The Mercury Records label will be relaunched as a new division under the Island Def Jam Music Group.
The relaunched label will be helmed by David Massey, who formerly served as president of Daylight Records and Executive Vice President of A&R at Sony Music Label Group U.S.
“Even more than David’s proven leadership and success as an executive in our business is the track record of trust and inspiration he has won from the artists he’s worked with over the years,” said IDJ CEO Antonio “L.A.” Reid. “This all important quality makes him the perfect choice to pilot Mercury through its latest incarnation as a new cornerstone in the IDJ family. We welcome him to the senior management team.”
IDJ hopes Massey can resuscitate the Mercury Records, which was originally founded in 1945.
“To work alongside L.A. Reid, Shawn Carter, Steve Bartels, Jermaine Dupri and the entire Island Def Jam staff, as we breathe new life into Mercury Records, is a chance to put all our creativity and initiative to the test,” Massey said. “I look forward to the challenge.”
Mercury is mostly a catalog label, but has released albums by groups like Fall Out Boy, Juelz Santana and Kanye West under the Mercury UK in Europe. Super producer Quincy Jones also broke ground at Mercury, when he became the first African-American told hold a Vice President position.
