Exclusive: Hyperion label is sold
NewsWe see from the company filing below that the fiercely independent British label Hyperion was sold to music monolith Universal at the end of last week. Simon Perry, son of the founder, is no longer a director. The company’s listed address is now at Universal HQ.
We have sought comment from both parties but they have yet to respond.
Hyperion Records was founded by Ted Perry in 1980 and funded by fees he earned between sessions as a south London cab driver. The label quickly took off with a best-selling recording of the medieval Hildegard of Bingen.
It attracted strong-minded artists such as Stephen Hough, Angela Hewitt and Steven Isserlies, none of whom felt comfortable in the crporate music business. How it will function from now on is unknown.
Oh, no! It has long been a favorite (perhaps the favorite) label of mine. How on earth will the Perrys’ inspired combination of venturesome repertoire, first-rate artists, worthy jacket art, and superb recorded sound survive in the Universal environment? Not to mention its practice of keeping such a large percentage of its recordings in print.
They were my favorite too when I actually bought albums 15 years ago. And I bought a big chunk of their piano catalogue. I suspect they realized rather late that they cannot beat streaming or Youtube. No one can.
Wow! One wonders if Universal will simply maintain and/or absorb the current line-up of Hyperion recordings, or will they permit them to go on recording as Hyperion (?). If Universal makes Hyperion recordings be available at streaming services – something that is not currently happening – that could actually be a boost for the label.
I’m curious to hear as well. I can’t imagine they’d kill off the Hyperion brand – it has too much value. Besides, there’s ample precedent for giants wanting to appear niche: the beer giants maintain ‘microbrewery’ brands, Unilever maintains Ben & Jerrys, alcohol giants such as Diageo maintain separate whisky distillery labels, etc. I would imagine they’ll integrate distribution chains, they might put Hyperion’s catalog (either in whole or in part) on streaming, they might make it easier for standout artists to transition from Hyperion to other Universal labels, they will pluck in Hyperion’s catalog for their compilation albums, etc. But Universal doesn’t necessarily have an interest in absorbing and pushing Hyperion’s often niche repertoire programming under their own brand – it’s for a different audience, who knows to look for it under Hyperion.
Two things to watch though:
1- Will Universal seek to cut off competing recording projects? Or will Hyperion be allowed to record, say, a Rachmaninov solo piano integral simultaneously as one of Universal’s big name pianists?
2- Hyperion is also the distributor for a number of smaller labels, such as Signum Records, The Tallis Scholars’ Gimell, Gardiner’s SDG, etc. What happens to them? Do they also go over to Universal, or will they have to find other distribution networks?
Emil. Former Universal (and Indie) employee here.
Future of Hyperion new release schedule far from certain medium to long term. UMG may just be happy to swipe Hyperion catalogue, get (some of) the albums up on Spotify and selectively cherry pick other tracks into compilations alongside material from DECCA/DG etc. This is what happened to ASV when UMG acquired it as part of their buy out of Sanctuary.
Hyperion’s distributed labels will have to find new deals.
Hyperion sells these other labels from their website non-exclusively. So they will be found else where.
Many thanks for your insightful analysis of this latest loss of a valued producer of classical cd’s. I’m 85 and my collecting days are past. Now I stream using Qobuz through my stereo hifi system (Cambridge Audio streamer,Rega amp and a pair of B &W speakers) My cd collection, including many Hyperion recordings, is on a SSD which can be played through the CA streamer. The originals are in the attic and will go to my children in my will. The CA is also an Internet radio tuner. Classical music stations around the world make Radio 3 & Classic FM miss-able. Cheers!
What are your favourite classical internet music stations?
It might mean Hyperion albums will FINALLY be on Spotify! Yes!!
About damn time they got off their high horses with this exclusivity.
‘We don’t do streaming’.
‘Everyone has to pay per track on OUR record label’.
You don’t have a clue of what you are talking about!!!
Yes and no. There ARE royalties that are paid to the record label and, eventually, the artists involved. That’s the good news (it’s better than nothing). The bad news is that those royalty earnings are very, very small.
As a Hyperion artist I can tell you that not one of us gets any royalties from the label. That does not mean that I am not supportive of the label but I wouldn’t want readers of this column to be misinformed.
Finally, an artist who has worked for Hyperion (like myself) is telling the truth! Hyperion wanted my Gershwin recordings but as usual refused to pay a royalty so instead I licensed the recordings to ASV (who did pay a royalty). Thank goodness I did that as BOTH companies were bought out by Universal but had I given in to Ted Perry’s demands at Hyperion I would now have no control of my recordings, as Universal would own them. Thankfully they’re still in my control. Young artists out there, beware! Maintain control of your music because you never know what the future might bring!
I do actually. Hyperion aren’t currently on Spotify or any other streaming service. It’s a bit frustrating really, because they have good music and I want to be able to listen to it easier.
You probably don’t understand that streaming services pay a pittance, and Simon Perry was fighting the good fight to keep artists properly remunerated by staying away from streaming. Unfortunately for artists’ bank balances, that fight has been lost.
Yes and no. I get that they are paying very poorly. But I usually listen first on Idagio and if I like what I hear and listen frequently then I decide to buy the record. Haven’t bought a single Hyperion record for a long time since I cannot “taste” a sample. So I usually pass.
You can “taste”, extensively, every single one of Hyperion’s (digitally available) tracks on its website, from which you can also download all digitally available booklets, while passing on as much as you please. Try doing that on Universal’s websites, which are a disgrace to themselves and an insult to (most) artists, to music and to us music-lovers – yet they used to be among the best until they were dumbed down, as everything is by Universal, except Australia’s Eloquence. In addition, most Universal classical downloads are sold without booklets or any additional content (which should be illegal), bar the dreary predictable covers. I don’t blame Hyperion for selling but I do blame Universal for all the damage they have done to DG, Decca, Philips, ASV, Gimell, Amadeo, Adès, Véga, Musidisczzz… <commenter implodes<
I would have thought that seeing the repertoire and in some cases knowing the artists – and appreciating the quality of previous Hyperion discs – buying a new one (without hearing it) would be a matter of course – as has been the case with me for many years with this label.
Or failing that, a quick scan of reviews from reputable sources would clinch it.
Streaming has contributed to their downfall. I don’t think you understand the recording market at all. But streaming doesn’t bring in a penny for either the record company or those performing. You can’t live only on fresh air.
I don’t think you understand the record market at all. Streaming accounts for 84% of US recorded music revenue and 80% in the UK. Look it up!
Classical streaming revenues are tiny compared to popular genres. Also, the mechanics of streaming don’t work for classical artists as the great majority of classical streaming revenue comes from consumers searching for CLASSICAL PIANO or BEETHOVEN EROICA (for example) Hyperion we’re alone in understanding that you can’t build a classical artist’s career, or a label, on streaming. But go ahead, stream all the music you want, pay peanuts for it, play it on your phone. Just don’t be surprised when there isn’t another Hyperion.
Dear Mr “I beg your pardon”:
Forgive me, but anyone who knows much about the recording business will know that it is to a large extent streaming which has forced Hyperion into this position. Streaming brings labels a tiny proportion of the income which used to come from CD sales (and artists even less): consequently Hyperion’s ability to create new recordings – which for decades were paid for by sales of the back catalogue – lessened and lessened, as there wasn’t the income stream. Simon Perry clearly avoided mass-streaming for as long as he could (for when your recordings are available all but free on streaming, who will buy the CDs that used to keep the label alive?) but in the end it was inevitable. Fans of the label will surely see the output of new recordings significantly lessen under its new ownership. A sad day indeed for recording.
They stream on Apple Music or at least they sell downloads exclusively on iTunes as well as on their own store.
I have just typed Stephen Hough into search in Apple Music and got the Hyperion Relaxing Piano Playlist. But no albums of say Chopin.
A Hyperion album of Stephen Hough has been curated that includes the whole of Carnival by Schumann. Complete albums on other labels including Stephen accompanying Renaud Capucon in Elgar’s Violin Sonata.
The other item on that disc is Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the LSO and Sir Simon Rattle.
Apple Music Classical app?
There are so many great recordings and artists on Hyperion, I would hate to see it all go. With Hyperion you can buy nearly any recording they have ever released. They also make the legendary Romantic Piano Concerto series which I am slowly buying over years because there is a ton of them. Please don’t have all of this vanish
They seem to have made a financial success of the business on its old model. According to the filed accounts, there was £1.997 million cash at bank in 2021 and £2.202 million cash at bank in 2022.
So it is possible to make real money by producing high quality classical recordings. Or it was.
I haven’t read the accounts (and probably the publicly available accounts will give very little detail) so I may be well off the mark, but might some of this apparent value have been the putative value of [unsold] CDs in stock?
The value of CDs in stock wouldn’t be counted as “cash at bank”, would it?
Cash at bank never includes stock. It’s just the cash in the bank.
They are taking on something they lack the capacity to understand – so they will probably ruin it.
I’m afraid those 5 tracks that you will stream from an album won’t bring a penny for Hyperion….. (Taylor Swift will get them)
Terrible news!! But I guess it was inevitable. Amazed that they lasted as long as they did. There must have been financial hardship. There goes the Romantic Piano Concerto series, and many others. Maybe Hamelin and Hewitt will have Disney albums, LOL.
One of the last holdouts against the onslaught of streaming. The owner once said: “We could never survive if we streamed our music”. Apparently, he couldn’t survive without it either.
Exactly.
it fell into the worst arms… anyway the positive side (for us meaningless consumers) is that we will eventually see the Hyperion music entering to the streaming services and we can all enjoy the St.Petersburg Quartet playing Shostakovich, all the CDs by Alina Ibragimova and much more.. sorry for the end of a brave label, but I’m happy to be able to access to its much (I hope so at least!)
This is devastating. So much repertoire that does not get the attention it deserves had Hyperion to thank. Now we’ll just get YET another Mahler or Bruckner complete symphonies…
Hey, take it easy on my Mahler cycles – I’d like to pick up an entirely new one every week! I wish most of them had as a good of sound quality as Hyperion orchestral recordings usually had. But speaking of Bruckner, the Bruckner 7th that Donald Runnicles did on Hyperion with, I believe, the The Royal Scottish National (whatever they call themselves) is really, really good! Naysayers should check it out sometime.
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Thank you. I should looked at it first.
Best go to concerts! They need audiences more than ever.
What an absolute shame. It is impossible to imagine Universal valuing Hyperion’s unique character and its appeal to serious music lovers. Universal long ago gave up on music preferring marketing. I do hope Hyperion is allowed to operate at arm’s length, but I seriously doubt it. A sad day.
Appalling news. Hyperion was one of the outstanding independents; imaginative repertoire, superb artists, excellently engineered. This is the end of an era.
More evidence of how bad the classical music business is. And how bad the classical recording business is now. I say it’s really bad news.
Sadly all good things have to come to an end, and all about economics, and the work that it entails to run a recording company as good as Hyperion with Ted gone.
Ted died in (I think) 2004. Simon has been running the operation since then.
Quite…
Gutted!
Late 80’s, early 90’s I would take my modest monthly allowance and rush to the late great Prelude Records in Norwich and see what Hyperion had released.
It was very silly to have gotten involved in an unwise and expensive legal action though that must have put a big dent into their cheque book.
There’s a lot of hand wringing going on here, and I do get that. However, the possibility of Universal making the Hyperion catalog available on Spotify and/or other streaming services, will open the label up to an entirely new generation of listeners. The younger generation simply isn’t buying CD’s, for the most part.
Being part of the Universal empire does not bode well for all the things that make Hyperion a superior label: innovative programming, stunning musicians who shine without a hype machine, and a deep back catalog. How long before we see the Universal mindset at work? Stay tuned for Stephen Hough and Lang Lang playing piano four hand arrangements of Taylor Swift and similar gems.
An interview between Ted Perry and Bruce Duffie in Chicago some time back.
http://www.bruceduffie.com/tedperry.html
An interview between Ted Perry and Bruce Duffie in Chicago some time back.
I’m unhappy about this.
My first question is will Hyperion cease releasing physical media (CD/SACD)?
I cherish the Hyperion web site which is outdated but provides a safe harbor as it were for browsing and buying CDs.
They stopped doing SACDs years ago!
Sad news, but what an extraordinary and wonderful catalogue.
Good bye to quality.
C’mon folks! My LP library (yes, I still have those) is chock full of recordings on labels that are long gone. Same with CDs – record labels come and go. Just like any business. Bad business sense, changing markets…the owners getting tired and wanting out. It’s too bad that some fine recordings disappear, but things are better now than ever what with YouTube and other streaming sources. I have a large number of Hyperion disks; the Romantic Piano Concerto series has been wonderful. (Why did they never get around to the Raff?) and I would hope the catalog is available for a long time. Maybe a giant Hyperion budget box?
I was really hoping, although it would have been a long-shot, that they celebrated volume 100 of the series with one of Sorabji’s concertos.
Well, maybe we get them now on Idagio, Spotify or the streaming app of your choice.
P.S> It is sad though to see a great independent label go down into the stream of Mega Media
On the Companies House web site the current directors are listed as ADAM MARTIN BARKER and DAVID RICHARD JAMES SHARPE, both appointed yesterday (February 23). Anyone know anything about these gentlemen?
Very sad to lose Hyperion it’s been part of my life since early 80’s. Although Universal are not great I hope they treat their acquisition like they do DG in that they still issue recordings and promote young artists. Warners when it took over EMI still kept a lot of their recordings available. Let’s hope this is the same. Let’s face it the reason independent labels fail is because people want the convenience of streaming and although wrong and mean the cheapness of it.
The Hyperion website is not outdated. It was made in the days when functionality was more important than how it looks an a mobile phone. So much for progress… Ever tried finding anything remotely useful or informative on the DGG site? Well, don’t bother.