July 24, 2007 12:53

Legendary indie label sold

The Smiths, Strokes and Libertines home joins Beggars group

Rough Trade, the label who signed The Smiths, The Strokes, The Libertines and many other seminal indie bands, has joined the Beggars Group of record labels.

Beggars bought the interest in Rough Trade previously owned by Sanctuary records. The deal will mean the label continue to operate as it does now, but Beggars will take over central office functions.

Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee, who run Rough Trade, said the takeover was a good move for their label.

“To continue to be a wholly independent label, with the support of the Beggars Group, is the best of all possible worlds,” they said in a statement. “We are genuinely excited about the future and the opportunity to bring new records and new artists to the world's attention.”

Martin Mills from Beggars added: “It was impossible to resist the appeal of combining Rough Trade’s amazing musical heritage with ours. Adding them to everything that’s going on here for our existing group of record labels is a very exciting proposition.”