Arcade Fire pull catalogue from UMG/Merge

Arcade Fire pull catalogue from UMG/Merge

As already reported, Arcade Fire left Merge (owned by Universal Music Group) after 12 years. According to Music Business Worldwide, the Canadian band signed a worldwide deal with Sony (actually Sony's main subsidiary: Columbia) for all of their past recordings, in addition to their new album.

This way, Arcade Fire’s much-anticipated fifth studio album is slated to be released via Columbia Records in the UK and US on July 28. Hotly-anticipated lead single "Everything Now" – also the title of the new LP – was released on the likes of Spotify and iTunes. Check out the official video for the track:

It's very likely that Sony Music UK & Ireland boss Jason Iley was the key element for the new contract; indeed Iley signed Arcade Fire to UMG for multiple territories while running Universal’s UK-based Mercury imprint in 2005. The new global Sony deal is believed to have been struck in London.