[PIAS] relaunches Source – the Anglo-French label behind Air, Phoenix, and Kings of Convenience

[PIAS] has relaunched Source, the label that released records from Air, Phoenix, and Kings of Convenience.

The company’s UK and French teams will jointly lead A&R and creative direction at the label, [PIAS] announced on Thursday (September 10).

The two teams will sign and develop artists across multiple markets, pooling their local networks and drawing on [PIAS]‘s international infrastructure.

Ifulki, Disgusting Sisters, Epal, and HINA are the relaunched label’s first signings.

The announcement puts that joint structure behind a label that has been releasing records since April.

Disgusting Sisters released the single Weirdo Magnet through Source on April 17, and followed it in July with Sorry Mister and the announcement of their debut album.

Skin & Blisters is due on October 30.

Ifulki‘s debut single, Something Greater, also arrived in July.

Source was founded in France in 1995 by Philippe Ascoli and Emmanuel de Buretel, and became home to Air and Phoenix.

A UK arm followed, signing Kings of Convenience, Turin Brakes, and Simian.

Source will operate under the banner “We Grow Loud,” with a focus on creative freedom, artist identity, and community.

The UK arm released Kings of Convenience‘s Quiet Is the New Loud in 2001.

“Source has a fantastic history, but this isn’t about trying to recreate the past,” said Kenny Gates, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of [PIAS]. “It’s about taking the spirit that made the label special – discovering distinctive artists, trusting their vision and giving them the time and support to develop – and applying that to a new generation.

“It’s about taking the spirit that made the label special – discovering distinctive artists, trusting their vision and giving them the time and support to develop – and applying that to a new generation.”

Kenny Gates, [PIAS]

“Breaking new artists internationally has always been at the heart of what we do at [PIAS]. Bringing our French and UK teams together around Source gives us another way to do that, and these first four signings are a great indication of the ambition and breadth we want the label to have.”

Ifulki are a London-based trio – vocalist Queen Kaltoum, bassist and synth player Charlie, and drummer Ayman – whose music draws on Gnawa influences, electronics, and live instrumentation.

Disgusting Sisters are Jules and Josie, sisters raised between France and the UK who are now based in London and Paris respectively. Their music mixes electro, pop, and rock.

Epal began her career performing songs by the late French chanteuse Barbara before writing her own material, which brings together synths, piano, and trap influences.

HINA makes alternative pop about identity and independence, pairing direct lyricism with what [PIAS] describes as “unconventional structures and arrangements.”

[PIAS] says all four acts will release new music through Source as the label begins its next chapter.

Source‘s French releases came out through Virgin France, part of EMI‘s French operation.

EMI France was among the assets Universal Music Group was required to divest when European regulators cleared its 2012 purchase of EMI Music. It was bundled into Parlophone Label Group, alongside Parlophone itself and EMI‘s operating companies in nine other European markets.

Warner Music Group bought Parlophone Label Group for GBP £487m in July 2013. UMG retained the Virgin Records label itself.

Air‘s Moon Safari is a Parlophone/Warner Music France release today.

[PIAS] says it represents parts of the original Source catalog.

Turin Brakes‘ The Optimist LP, first released by the UK arm, was reissued in 2021 by Brighton independent Two-Piers.

The Source catalog is no longer in one place.

[PIAS] is owned by UMG, which completed its buyout of the company in October 2024, when Source was already among the [PIAS] Label Group‘s labels. UMG had acquired a 49% stake in 2022.

Regulators required UMG to give up Source‘s French catalog as a condition of the EMI deal. It went to Warner in 2013.

The label name is now being relaunched by a company UMG owns.

Edwin Schröter was promoted to CEO of the [PIAS] Label Group in January 2026, with Gates moving into the newly created Executive Chairman role.

The changes followed the merger of Integral Distribution Services with UMG‘s Virgin Music Group, a combination that [PIAS] said would let it “move forward exclusively as a music-led, artist-first label group.”

Writing in an MBW op/ed in May, Gates called on the Official Charts Company to create a separate chart for catalog albums and greatest hits collections, arguing that new artists are being crowded out of the UK Albums Chart.

[PIAS] was founded in Brussels in 1982 by Gates and Michel Lambot.Music Business Worldwide