He was then an m.c. in Company Flow, whose records reached a cult audience on the independent label Rawkus, in the mid-nineties.

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Liturgy, whose members live in Brooklyn, records for the respected indie-rock label Thrill Jockey, which made its name in the mid-nineties releasing avant-garde but civilized rock.

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Born in London, but raised in New York, he attended Harvard University, where he studied film and animation before dropping out in the mid-1990s to help launch a hip-hop music label, Rawkus Records.

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Using his distinctive Virgin logo -- first used to brand his record label of the same name in 1972 -- Branson has created companies across a range of industries since the mid-1980s.

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In mid-September it sealed a broad, though nonexclusive, agreement with Universal Music Group to encode the label's active U.S. catalog of 14, 000 albums and 30, 000 music videos.

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