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PIAS Cooperative

record label

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 23, 2025
Entity authorityQ2996590
Source-derived summary

[PIAS] Cooperative, formerly Cooperative Music, often referred to as Co-Op, was a group of indie labels based in the UK but that have offices around the world, owned by [PIAS].

Through their partner labels [PIAS] Cooperative worked with artists such as iamamiwhoami, Phoenix, Bloc Party, The Knife, Fleet Foxes, Prinzhorn Dance School, Citizens!, Interpol, The Black Keys and Mumford & Sons.

History

In April 2005, Cooperative Music was set up by the V2 Music Group as a transnational marketing and distribution operation which licenses independent labels, as opposed to individual artist companies which is the standard industry practice, for release in Europe, Australia and Japan. This in-house licensing division has an exclusive international marketing team with representation in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Australia and Japan.

In February 2013 [PIAS] acquired Co-Op from Universal Music Group.

In 2018, PIAS Cooperative was absorbed into PIAS Group, PIAS Cooperative brand is used in its sales on PIAS website.

In 2024, financially badly harmed PIAS (including Cooperative Music) was bought again by Universal.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “PIAS Cooperative” as record label. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2005, 2013, 2018, 2024—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2005-01-01. The account is most persuasive where PIAS, Cooperative and label can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as record label. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 23, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2996590. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2005, 2013, 2018 and 2024.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “PIAS Cooperative”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow PIAS Cooperative primary sources, PIAS Cooperative archive and PIAS research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “PIAS Cooperative”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from PIAS Cooperative” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.