IPG

International Pelgrims Group: Belgian-French label and record company. Label Code: LC 55072. In February 1973, Belgian entrepreneur E.W. Pelgrims de Bigard formed International Pelgrims Group to bring together the many companies he owned or had a major stake in. The group produced, licensed, manufactured, distributed and retailed records all across Europe and parts of Africa. Major companies in the group included Fonior, Dureco, A.R.E.A.C.E.M., Société Française du Son, Sobelpress S.A., Ecodis and the Belgian retail chain La Maison Bleue. Pelgrims de Bigard was at this point in time the largest independent record manufacturer and marketer in Europe: when IPG was founded, the group sold 36 million records a year (22 million in France, 6 million in Belgium and 8 million in the Netherlands). In early 1973 a subsidiary called Common Market Music Associates was created. Based in Brussels, the company was to be involved in securing distribution in Common Market countries. The new company was headed by publisher Peter Plum and promotor Louis de Vries. Towards the end of the 1970s, the group faced economic hardship and disintegrated. In 1979 Sofrason went into receivership and was liquidated. This was followed by the bankruptcy of the A.R.E.A.C.E.M. plant and of Fonior in 1980. The Belgian pressing plant Sobelpress S.A. was sold to Druco in 1979 and became Elpeco.