Ace Records celebrates 50th anniversary and appoints Liz Buckley as Head of A&R

06 February 2025 - Press release

Ace Records − the longest running independent record label in the UK − will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

 

Building further on five decades of a deep passion for and devotion to catalogue exploration and crate-digging culture, Ace Records' 2025 release schedule is bursting with both physical and digital new releases, elaborate box sets and exclusive reissues. There will also be specially curated events and retail experiences running throughout the year, along with editorial media features, fan-exclusive social media stories, themed DJ club events, film projects and a multitude of great live performances linked to the historical legacy of the label.

In conjunction with the label preparing for the 2025 celebrations, Ace has appointed Liz Buckley as head of A&R. Beyond overseeing this year's busy release schedule, Liz's appointment is aimed at securing a steady flow of new products going forward. This role is in addition to Liz's continued responsibility for the label's artist-curated compilations, for which she is the conduit between Ace and artist/management and third-party labels − indie or major − in question.

"Liz taking on the role as our new head of A&R means that we are solidifying the Ace legacy of deep catalogue musical curiosity, premium curation and unique listening experiences − across all various genres, eras, sounds and themes," says Neil Scaplehorn, general manager. "Our 50th anniversary (and all the exciting things that we are planning to celebrate it with) and Liz now liaising with our team of brilliant A&R consultants and artist curators really makes 2025 feel like an incredibly exciting new chapter in the Ace Records saga."

Ace was founded in London in 1975 by Ted Carroll, Roger Armstrong and Trevor Churchill and has for half a century been at the forefront of the deep catalogue business. 

The first inhouse imprint was Chiswick Records, but since then Ace has launched many more − including Kent Records, Big Beat, BGP, Globestyle and Boplicity  − to cater for specific sounds within the eclectic Ace universe: low rider soul, surf, punk, doo-wop, funk, northern soul, rock'n'roll, jazz, blues, R&B, psychedelia, folk and rockabilly. Under the Ace umbrella, hundreds of mainly American independent legacy labels, artists and estates are represented, many through long-term licensing deals, although the main part of Ace's master catalogue (approximately 10,000 titles) is fully owned and has been brought inhouse through outright acquisitions over the past five decades. Ace also owns the publishing arm Rockin' Music, which contains around 4,000 copyrights.

A large part of Ace's business model has always been thoroughly researched and uniquely themed compilations released on vinyl and CD. These are curated either by the company's experienced inhouse team of specialist A&R consultants − Ady Croasdell, Dean Rudland, Alec Palao, Tony Rounce and Mick Patrick − or by outside fans of the label, including luminaries such as Jarvis Cocker, Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs, Bobby Gillespie, David Holmes, Keb Darge, Lenny Kaye, Paul Weller, Jon Savage and Richard Hawley, to name a few.

All in all, the Ace repertoire spans almost all popular music genres in the UK and the US between the 1940s and the mid-80s and its vast catalogue is home to tracks that have spearheaded many key cultural moments − some of the very first punk records, early disco classics, pub rock pioneers, the first commercially released rap record, groundbreaking blues by some of the genre's greats, bringing world music to the mainstream, fuelling the rockabilly revival, taking acid jazz sounds to new heights, making mod jazz cool again and turning the northern soul scene into a worldwide phenomenon.

Ace is also known for the sourcing, audio restoring, repackaging and releasing previously unissued and long forgotten recordings as well as classic albums on vinyl and CD. Perfect for a generation of fans of the label old and new.