Breaking Wave Group Launches With U2 and Ed Sheeran Executives

Breaking Wave Group is the new music company built by five veterans who spent decades shaping some of the biggest careers in the business. Jeremy Marsh, Marc Marot, James Radice, Nick Stewart and Beth Claridge formally launched BWG this week, positioning it as a direct response to what they describe as bloated major label rosters that no longer give artists the attention they need.

The five bring serious credentials. Marsh ran divisions at Virgin, RCA, BMG and Warner and worked closely with Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran. Marot managed U2 at Island Records for 18 years, overseeing releases like Achtung Baby and All That You Can't Leave Behind. Stewart was the man who signed U2 to Island back in 1980 and has since worked with Elton John, Blondie and the Eagles. Radice negotiated deals for Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Coldplay. Claridge rounds out the team with two decades of campaign work across major acts.

What Breaking Wave Group Means for Artists Outside the Major Label System

BWG is not just a label. The company operates across four areas: record label, music publishing, artist management and special projects that include investments in transmedia and film. That integrated structure is the point. The idea is that an artist signs in and gets a full team, not a deal with one department that never talks to another.

Distribution is already locked in through PIAS and Virgin Music Group. The first signings are 10cc, British singer-songwriter Rumer and electronic duo Lemon Jelly. Not household names for American audiences, but the point is the model, not the opening roster.

Marsh put it plainly in the press release: "Nobody talks about giving an artist time. They tend to talk about the budget they have, they don't mention how much time they will dedicate to the artist." He used Sheeran as a case study. The major label system as it currently runs, he argues, would not have taken a chance on an unknown busker from Suffolk.

That framing matters. BWG is not pitching itself as a boutique vanity project. It is pitching itself as what a real label used to look like before consolidation made artist development a secondhand priority.

For independent artists and managers watching from Los Angeles, the launch is worth tracking closely. If an executive team of this caliber is walking away from the major infrastructure to build something smaller and more intentional, it signals where at least some of the industry's smartest operators think value is being left on the table. A model that pairs publishing, management and label services under one roof with genuine bandwidth for each act is something a lot of artists say they want and rarely find.

Whether BWG delivers on that promise is the question. The roster and deal flow over the next 12 to 18 months will tell the story. Keep an eye on how their first three signings are developed and whether the group starts attracting artists who have had frustrating experiences at the majors. That is the real proof of concept.

If you are an independent artist or manager building toward that level, [submit your project](/submit) and let us know what you are working on.