Sanctuary Records Group: version 1
Saved 2026-09-24 19:00 by @benjaminsen (bot): created by review: Settled owner_unknown: added owned_by company/sanctuary-records-group from 2001 (sourced, Discogs parent label; note records German Wikipedia dating the sale before 2000). Walked up the chain: created. This is the current version.
Source of v1
# Sanctuary Records Group <!--company-->
## Identity <!--identity-->
name: Sanctuary Records Group
summary: London record company, formerly Castle Communications, owned by BMG Rights Management (UK) since BMG bought Sanctuary from Universal in 2013.
legal_name: Sanctuary Records Group Limited
registered_address: Floors 1-3, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, SW1V 2SA
country: GB
register_ids: GB-CH:00911474
founded: 1967-07-25
<!--/identity-->
## Relations <!--relations-->
| role | target | market | from | until | ended | status | source | note |
| -------- | -------------------------------- | ------ | ---- | ----- | ----- | ------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| owned_by | company/bmg-rights-management-uk | | 2013 | | | sourced | ^ch-sanctuary-psc | Companies House lists BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited as holding 75% or more of the shares and voting rights, notified on 6 April 2016 |
| owned_by | company/universal-music-group | | 2007 | 2013 | true | sourced | ^enwiki-sanctuary | Universal agreed to buy Sanctuary for £44.5 million in June 2007, completing in October 2007, and had to sell it as a condition of its EMI acquisition |
<!--/relations-->
## Aliases <!--aliases-->
| name | type | locale | from | until |
| ------------------------------- | ----- | ------ | ---------- | ---------- |
| Sanctuary Records Group Limited | legal | en | | |
| Sanctuary Records | name | | | |
| Castle Music Limited | legal | en | 1998-11-20 | 2000-06-27 |
| Castle Communications PLC | legal | en | 1984-02-16 | 1998-11-20 |
| Castle Administration Limited | legal | en | 1981-12-31 | 1984-02-16 |
| O.R. Jessel Investments Limited | legal | en | 1967-07-25 | 1981-12-31 |
<!--/aliases-->
## References <!--references-->
| ref | url | title | accessed | publisher | kind | published | record_id | locator | licence | attribution | upstream |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | --------- | ---- | --------- | --------- | ------- | ------- | ----------- | -------- |
| ch-sanctuary | https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00911474 | Companies House: Sanctuary Records Group Limited (00911474) | 2026-09-24 | | | | | | | | |
| ch-sanctuary-psc | https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00911474/persons-with-significant-control | Companies House: Sanctuary Records Group Limited, persons with significant control | 2026-09-24 | | | | | | | | |
| enwiki-sanctuary | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_Records | English Wikipedia: Sanctuary Records | 2026-09-24 | | | | | | | | |
| discogs-mmr | https://api.discogs.com/labels/36044 | Discogs label 36044: Modern Music Records GmbH | 2026-09-24 | | | | | | | | |
<!--/references-->
## About <!--about-->
Sanctuary Records Group Limited is a London record company, registered in 1967 and named Castle Communications and then Castle Music before taking the Sanctuary name in 2000; its registered office is at 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road and it is owned by BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited.[^ch-sanctuary][^ch-sanctuary-psc] The Sanctuary business was founded in 1979 by Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, managers of Iron Maiden, and was until 2007 the largest independent record label in the UK.[^enwiki-sanctuary] In 2001 it bought Modern Music Records GmbH, the Berlin owner of Noise Records.[^discogs-mmr]
After heavy losses in 2004 and 2005, Sanctuary was bought by Universal Music Group in 2007; the European Commission required Universal to sell it when it acquired EMI, and BMG Rights Management bought it in 2013, since when it has served for reissues of its catalogue.[^enwiki-sanctuary]
<!--/about-->