New York’s King Street Sounds label relaunched by Armada Music

New York house music label King Street Sounds is being relaunched through Armada Music’s investment arm.

Home to an expansive and influential catalogue of independently-released house music, the label was launched in 1993 by Hisa Ishioka, who named it after the street where the iconic Paradise Garage club was located. The label is behind close to 2,000 releases from names like Ultra Naté, Blaze, Kerri Chandler, Cevin Fisher, Lil Louis, Joe Claussell, Terrence Parker, Groove Assassin, Louie Vega, DJ Spen, DJ Roland Clark and Urban Soul.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the rich history of King Street Sounds and breathe new life into the extraordinary music that started it,” said Hisa Ishioka, who will continue to play a central role at the label. “We couldn’t ask for better partners than Armada Music and Beatport to help us usher in this new era, and we can’t wait to see how this collaboration further empowers the label, our creators, and the dance music genre in today’s landscape.” 

To celebrate the relaunch, a fresh remix series is being introduced, ‘King Street: Beat Match’. The first reworked tracks land tomorrow, 12th April, with Kasango, Demi Riquísimo and Demuja taking on label releases from Dennis Ferrer, Barbara Tucker, and Mood II Swing.  

New original music is also said to be lined up, and a visual rebrand has taken place. Beyond that, a Beatport content partnership will help tell the story of King Street Sounds “through the lens of legacy and contemporary artists”.

Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron and David Lewis’ Armada Music acquired King Street Sounds last year through what the firm considers to be the world’s first dance music investment platform, the BEAT [Best Ever Acquired Tracks] Music Fund. Established in April 2023 with a $100 million budget and the intention of spending the lot by late-2024, he company has already amassed rights to the complete catalogue of Kevin Saunderson’s KMS and intellectual property owned by Russian EDM act, ARTY.

“Relaunching King Street Sounds signifies a big step for Armada Music and BEAT as we strive to bolster and honour dance music’s existing footprint,” said Piron, CEO of both Armada Music and BEAT Music Fund. “We are incredibly excited to continue to work alongside Hisa to preserve the legacy King Street Sounds holds in dance music while working toward new opportunities as the label evolves.”

In October, DJ Mag visited Armada Music’s headquarters in Amsterdam to discover how an independent imprint had risen to become a world-dominating powerhouse.