Defected

Defected is a British dance music label founded by Simon Dunmore. The label was launched on January 1, 1999, with funding from Ministry Of Sound. It was incorporated as Defected Records Ltd. in September 1998 by Dunmore, who had previously worked as an A&R for Cooltempo and AM:PM. The parent company was established when PolyGram merged with Universal Music Group. Janet Bell, Dunmore's promotions partner at AM:PM, left the label in December 2001 to run Big Love.

From 2004 to 2019, Andy Daniell served as the A&R manager for Defected. The label has various sublabels with separate A&Rs and musical identities and also owns the catalogues of several heritage house labels from the 1990s.

In July 2022, former MD Wez Saunders acquired Defected and its subsidiaries through a management buyout and became the company's CEO. Kid Fonque took over as Head of A&R in 2023, with Dunmore serving as an A&R consultant.