The Orchard
Sony-owned distribution and label-services company with offices in Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi.
- Based in
- New York, United States
- Founded
- 1997
- Website
- theorchard.com
The Orchard is a music distribution and label-services company founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operates from more than 45 cities worldwide.
It qualifies here on a material, named African operation: The Orchard runs offices in Johannesburg under Mpumi Phillips as Director of Distribution, in Lagos under Ikechukwu Onuorah as Director for Nigeria, and in Nairobi with Beth Achitsa as Artist and Label Relations Manager, alongside Lanre Masha as Director for West Africa. Its African client roster has included Busiswa, Naira Marley, the producer Juls and the labels Ambitiouz Entertainment and Ghetto Ruff.
It matters as the distribution arm through which Sony reaches African independents without signing them to the label, and is a separate operation from Sony Music Entertainment’s own African label business.