Business

Warner and Tony Berg Partner on Crime & Punishment JV

October 22, 2026

(Harrison Whitford)

Warner Records has entered into a joint venture with veteran producer Tony Berg for Crime & Punishment Records, a label dedicated to developing artists. The imprint is being launched with its first signing, singer-songwriter Elle Bramhall.

Crime & Punishment capitalizes on Berg's ability to discover and mentor talent, a skill he demonstrated as co-producer of SOMBR's 2025 breakthrough, I Barely Know Her, which is part of a recent Bergaissance that includes his production work on Phoebe Bridgers' Lost Weekend, Sarah McLachlan's comeback, Better Broken, and the latest album from Bruce Hornsby, Indigo Park.

Aaron Bay-Schuck, chairman and CEO of Warner Records Group, said, "Tony Berg is in rarefied air as an elite producer. Not only does he have incredible taste but he possesses a real gift for bringing out what makes an artist special. What he's accomplished with SOMBR has been pure magic… Bringing Tony's JV to Warner Records was an easy decision.”

Berg added, "Crime & Punishment Records is intended to champion young, ambitious artists… I've been lucky enough in the past eight years to work with Aaron, Tom Corson and Chris Morris at Warner, much as I did when I produced records in the label's previous heyday for Mo Ostin, Lenny Waronker and Michael Ostin. When the new crew expressed interest in a joint venture, I leapt to it. How could I not? And I'm thrilled that Elle Bramhall is our debut signing. She’s an extraordinary young artist with a point of view that is at once fresh and timeless."

Bramhall has an impressive musical lineage. She's the daughter of Doyle Bramhall II, a guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters, and Susannah Melvoin, a latter-day member of Prince’s landmark band The Revolution, and the granddaughter of Wrecking Crew pianist Mike Melvoin and Texas blues great Doyle Bramhall Sr., an associate of both Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan.

Our grandfather could play “Der Fuehrer’s Face” on the kazoo.