Dragoon Guards ink ?1 million record deal with Universal

To any organization that claims that there is no substantial money to be made from pipe band music, they may want to take note of the record deal that the Pipes & Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards have just signed with Universal Music, one of the world’s biggest record labels.

Valued at £1 million, the contract is for the band’s CD, Spirit of the Glen, which is scheduled for release on November 26th. The Grade 2 band, which finished ninth overall in the grade at the World Pipe Band Championships, completed the recording between tours of duty in Iraq.

The well known record producer Jon Cohen worked with the band to make the CD, which “features traditional Scottish tunes and classical numbers,” according to a news release. Cohen has worked with many prominent artists, most commercially successfully the boy-band The Backstreet Boys. Tracks on the Dragoon Guards’ CD will include Wings’ “Mull Of Kintyre” and “Sailing” by Rod Stewart.

Except for CDs like Sprit of the Glen that are specifically targeted at a mainstream audience, the biggest-selling pipe band recordings each year are those made from the World Pipe Band Championships. Despite court rulings that have determined that all performers on commercial recordings are entitled to fair compensation, no proceeds from the World’s recordings go to the artists who are featured on the products.