Bloodshot Records is being acquired by Exceleration Music, an investment fund launched by various music industry figures. The news arrives just days after Bloodshot co-founder Rob Miller announced that he “will no longer be a part of the label.” According to a press release, Exceleration came to its acquisition agreement with Miller and Nan Warshaw, the co-founder of Bloodshot who stepped away from the label in 2019.

“Bloodshot is a vitally important part of American music history, a genre-defining label founded on passion and vision, dedicated to bringing a unique set of artists from its musical orbit to the world,” Dave Hansen, an Exceleration partner, said in the press release. “It represents exactly the kind of company that fits Exceleration’s founding ethos, which is to preserve and enhance the legacies of extraordinary independent companies and artists. We are honored to have the chance to work with the music from Bloodshot’s artists, to make sure the future interests of those artists are protected. We look forward to working to keep the Bloodshot history alive and relevant for many years to come.”

Exceleration partnered with Alligator Records earlier this year. The company also acquired the jazz label Candid Records and works with the Ray Charles Foundation. Warshaw shared the following statement about the change in ownership:

From the early days of the Bloodshot Records office in my basement, it was a label where artists could freely create, never having to force their unique sound into a square genre hole or a widget assembly mold. The sale of Bloodshot to Exceleration Music will ensure that the legacy of nurturing and celebrating exceptional indie music will live on.

Bloodshot was my life for more than 25 years. I devoted my time, heart and soul to the artists and the amazing music they were making.  During the last couple of years, I have worked steadily and quietly behind the scenes to bring this to a positive resolution that would benefit the artists.  Throughout this time, I fought to ensure that every artist would be guaranteed their compensation in full.  There were various options considered to allow Bloodshot Records to continue without me, including selling my half to my co-founder, but we ultimately made a mutual decision to sell to Exceleration Music.  Thankfully, Exceleration can provide our artists a creative path forward, breathe new life into their catalog, and offer them meaningful opportunities.  Bloodshot has been working with Exceleration’s team for a decade, and they are indie leaders who will honor Bloodshot’s history and are ideally suited to carry Bloodshot’s artistically-rich legacy onward.

My huge thanks to the wonderfully loyal and fervent fans who formed the backbone of our welcoming and spirited community.  I hope you continue to seek out and champion original great music, because the bands need your support now more than ever.

I want to thank each of the artists who made the crazy idea of Bloodshot Records a reality.  I’m truly honored to have worked with and for you.  You gave me the opportunity to witness mind-blowing artistic development from your first record to your second and from your 10^th show to your 400^th show.  There were the country-as-punk guitar non-solos that almost went off the rails but somehow didn’t, and there were the edgy songs with the most gorgeous harmonies that sent chills down my spine, and so much more.  Thank you for it all.