Just announced is a digital licensing agreement between Universal and the legendary German jazz label, ECM, which will make the Munich-based company’s entire repertoire available for the first time ever to stream across all digital platforms. This means that from today, Friday November 17th 2017, listeners all across the world will be able to access the label’s catalogue of over 1,600 albums via Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, and, for the audiophiles out there that crave hi-res sound quality, Quboz.
ECM(which stands for Edition of Contemporary Music) was founded 48 years ago in 1969 by jazz bassist-turned-producer, Manfred Eicher, now 74, together with Manfred Scheffner and Karl Egger, who watched the company flourish from the 1970s onwards with the acquisition of star American performers such as pianist Keith Jarrett – who’s still with the label today 46 years after his first recording for them – vibraphonist, Gary Burton, guitarist Pat Metheny, and drummer Jack DeJohnette.
Perhaps more importantly, the label – whose distinctive, high quality artwork was as much an important component of its identity as its sound – also nurtured and showcased a wealth of European jazz talent, including such noted musicians as Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber, Paulo Fresu, Ketil Bjørnstad, Arve Henriksen, Tore Brunborg, Eivind Aarset, Steffano Bollani, and Erik Honoré. The label also presents classical music and the works of contemporary composers via its New Series imprint.
