Ministry Of Sound

About Ministry Of Sound

Ministry of Sound (MoS), is one of the most famous nightclubs, in the world of house / trance / techno music - said to be: to London, what Studio 54 was to New York - well known across UK borders. Located in Elephant & Castle, London - it opened Sept ‘91, with weeks of ‘soft launch’ (‘secret’ club nights), the club had already been packed-out by word-of-mouth, before full launch in ‘92. Ministry of Sound was one of the key locations in the development of house music & super-clubs, in early ’90s Britain.

Ministry of Sound radio broadcasts live, from the club, 24/7. MoS initially set itself apart from other London nightclubs of the time with its location well away from London clubland, a non-alcoholic bar and a highly-acclaimed sound system; all features designed to attract an enthusiastic crowd of music lovers. DJs mix live sets on Friday and Saturday each week. The MoS boasts two spacious dance floors as well as a Sony PlayStation room and Absolut chill bar.

Ministry of Sound was founded by Jamie Palumbo, Humphrey Waterhouse and DJ Justin Berkmann. It is still largely owned and controlled by Jamie Palumbo, son of property developer Lord Peter Palumbo. Since the club’s opening, the MoS brand has been extended to a number of other areas. Profits from the brand put Palumbo on the Sunday Times Rich List 2004, with an estimated worth of £136m. The club opened in the Autumn of 1991.

Franchised clubs

In recent times, the Ministry of Sound brand has expanded with franchise clubs being opened in Asia, and club tours taking place worldwide. MoS Taipei (No. 310, LenQun 3rd. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan) opened March 25, 2004 and MoS Singapore (Block C The Cannery, River Valley Rd, Clarke Quay, Singapore 179022) opened December 16, 2005. The former MoS Bangkok nightclub (Sukhumvit Soi 11, Bangkok, Thailand) (2002–03), the first club outside the UK, is now closed. A new MoS club in Moscow is slated to open in March 2007.

Ministry of Sound is also the name of a ‘group’ who produced two LPs of ’60s pop’ style music, under the titles ‘Midsumemr Dreaming’ and ‘Men from the Ministry’. I say ‘group’ in quotes because I don’t believe the band had any existence outside of a recording studio.

Record labels and radio

Ministry of Sound is also a record label that produces many compilations each year, featuring many artists. These compilations are compiled from many different genres of music, but primarily the dance, house, and trance genres. In January 2006, the company purchased record label Hed Kandi from The Guardian Media Group and plans to continue maintaining the brand.

Ministry of Sound Radio operated on DAB in London on the Switch Digital multiplex, but closed in December 2002. A “radio” stream continued via the website, and MOS Radio re-appeared on satellite in May 2006, launching to the Sky Digital EPG on June 6, 2006.

Also, the soundtrack in the game Extreme-G 3 by the now-defunct Acclaim Entertainment is mainly music produced by Ministry of Sound.

Electronic goods

The name has also been licensed for use on electronic goods sold by Alba, including MP3 players, home audio systems, DVD players and in-car entertainment systems.

Ministry Of Sound

Source: Last FM