Sony snap up Century Media

Sony have bought German hard rock and heavy metal label Century Media, it’s been reported.

Full terms of the deal have still to be made public, but Billboard say the industry giant paid in the region of $20million for the firm – home to artists including Paradise Lost, Periphery, Queensryche, At The Gates, Fozzy, EyeHateGod and Lacuna Coil.

Century Media owner Robert Kampf will become CEO of the Century group and their output will continue to be distributed by RED in the US. Sony will handle international distribution while the German firm will now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment.

The company was formed by Kampf and Oliver Withoft, who died last year aged 49 following a long period of illness.

Kampf says in a statement: “The company I founded over 25 years ago is moving into its strongest chapter yet with the best music company in the world, Sony Music.” He adds that the deal would help the company grow as “a dominant force in rock, prog, alternative and metal.”

Metal Sucks reported in March that Kampf was in talks to sell the label to a major.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.