Warner Music Launches ‘OUT OF ORDER’ Label to Highlight Emerging Markets

The Warner Music Group has launched a new label, called OUT OF ORDER, that will highlight artists from emerging markets including Africa, India, the Middle East, Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, the company announced Thursday (Nov. 10). The new label will partner with Parlophone in the U.K. and Atlantic in the U.S., as well as the local WMG affiliates in respective markets, according to a press release; its tagline is “a diverse collection of sounds in no particular order.”

OUT OF ORDER plans to put a spotlight on several different types of creators in each region with a focus on “dance-leaning records,” with artwork created by local designers and a weekly radio show with hour-long DJ sets inspired by tracks from each of the albums, with the mixes hosted on Audiomack, SoundCloud and YouTube.

“I’m incredibly passionate about this initiative,” said Selina Chowdhury, Warner Music’s head of emerging markets, who will run OUT OF ORDER, in a statement. “There’s so much unique and inspired international music that often doesn’t have a global platform. We hope that OUT OF ORDER will take music fans on an adventure and introduce them to sounds and artists they might not otherwise have had the chance to hear.”

The label’s first release, out Thursday, is called OOO: AFRO, which Warner says “features a mix of Afrobeats, Amapiano and House tracks from the likes of Da Capo, Makhadzi, Moelogo, Oscar Mbo, P-Priime and Rouge,” with artwork by Ghanaian designer Nyahan Tachie-Menson, who said in a statement, “There’s so much going on with the music emerging from individuals on the continent; something we can all relate to is the vibrancy of the music, and that’s what I captured here.”

“Africa is a continent rich with various sounds, which have for the longest time influenced popular culture, but is only now really being spotlighted for its contributions,” Warner Music Africa’s creative lead Garth Brown said in a statement about the release. “This album showcases some of the music from across the continent. It’s an opportunity to give the world a peek of what Africa sounds like.”

OUT OF ORDER’s next release, set for early next year, will be in partnership with Warner Music India.