Always one of the more interesting and experimental synth pop acts of the early-‘80s, Marc Almond and Dave Ball, that’s Soft Cell to you and me, were also one of the most successful. Their debut hit single ‘Tainted Love’ topped the charts the world over, including in the USA, and was the UK’s best-selling single of 1981. Their hot-but-cold version of the Northern Soul classic would go on to be covered by Marilyn Manson and sampled by Rihanna, as well as becoming of the most enduring and iconic British records ever made. Their career box set on UMC ‘Keychains & Snowstorms – The Soft Cell Story’ pre-sold its limited run before release date and the forthcoming singles CD collection, ‘The Singles – Keychains & Snowstorms’ also caused a stir upon announcement - as it contains the first new Soft Cell music since 2002. The tracks ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘Guilty (‘Cos I Say You Are)’ show that 30 years after first forming, there’s still something utterly magical about Soft Cell.

To celebrate UMC’s exclusive relationship with the most iconic British music TV show ever, we’ve kicked off a series of music releases with eight 3CD sets celebrating the best chart hits from the show’s lifespan, the period 1964 – 2006. Split neatly into 5-year eras – ‘1964-1969’, ‘1970 – 1974’, ‘1975-1979’, ‘1980-1984’, ‘1985-1989’, ‘1990-1994’, ‘1995-1999’ and ‘2000-2006’ – the sets come branded with the show’s original instantly recognisable logos and contain artists as diverse as The Beach Boys, ABBA, Barry White, Oasis, Soul II Soul, Girls Aloud, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Jam and Blondie. If that wasn’t enough, we’ve also released ‘Top Of The Pops Christmas’, a suitably festive 2-disc collection containing huge Christmas songs from John Lennon, Band Aid, Elton John and more plus a selection of Christmas Number 1’s from the likes of The Human League, Girls Aloud and The Flying Pickets.

Three of our 2017 campaigns - The Beatles 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', Def Leppard 'Hysteria' (30th anniversary) and Elton John 'Diamonds' have been included in Music Ally's annual top digital marketing campaigns report. Check out the report here.

Marvel Music, Hollywood Records and UMC release the long awaited Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (songs only soundtrack), alongside the Tyler Bates composed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Original Score album. A sequel to the hugely successful Grammy® nominated soundtrack to the first film - certified platinum in the UK and the US and the first soundtrack album consisting of entirely previously released songs to go to #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart - Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 2 is a collection of 14 songs that play a pivotal role in telling the Guardians story.

It was 50 years ago this June 1^st when The Beatles’ John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr astonished and delighted the world, ushering in the Summer of Love with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, a groundbreaking masterwork that became popular music’s most universally acclaimed album. To salute the occasion, The Beatles will release a suite of lavishly presented ‘Sgt. Pepper’ Anniversary Edition packages on May 26 (Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/USM). The album is newly mixed by Giles Martin and Sam Okell in stereo and 5.1 surround audio and expanded with early takes from the studio sessions, including no fewer than 34 previously unreleased recordings.

This is the first time Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has been remixed and presented with additional session recordings, and it is the first Beatles album to be remixed and expanded since the 2003 release of Let It Be… Naked.

A special box set of Queen's landmark 1977 album News of the World is set for release towards the end of this year, marking the 40^th anniversary of the original release.

Originally launched in October 1977, News of the World is one of Queen's biggest selling albums of all time.  It opens with two of the band's most indestructible worldwide hits, the Brian May-penned We Will Rock You and Freddie Mercury's We Are The Champions.

The new package includes the original album on CD, plus two further CDs of recently unearthed out-takes and rarities from the band's archives, one of which is a newly created ‘alternative’ version of the whole album – Raw Sessions.

Diamonds, Elton John’s forthcoming ultimate greatest hits collection, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of his phenomenal songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin, is out now in a variety of different formats:

3 CD limited edition box set

2 CD

2 LP gatefold album

Spanning the many decades of Elton’s unparalleled career, each collection features newly remastered audio and is illustrated by British artist Richard Kilroy with iconic Elton looks from each of the five decades of his career.

“We are at 50 years, and our relationship is healthier than it’s ever been. There have been times in our relationship when we’ve written with other people, but it still didn’t stop the love. I love Bernie more than I’ve ever done and I think he probably feels the same way about me, because we’ve both led separate lives; we both write in separate rooms. We have an amazing respect and love for each other that’s only grown.”

Def Leppard’s legendary catalogue is now available to stream and download via your favourite digital platforms.

“It is with a mixture of relief & euphoria that we now see our entire catalogue finally getting a digital release. Having embraced every other format with open arms, especially and more recently the reemergence of vinyl, we’re now going to be available to everyone everywhere and honestly, it’s as exciting as the original releases were.” - Joe Elliott  “We felt we'd been left out of the digital party, but it's a thrill for us to finally accept the invitation and to be able to say ‘Yeah, you can stream us, download us and hear us on all digital outlets’". - Phil Collen

You can now stream & download:

• The Def Leppard EP
• On Through The Night
• High ‘N’ Dry
• Pyromania and many more

‘A Real Labour Of Love’ is the new album from UB40 Featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey, to be released March 2^nd on UMC. Lead single ‘She Loves Me Now’ received its exclusive first play today on BBC Radio 2, and will be available tomorrow to stream and download as an instant grat with album pre-orders.

As founding members of Britain’s biggest reggae band UB40, singer Ali Campbell, second vocalist Astro and keyboardist Mickey Virtue topped the UK singles chart on three occasions and sold 70 million records as they took their smooth yet rootsy musical blend to all corners of the globe. Now with ‘A Real Labour Of Love’ the trio give us a fresh take on the legendary series of albums, putting the focus primarily on reggae tracks from the 1980s.

After the No.1 UK Compilation Chart success of Unmasked: The Platinum Collection, we are delighted to offer the final part of the unmasked suite of releases, a beautiful five LP boxed set version of this already much-loved collection. Unmasked: The Platinum Collection assembles the finest of his cherished works from the past five decades, and contains newly-recorded versions of songs by Lana Del Rey, Gregory Porter and Nicole Scherzinger. It also contains recordings by world-class performers such as Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Elvis Presley and, released for the first time, Beyoncé singing ‘Learn To Be Lonely’ from the 2005 Academy Awards with Lloyd Webber accompanying on piano

On October 5, Universal Music celebrates the apex of John Lennon’s solo career with a six-disc box set, Imagine – The Ultimate Collection.

A timeless record which stands the test of time with seminal songs such as ‘Imagine’, ‘Jealous Guy’, ‘Give Me Some Truth’ and ‘How Do You Sleep?’ amongst many more, the album also includes notable contributions from fellow ex-Beatle George Harrison.

This new edition takes us on incredibly personal journey through the entire songwriting and recording process – from the very first writing and demo sessions at John’s home studio at Tittenhurst Park through to the final co-production with Phil Spector – providing a remarkable testament of the lives of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in their own words.

25th anniversary reissue of The Cranberries’ debut album that has sold over 5,000,000 in the US and over 600,000 in the UK. They were one of the biggest bands of the nineties and this album includes their global hits “Linger” and “Dreams”. The album has been remastered at Abbey Road (under the supervision of the band’s Noel Hogan).

The 4CD deluxe box set will be in a clamshell box and features 5 demos only available on a 300 issue limited release cassette and 30 unreleased tracks.

The Beach Boys are pleased to announce a new album, The Beach Boys With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, that spans decades of timeless Beach Boys hits and favourites across its 17 tracks.

Conducted by Steve Sidwell and Sally Herbert, who also wrote several of the album’s new symphonic arrangements, the orchestra dove into The Beach Boys classics, including the new album’s earliest hit, 1964’s “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and its most recent one, 1988’s “Kokomo.” The album also features the orchestra’s new turns on the signature classics “Good Vibrations,” “California Girls,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,”

Expanded and Deluxe editions to feature previously unreleased material including demos, rough mixes, video, live albums, interviews, never before seen photos and more.

The re-release of …And Justice For All  has been remastered for the most advanced sound quality, as overseen by Greg Fidelman, and will be available in multiple digital and physical configurations.

R.E.M. grew up with the BBC, and this historic relationship is lovingly celebrated across an incredible collection that beautifully illustrates the career trajectory of one of modern music’s greatest bands. The collection—available as a super-deluxe edition 8-CD/1-DVD box set, as well as 2-CD, 2-LP and digital formats—comprises a treasure trove of rare and unreleased live and studio recordings culled from the BBC and band archives. This is a must-have collection for R.E.M. fans and an authoritative introduction for newcomers. In addition to the comprehensive box set, The Best of R.E.M. at the BBC is also available via 2-CD and 2-LP formats. The Best of collection offers a selection of in-studio performance and live broadcast highlights. R.E.M. at the BBC will also be available to stream or download, with the digital album offering mirroring discs 1 to 8 from the box set.

Limited Edition 180 Gram Vinyl Version Includes Mono 12” Single “Sympathy For the Devil” & Flexi Disc of 1968 Jagger Interview wrapped in RSVP Cover Art

Beggars Banquet was the first Stones album produced by Jimmy Miller, and marks the start of what is considered their most prolific album era. Beggars Banquet has a special place in the history of the band, as it is the final album completed with the original lineup of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts.

In the August 10, 1968 issue of Rolling Stone, magazine founder and editor Jann Wenner previewed the album for his readers noting, “The Rolling Stones have returned, and they are bringing back rock and roll with them. They have finished their next album — titled Beggars’ Banquet — and it is the best record they have yet done. In all aspects it is a great album; great Rolling Stones’ material and performance; a great rock and roll album, without pretense, an achievement of significance in both lyrics and music.” Wenner also put Mick on the cover of that issue, with a boastful headline, “The Stones Make the Great Comeback of Their Career.”

Chris Cornell commemorates his life and legacy not only as a singer, but as a poet and one of the most prolific writers and greatest voices of the modern rock era. Vicky, worked extensively with Chris’ bandmates and friends to compile a collection of material from the late artist’s expansive career, showcasing his contribution to music history with selections culled from the deep catalogs of his three influential bands— Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog and Audioslave— as well as songs from his solo career.

The first unreleased track, “When Bad Does Good,” was produced, recorded, and mixed by Cornell and was found in his personal recordings archive. The track was a favourite of his and it wasn’t until friend Josh Brolin, reminded Vicky of the unreleased song, that she decided to share it with his fans.

20th anniversary reissue of Massive Attack’s double platinum (UK) album featuring the original album re-mastered + an album of previously unreleased dub remixes by the Mad Professor (2CD and 3LP super deluxe only).

Widely hailed as their masterpiece, and voted 15 in Q Magazine’s 100 Greatest British Albums Ever (2000), Mezzanine saw the band move away from the ‘trip-hop’ sound they had helped define to embrace rock and electronica.