History Creator / MuteRecords

Creator/WarnerMusicGro

In 2002, the label was bought out by Creator/{{EMI}}, giving Mute further clout as a subsidiary of one of the biggest major labels in the world[[note]]though in North America, they already had at least some degree of major label clout since 1981 through Creator/SireRecords and Creator/RepriseRecords' handling of the Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure catalogs in the region; Warner sister labels at the time such as Creator/ElektraRecords, Tommy Boy Records, Maverick Records, and the Alternative Distribution Alliance have also distributed Mute's output in the region.[[/note]]. The deal was short-lasted, with Mute returning to independent status in 2009 (though giving EMI their back-catalog rights up until the company's 2012 dissolution), but the label still maintained the same headway that they'd built up to over the decades with the solo debut of Dave Gahan and a campaign of both reissues and new releases by Music/TheResidents. Mute continued to keep their heads above water throughout the 2010's, popping back into the music news cycle when Factory alums Music/NewOrder signed on in 2014, and in 2017 the label relaunched Novamute with new releases from Nicolas Bougaïeff and Terence Fixmer. Today, Mute continues to maintain its position as one of the most prominent British alternative labels; while its biggest acts are no longer dominant in popular music and the rights to its backlog are now split up among Creator/SonyMusic (who own the Depeche Mode catalog) and BMG Rights Management (who own almost everything else as part of the European-mandated rights divestment from Creator/UniversalMusicGroup after the collapse of EMI), it continues to act as one of the biggest success stories in indie history.

* Music/TheProdigy (US and Canada only)

As the 80's continued, not only did Mute continue to find success with the rising star of a Clarke-less Depeche Mode and Clarke's third and longest-lasting outing, Music/{{Erasure}}, they also managed to garner more and more talents among their roster, from Music/NickCave to D.A.F. alum Robert Görl to Laibach to the archival works of Music/EinsturzendeNeubauten. Alongside Creator/FactoryRecords, Mute became a leading label in alternative dance, though eschewed Factory's idiosyncratic mix of minimalist aesthetics and bizarre cataloging in favor of a bolder, more exact look and style (for one, Mute didn't assign catalog numbers to stray animals and dental surgeries). By the end of the decade, AlternativeRock broke into the American mainstream, and with it Depeche Mode quickly became the FaceOfTheBand for Mute, who themselves now attained international legitimacy off of this success. Meanwhile, as Factory found themselves stumbling into bankruptcy in the early 90's, Mute reached even greater heights, launching the techno subsidiary Novamute in 1992, becoming one of the first British record labels to establish an online presence in 1994 and capping the millennium off by signing on Music/{{Goldfrapp}}.