Ultra Music

Ultra Music was founded in 1995 in New York City by Patrick Moxey as a US-focused dance music label specialising in licensing European electronic releases for the American market. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, Ultra was the primary route by which European trance and progressive house reached US listeners, releasing American editions of records by Tiësto, Paul van Dyk, Sasha & John Digweed, ATB, Above & Beyond, BT, and many more. The Ultra Trance compilation series in the 2000s was a key gateway for a generation of American trance fans. In the 2010s Ultra became the US release partner for the EDM era's biggest names, licensing or releasing material by deadmau5, Calvin Harris, Avicii, Kygo, Swedish House Mafia, and Steve Aoki. The label is closely associated with — though not formally affiliated with — Miami's Ultra Music Festival (Patrick Moxey was an early backer of the event). In 2021 Ultra was sold to Sony Music. The label continues to operate as a major commercial force in dance music, with a strong focus on US chart-friendly progressive and pop-electronic crossover material.