Parent company Sheridan Square has gutted V2 North America Records laying off 35 including president Andy Gershon and setting the White Stripes, Moby ,the
Raconteurs, Josh Ritter and others
free to seek new labels. The imprint will continue to function as a catalog label.
Starting in 2003 investment firm Sheridan Square spent an estimated $43
million acquiring V2 North America, Compendia, Artemis; Musicrama, Tone-Cool, Triloka, Ropeadope and Vanguard
Classical. V2 functioned as a full service label investing heavily in breaking new artists and building careers.
It would not be surprising if in the coming months, investors in other music companies also become disillusioned with the cost of doing business vs. declining sales. This is not good news for musicians or the music industry. But one can expect the void to be filled by scrappier entrepreneurs and an increase in D.I.Y. activity.
