Collect Records have cut all ties with controversial AIDS drug mogul Martin Shkreli.
It comes a day after label owner – and No Devotion frontman – Geoff Rickly said he feared for the future of his business after Shkreli hit the headlines worldwide for raising the price of the drug Daraprim by 5000% from $13.50 (£8.79) to $750 (£488) a pill.
Ricky said yesterday that Shkreli was a silent partner in Collect Records and that he was heartbroken by the revelations.
In a fresh statement, Rickly says: “Today, Collect Records — with the support and encouragement of all of our artists — have agreed to fully sever our relationship with Martin Shkreli, effective immediately.
“When I decided to get into business with Martin, we took him on as a patron. He was completely silent and allowed us to do business as we pleased. His only ask was that we sign bands that we believed could make great art given the right environment and not to focus on a profit, no matter how dire the bottom line.
“Never in a million years did any of us expect to wake up to the news of the scandal that he is now involved in. It blindsided and upset us on every level. As such, we know it is impossible for us to continue having any ties with him.
He continues: “For my part, I’ve always strived to make Collect a place that was so liberal, encouraging, and artist-friendly that no one would ever walk away from us willingly, though to do so at any time would be very easy. To that end, I hope that our bands continue to believe in our guidance and passion. Any of them that have had an incurable crisis of confidence will be allowed to leave with nothing but the kind of encouragement that we’ve built our label on.”
No Devotion issue their debut album Permanence on Friday (September 25) via Collect.
