In July, Mercury announced that Mike Smith was joining as President, Music. In March 2013, Mercury UK was absorbed into Virgin EMI by Universal Music. Launched in 2007 by Universal Music Australia exclusively as a full-service local (Australian) A&R operation. Mercury Records had been used for some Australian artists in the 1980s and 1990s, but was put into hibernation in 1999 in favour of the Universal label until 2007. In France, Mercury Records operates as a part of the Mercury Music Group, a division of Universal Music Group. Mercury Music Group controls the French operations of UMG labels Mercury, Fontana Records, Verve Records, Decca Records, Blue Note Records, Island Records, Casablanca Records, and Virgin Records, among others. Various other national Universal Music Group companies are known to actively use the Mercury Records trademark as an imprint for their local artist and repertoire operations, but no other Universal Music Group companies use the label as a key marketing differentiator, nor do they operate frontline divisions based on the Mercury label. Launched in 1993 as a division of Nippon PolyGram (now Universal Music Japan), it was later relaunched in 2000 as a joint venture with Kitty Films under the name Kitty MME. It was merged into the Universal J label in 2002. Its artist roster included Seiko Matsuda, Yūji Oda, Delta, ZIGGY, Kinniku Shōjo Tai and Takashi Sorimachi. After 15 years, the label was revitalized under its new name, Mercury Records Tokyo and is now under the Universal Music & Brands (UM & Brands) division of Universal Music Japan. Korean pop group Monsta X was the first artist signed under the newly relaunched label.