# PIAS Recordings > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/PIAS_Recordings > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/PIAS_Recordings.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIAS_Recordings > Source revision: 1348594914 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **PIAS Recordings**, also known as **Play It Again Sam**, stylized as **[PIAS]** is a British-Belgian [record label](/source/Record_label) founded in 1982[citation needed] by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, In September 2024, the company was acquired by Universal Music Group.[1] Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European independent labels in the early 1980s. Play It Again Sam's prominent early artists were electronic-rock acts like [Front 242](/source/Front_242), [Meat Beat Manifesto](/source/Meat_Beat_Manifesto) and [The Young Gods](/source/The_Young_Gods). They later added artists such as [The Sound](/source/The_Sound_(band)), [Soulwax](/source/Soulwax)/2ManyDJ's, [Sigur Rós](/source/Sigur_R%C3%B3s) and [Mogwai](/source/Mogwai). ## History The first release on the label in 1984 was the mini album *Faces in the Fire* by the cult experimental psychedelic band [The Legendary Pink Dots](/source/The_Legendary_Pink_Dots). This was immediately followed by the *Four Your Ears Only* EP, featuring [Red Lorry Yellow Lorry](/source/Red_Lorry_Yellow_Lorry), [Red Guitars](/source/Red_Guitars), [Party Day](/source/Party_Day) and Luddites.[2] This laid the ground for releases from many other artists with very diverse musical backgrounds and geographical origins, including the [Butthole Surfers](/source/Butthole_Surfers), [Parade Ground](/source/Parade_Ground), [The Neon Judgement](/source/The_Neon_Judgement), [The Sound](/source/The_Sound_(band)), [Skinny Puppy](/source/Skinny_Puppy), [Taxi Girl](/source/Taxi_Girl), [Bill Pritchard](/source/Bill_Pritchard) and [The Cassandra Complex](/source/The_Cassandra_Complex_(band)). In 1988 the label released the album *[Front By Front](/source/Front_By_Front)* by [Front 242](/source/Front_242) including the single "Headhunter" (with a video directed by [Anton Corbijn](/source/Anton_Corbijn)). The year 1983 marked a distribution agreement in which [Chicago](/source/Chicago)-based [Wax Trax! Records](/source/Wax_Trax!_Records) distributed Play It Again Sam releases in the USA. The agreement continued into the 1990s. In 1999, Play It Again Sam signed a German distribution deal to distribute [London](/source/London)-based dance label [Mo' Wax](/source/Mo'_Wax)'s releases.[3] In 2000, the label moved from [Brussels](/source/Brussels) to London and was renamed PIAS Recordings. PIAS Recordings released the first two albums by Icelandic band [Sigur Rós](/source/Sigur_R%C3%B3s). The Scottish band [Mogwai](/source/Mogwai) signed to PIAS in 2001. PIAS announced at the end of 2010 that it would be re-launching Play It Again Sam as a label. In November 2022, [Universal Music Group](/source/Universal_Music_Group) purchased a 49% stake in [\[PIAS](/source/PIAS_Group)] (including [PIAS] Recordings).[4] ## Current roster - [Agnes Obel](/source/Agnes_Obel) - [Andy Burrows](/source/Andy_Burrows) - [Arcane Roots](/source/Arcane_Roots) - [Balthazar](/source/Balthazar_(band)) - [Black M](/source/Black_M) - [Blanche](/source/Blanche_(singer)) - [Bohren & der Club of Gore](/source/Bohren_%26_der_Club_of_Gore) - [Brodka](/source/Brodka) - [Cameron Winter](/source/Cameron_Winter) - [Champs](/source/Champs_(2012_band)) - [Circa Waves](/source/Circa_Waves) - [Courting](/source/Courting_(band)) - [Day Wave](/source/Day_Wave) - [Dead Can Dance](/source/Dead_Can_Dance) - [dEUS](/source/Deus_(band)) - [Editors](/source/Editors_(band)) - [Ella Eyre](/source/Ella_Eyre) - [Eliza](/source/Eliza_(singer)) - [Elliot Moss](/source/Elliot_Moss) - [Eric McKenna](/source/Eric_McKenna) - [Failure](/source/Failure_(band)) - [Fews](/source/Fews) - [Foxes](/source/Foxes_(singer)) - [Geese](/source/Geese_(band)) - [Ghostpoet](/source/Ghostpoet) - [Harper Simon](/source/Harper_Simon) - [Jean-Louis Murat](/source/Jean-Louis_Murat) - [Jesswar](/source/Jesswar) - [The Jezabels](/source/The_Jezabels) - [Keaton Henson](/source/Keaton_Henson) - [Joan As Police Woman](/source/Joan_Wasser) - [Lisa Mitchell](/source/Lisa_Mitchell) - [Lord Huron](/source/Lord_Huron) - [Lucius](/source/Lucius_(band)) - [Lykke Li](/source/Lykke_Li) - [Mew](/source/Mew_(band)) - [Minor Victories](/source/Minor_Victories) - [Pixies](/source/The_Pixies) - [Public Service Broadcasting](/source/Public_Service_Broadcasting_(band)) - [Rose Gray](/source/Rose_Gray_(singer))[5] - [Salvatore Adamo](/source/Salvatore_Adamo) - [Shura](/source/Shura_(English_singer)) - [The Slow Show](/source/The_Slow_Show) - [Soap&Skin](/source/Soap%26Skin) - [Soulwax](/source/Soulwax) - [Twin Wild](/source/Twin_Wild) - [Wave Racer](/source/Wave_Racer) - [White Lies](/source/White_Lies_(band)) ## Former artists - [Band of Skulls](/source/Band_of_Skulls) - [Causes](/source/Causes_(band)) - [Cabaret Voltaire](/source/Cabaret_Voltaire_(band)) - [Crystal Castles](/source/Crystal_Castles) - [The Creatures](/source/The_Creatures) ([Siouxsie Sioux](/source/Siouxsie_Sioux)'s second band) - [The Darkness](/source/The_Darkness_(band)) - [Dinosaur Jr.](/source/Dinosaur_Jr.) - [Drive-By Truckers](/source/Drive-By_Truckers) - [Enter Shikari](/source/Enter_Shikari) - [I Am Kloot](/source/I_Am_Kloot) - [The Jim Jones Revue](/source/The_Jim_Jones_Revue) - [Jurassic 5](/source/Jurassic_5) - [Maxïmo Park](/source/Max%C3%AFmo_Park) - [The Middle East](/source/The_Middle_East_(band)) - [Mogwai](/source/Mogwai) - [My Morning Jacket](/source/My_Morning_Jacket) - [My Vitriol](/source/My_Vitriol) - [The Pains of Being Pure at Heart](/source/The_Pains_of_Being_Pure_at_Heart) - [Placebo](/source/Placebo_(band)) - [Rodrigo y Gabriela](/source/Rodrigo_y_Gabriela) - [Seasick Steve](/source/Seasick_Steve) - [Sigur Rós](/source/Sigur_R%C3%B3s) - [Steve Burns](/source/Steve_Burns) - [Texas](/source/Texas_(band)) - [Trisomie 21](/source/Trisomie_21) - [Young Guns](/source/Young_Guns_(band)) - [Zulu Winter](/source/Zulu_Winter) ## See also - [PIAS Group](/source/PIAS_Group) ## References 1. ["Universal Music Group completes 100% acquisition of \[PIAS\] Group"](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/universal-music-group-completes-acquisition-of-pias/). 15 October 2024. 1. ["Play It Again Sam Records Releases"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150930225429/http://home.comcast.net/~sborst20/PIAS.html). Archived from [the original](http://home.comcast.net/~sborst20/PIAS.html) on 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2015-07-06. 1. Sansone, Glen (24 May 1999). ["Play It Again Sam To Distribute Mo Wax"](https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/CMJ/1999/CMJ-1999-05-24.pdf). *CMJ New Music Report*. **58** (619): 12. Great Neck, NY: College Media, Inc. [ISSN 0890-0795](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0890-0795). Retrieved 22 December 2021. 1. ["Universal acquires 49% stake in independent music powerhouse \[PIAS\]"](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/universal-acquires-49-stake-in-independent-music-powerhouse-pias). 30 November 2022. 1. ["Proudly Presenting Rose Gray"](https://www.pias.com/proudly-presenting-rose-gray/). 13 July 2022. ## External links - [Play It Again, Sam](http://www.playitagainsam.net/) - [PIAS site](http://www.pias.com/recordings/) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [PIAS Recordings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIAS_Recordings) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIAS_Recordings?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.