Spinnin’ Records Co-President Roger de Graaf to Retire After 25 Years at the Label
De Graaaf co-founded the Dutch label in 1999, helping turn it into a powerhouse of the EDM era and beyond.
Spinnin’ Records president Roger de Graaf is retiring, a representative for the label has confirmed to Billboard.
De Graaf co-founded the Dutch label in 1999 alongside Eelko van Kooten, maneuvering it through several eras of electronic music and quickly evolving consumption models, from CDs to DSPs.
“In the beginning, we wanted to become the No. 1 dance company in the Netherlands,” de Graaf told Billboard in 2019. “Then we wanted to become the No. 1 dance company in Europe, and then the No. 1 dance company in the world.”
Spinnin’ became a pillar of the EDM era, with a roster including Afrojack and Martin Garrix, Tiësto, Martin Solveig, Nicky Romero, Sander van Doorn, and others. The company’s business structure also includes a flurry of artist imprints including Tiësto’s Musical Freedom and David Guetta’s Future Rave. In 2019, the label focused on international expansion, making inroads in the Brazilian market by signing Brazilian producer Alok and launching Spinnin’ Records Asia.
“Every time we had any success, we didn’t take a lot of time celebrating it,” de Graaf told Billboard in 2019. “We always wanted more and always focused on what could be our next success.”
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The success of Spinnin’ ultimately led Warner Music to acquire the label in 2017 in a deal reportedly worth more than $100 million. This transition saw van Kooten depart the label, with the exec going on to launch Ledo, a global digital distribution platform that partners artists with social media influencers.
In September 2023, de Graaf and Ewout Swart were named co-presidents of Spinnin’ Records. A successor to de Graaf has not yet been announced.
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