The Ministry?s Sound Agenda
A snapshot of the Ministry Of Sound: from its Elephant and
Castle beginnings to becoming a world-brand.
Dance music in London has been synonymous with The Ministry of
Sound since it opened its exceptionally hip doors, in 1991. It?s
ability to attract vast shoals of loved-up dance-heads to the
shady shores of London?s Elephant and Castle is the stuff of
corporate dreams. To this day, it still pulls in 5,000 clubbers
every sweat-swamped weekend ? for full-on cranial and physical
recreation, at the hands of a Richter scale-measuring sound
system.
This, then, is a huge predatory beast with an instinctive
understanding of club culture. And, kraken-like, it dominates
the lively seas of the London club scene - as the undisputed
tentacled daddy. Its grip on the market has allowed its dangly
limbs to stretch into recording, clothing, the media and various
other lucrative Ministry spin-offs.
The Ministry?s four sub-labels: Sound of Ministry, Ride, FSUK
manufacture a spectrum of dance music to feed the full breadth
of the global dance music market and its constituent segments.
In tandem with this, its media operation has a nice syndication
number on the go, these days, allowing 150 radio stations in 38
countries to galvanize the airways with pre-recorded Ministry
output.
HQs in New York, Berlin, Sydney and London, of course, enhance
the credibility of the world-brand being consolidated here. And,
market penetration on a planetary scale continues apace,
mirroring the rise of club culture as a common currency among
near and far-flung youth ? say from: Beijing to Reykjavik,
Mexico City to Mumbai. Ministry bars and clubs look set to be
surfacing in a town near you in the not too distant future. What
remains to be seen, though, is whether the quality of the
product will be compromised in any way, now that the Ministry is
clearly dealing in economies of scale.
The latest issue in what has been a well-received series is The
Ministry?s: The Annual 2005 ? It features a tasty mix of the
year?s spiciest dance tunes, served up on two CDs. CD 1is a
frisky mix of the big numbers that have held sway throughout the
British club scene. These include Armand Van Helden?s My My My,
Call On Me ?Eric Prydz ? Soul Central?s Strings of Life and
Girls by The Prodigy. CD 2 has a harder edge to it, and the
diamonds in this package would have to be Judge Jules? remix of
Michael Woods, Delirium?s Silence, JJ?s So Special and Kristine
Blond?s Loveshy. The limited edition box set has a bonus DVD,
with plenty of piquant vid footage, as an extra condiment.
_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=_=
This article was written by Chris Meehan who is the features
editor at www.Just-Jammin.com
. You may use this article on your site as long as this
resource box is included as is with a clickable link back to
Just Jammin
Copyright: PC Meehan 2005