Ministry of Sound (MoS) is a nightclub in Elephant and Castle, Southwark, South London. Officially opened in 1992 after weeks of 'secret' club nights, the Ministry had already been packed out through word-of-mouth. Ministry of Sound was one of the key locations in the development of house music and superclubs in Britain in the early 1990s. Ministry of Sound initially set itself apart from other London nightclubs of the time with its location well away from London clubland, a non-alcoholic bar and a highly-acclaimed sound system; all features designed to attract an enthusiastic crowd of music lovers. DJs mix live sets on Friday and Saturday each week. The MoS boasts two spacious dance floors as well as a Sony PlayStation room and Absolut chill bar.

Ministry of Sound was founded by James Palumbo, Humphrey Waterhouse and DJ Justin Berkmann. It is still largely owned and controlled by Jamie Palumbo, son of property developer Peter, Lord Palumbo. Since the club's opening, the MoS brand has been extended to a number of other areas. Profits from the brand put Palumbo on the Sunday Times Rich List 2004, with an estimated worth of £ 136 m. The club opened in the Autumn of 1991.

In recent times, the Ministry of Sound brand has expanded with franchise clubs being opened in Asia, and club tours taking place worldwide. Ministry of Sound Taipei (No. 310, LenQun 3rd. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan) opened March 25, 2004 and Ministry of Sound Singapore (Block C The Cannery, River Valley Rd, Clarke Quay, Singapore 179022) opened December 16, 2005. The former Ministry of Sound Bangkok nightclub (Sukhumvit Soi 11, Bangkok, Thailand) (2002–03), the first club outside the UK, is now closed. Ministry of Sound parties are often held in various locations around the globe. Ministry of Sound New Delhi (India) opened on 27 April, 2007 and is located at C Block Vasant Kunj (The MoS in New Delhi has been sealed & closed indefinitely by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation as it was located in a residential Area, It will open soon at the same location.). Ministry of Sound, Bangalore (India) is due to open October/November 2007. There are also contracter DJs across Australia that have realsed many mix sessions of under the Ministry of Sound logo.

Ministry of Sound is also a record label that produces many compilations each year, featuring many artists. These compilations are compiled from many different genres of music, but primarily the dance, house, and trance genres. In January 2006, the company purchased record label Hed Kandi from The Guardian Media Group and plans to continue maintaining the brand.

The following is a list of some of the compilations put out by the Ministry of Sound record label.

* Beyond Euphoria
* Big Tunes
* Classics
* Chillout Sessions
* Clubber's Guide To... Trance
* Club Nation
* Club Nation America
* Cream Anthems
* Dance Nation
* Electrotech
* Funky House Sessions
* Golden House Sounds
* Hard NRG
* Jungle Rewind
* Late Night Sessions
* Nasty Dirty Sex Music Sessions
* Maximum Bass
* Sessions
* The Annual
* The Mash Up Mix
* Trance Nation
* Trance Nation America
* Sessions mixed by Andy Cato

Source : www.wikipedia.org