, Asia Pacific.
Jones-Williams was previously Senior Manager, National Promotions & Communications at Sony Music Entertainment in Sydney.
Prior to Sony Music, she was a National Promotions Manager for Universal Music Group‘s Caroline Australia.
The 1975 released their fourth studio album Notes On A Conditional Form in May, the second and final part to their double album campaign, which formed the Music For Cars era of the band.
The past 12 months saw the band headline Laneway and Reading & Leeds Festivals, debut at No.1 on the UK and Australian ARIA album chart and No.4 on the US Billboard chart.
Beabadoobee received a BRIT 2020 Rising Star Award nomination and BBC Sound Of nod – and has just launched the campaign for her debut album Fake It Flowers – with the most recent single Care currently the No.2 most played song on Triple j.
Her track Coffee, released in 2017, has also recently taken on new life as a sample in Powfu’s TikTok and worldwide chart dominating hit Deathbed.
Japanese-born, London based, pop/electronic artist Rina Sawayama recently released her debut album Sawayama, while The Japanese House this week releases a collaboration with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame, and Filipino alt-pop star No Rome has released a series of tracks featuring the likes of Brockhampton’s Bearface, Beabadoobee & Jay Som.
Meanwhile, Oscar Lang, signed in 2019, will release his third EP Hand Over Your Head this year.
Looking ahead, there will be new albums coming from Pale Waves, Ben Leftwich and The Japanese House.
“Our ethos as a label has always been to maintain and develop a roster of diverse and culturally important artists and an exciting and forward-thinking team with a distinctive identify, across a global sphere.”
Jamie Oborne, Dirty Hit Owner and Founder, said: “We are hugely excited to announce the opening of Dirty Hit offices in both the US and Australia.
“Our ethos as a label has always been to maintain and develop a roster of diverse and culturally important artists and an exciting and forward-thinking team with a distinctive identify, across a global sphere.
Oborne added: “Opening offices in territories where we have seen huge growth in recent years feels like the natural next step in the global expansion of the label. We are excited to build upon these early successes and have huge ambitions for the future of the label.
“Greg joins us from Interscope to head up Dirty Hit US and Rachel is joining from Sony to head up Dirty Hit Australia. Having worked with both Greg and Rachel for the past few years across much of our roster, we are delighted that they are joining the team at Dirty Hit.
“They bring with them a wealth of expertise and experience and are the perfect people to ensure we are offering our artists a truly global platform.”
“Dirty Hit has an incredibly exciting roster with a rich, decade-long reputation of being an artist driven label, and I’m thankful to have the opportunity to continue the journey here in America.”
Greg Carr
Greg Carr said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Jamie Oborne and the wider Dirty Hit team to lead the charge for our artists in the United States.
“Dirty Hit has an incredibly exciting roster with a rich, decade-long reputation of being an artist driven label, and I’m thankful to have the opportunity to continue the journey here in America.
“I am incredibly grateful to the executives, colleagues, managers, and artists who have championed my passion for music and am looking forward to bringing that energy and experience to this new role.”
“I’m proud to be aligning myself with such a highly revered and artistically led label.”
Rachel Jones-Williams
Rachel Jones-Williams said: “I’m proud to be aligning myself with such a highly revered and artistically led label.
“I have a deep admiration for how Jamie has built the label to offer a secure space for artist development and I’m excited for what Dirty Hit can bring to this market, as well as what we can do for the local artist community as we look towards also building a domestic roster.”Music Business Worldwide
