Republic has officially launched a new independent music company, Imperial Music. Veteran executive Glenn Mendlinger will lead Imperial, which has already generated 4b+ streams since its soft launch less than a year ago behind releases from Bo Burnham, G Herbo, Tomorrow x Together and Twice.

Imperial signs, develops and markets emerging independent artists and creators, and partners with Ingrooves Music Group for distribution services. Based in New York, Imperial is a new division of Republic; Mendlinger reports to Monte and Avery Lipman, Republic Records co-founders and executive leadership team. Mendlinger and Imperial will have the flexibility to uniquely upstream artists to Republic who require more resources.

“Imperial Music was created to support the incredible emerging talent that continues to grow in the independent music sector,” Mendlinger commented. “I’m thrilled with the quick and successful impact Imperial Music has made in the marketplace to support the next generation of musicians and creators.”

The new venture has already released a series of successful projects across nearly all genres. In the last two months, Imperial debuted five Top 10 albums, with two of those landing in the Top 5. Additionally, Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) won three Emmy Awards for music direction, variety special directing and variety special writing.

Before joining Republic Records to launch Imperial, Mendlinger spent 21 years at Astralwerks, serving as GM of the influential dance label since 2006. He oversaw campaigns for The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim at the turn of the century; signed Halsey in 2014; and worked with Sia, Phoenix, Empire of the Sun, Kraftwerk and AIR throughout his career.