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Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Steve Aoki takes another step into the metaverse in a special Halloween fashion collaboration with Deadfellaz — an NFT project made up of 10,000 undead, zombie characters.
The collection features a limited-edition run of varsity jackets, skate decks, tees and hoodies designed by Deadfellaz co-founders Betty and Psyche. The centerpiece of the “Deadfellaz x Dim Mak” collection — a nod to Aoki’s record label and fashion brand — is an ultra rare varsity jacket, complete with a twin digital “wearable” that can be unlocked in the metaverse.
“NFTs and Web3 are the future,” said Aoki. “It has been such an adventure to create alongside pioneers such as Betty and Psych of the Deadfellaz Horde. Deadfellaz is an incredible project and a community that I am proud to also be a part of. I am honored to drop this collaboration for our Horde and share our passion with the world – the pieces are colorful, effervescent, and luxurious; I can’t wait to rock them!”
This is not the first time Aoki has partnered with the Deadfellaz community, known as the ‘Horde.’ He DJ’d at their first virtual Halloween event last year while Betty and Psych created a custom 1/1 zombie character for him called the ‘Aoki-fella.’
“Working with Steve has been so fun,” said Betty and Psych, co-founders of Deadfellaz. “He has embraced Web3 and helped shape the space as it is so far, which has been especially impactful given his incredible success given his incredible success in a multitude of spaces like music, fashion, art, tech, and more. This collaboration comes a year after Steve DJ’d an exclusive set for The Horde at our very first Deadfellaz metaverse event last Halloween, so it feels very special to us.”
The fashion collection will be fully revealed at this year’s Deadfellaz Halloween party, Deadzone LA, October 29. Taking place at Skylight ROW in LA’s Art District, the party will feature live performances, DJ sets and “multisensory experiences.”
Aoki has been an early-adopter of Web3 and a core part of the NFT community. He launched the Aokiverse in 2021 — a metaverse fan club powered by NFT access, which allows fans to unlock guest list passes for concerts, free NFTs and exclusive merch. Aoki is also a prolific NFT collector with a wallet full of Crypto Punks, Doodles and Deadfellaz.
Launched in August 2021, Deadfellaz is a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs based on zombie artwork by acclaimed digital artist Psych and co-founder Betty who has been a champion of diversity and inclusivity in the NFT space. Between them, they have created a global brand with more than $80 million in sales.
Chase Matthew, whose moody 2021 song, “County Line,” was certified gold by the Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) this August, has formed a partnership with Warner Music Nashville.
The Nashville native previously released a 2021 EP, Country Line, and a 2022 full album, Born for This, via Ryan Upchurch’s Holler Boy Records.
“There are a lot of things that are important to me as an artist. I want to be able to stay true to who I am and make music I know will resonate with my fans,” says Matthew in a statement. “Ryan Upchurch gave me an opportunity that put me on the map. Looking forward, we wanted to maintain how we work, but grow the team in order to build bigger. Warner Nashville understood our goals and provided the opportunity for a true partnership. I’m thrilled to be able to work with the Warner Nashville team and take this thing to a whole new level for the fans – all while keeping God’s plan first!”
Matthew’s representatives declined to expand on details of the deal and what makes it a “true partnership.”
“Chase’s mix of rebellion and reverence is what drew us to him,” said Cris Lacy, co-president of Warner Music Nashville. “The impact he has on his mass of loyal fans comes from music and messages that are unapologetically redemptive and put him squarely in the center of this format’s most authentic storytellers.”
Ben Kline, co-president of WMN, added, “The fan reaction to Chase and his music, both in his live show and in the streaming and engagement metrics, are proof of just how talented he is.”
Matthew is the latest signing under Lacy and Kline, who were promoted to co-presidents earlier this year following John Esposito’s move to CEO Emeritus. It follows the recent signings of country singer/songwriter Madeline Edwards and alternative rock band Giovannie and the Hired Guns. Matthew’s first single from Warner Music Nashville will be “She Loves Jesus,” out Oct. 28, with more new music coming over the next several months.
Matthew is on a headlining tour with upcoming dates including Portland, Ore. tonight and Medford, Ore. Friday (Oct. 14) before playing the Golden Sky Festival in Sacramento, Calif. on Saturday (Oct. 15) alongside Tim McGraw, Brothers Osborne and Carly Pearce.
Carlton James Group invested $50 million in Bristol, U.K.-based distribution and artist label services company 3tone Music Group to fund the additional expansion of the company’s distribution platform. 3tone, which is run by CEO Dean Roberts and managing director Chris Borud, was first backed by Carlton James Group in 2019. The company offers indie artists unlimited digital distribution to multiple streaming platforms for an annual fee, a model that echoes more established companies like DistroKid and TuneCore.
Warner Music acquired a stake in Serbian label Mascom Records. The acquisition expands the companies’ relationship, as Mascom has acted as Warner Music’s local distributor for more than 20 years. Under the new arrangement, they will work together to build a roster of local artists, with the opportunity for artists to be upstreamed into Warner’s global network. Mascom’s catalog will continue to be distributed by Warner’s ADA. The companies have recently been jointly working with Serbian artist Sergej Panic on his new releases “Kabul” and “Mia Bella.” In a statement, Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska, general manager of Warner Music South East Europe, called the deal “a landmark development” for Warner in the region.
U.K.-based livestreaming company Driift acquired the livestreaming technology and sales platform Dreamstage, with the combined businesses set to operate under the Driift name, led by CEO Ric Salmon and COO Claire Mas. Driift also secured an additional $4 million investment from Deezer, bringing the company’s total investment from the European streaming service to $7 million in 2022. Deezer is now the largest shareholder in Driift; it had become a majority shareholder in Dreamstage prior to the acquisition.
Atlantic Records partnered with Record Store Day for a new series that will showcase developing artists at independent music retail stores across the U.S. The first artist to be highlighted by the program is Neon Gold/Atlantic singer-songwriter Joe P, who will kick off the series with the release of a deluxe vinyl edition of his debut EP, Emily Can’t Sing. The series will feature 10 to 12 emerging artists over the next year while incorporating exclusive in-store signings and performances. Joe P has already signed on for eight upcoming in-store signings while he’s on tour. The partnership was negotiated by Record Store Day’s Michael Kurtz and Atlantic Records’ Jack McMorrow. In November and December, the series will feature the artist Surf Curse.
Warner Music Poland and Groupa STEP, owner of the independent Polish hip-hop label Step Records, launched a new business partnership to support local hip-hop artists. No further information was provided about the deal.
Cyanite, which offers AI-powered music tagging and search, will provide BMG with automatic tagging to make its entire 3 million song repertoire more searchable and accessible for synch placements. Under the agreement, Cyanite’s technology will be integrated into BMG’s internal content management system BMG Songs.
Social-first media company The News Movement will use UnitedMasters‘ independent music repertoire to soundtrack its news stories on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Snap under a new partnership.
Session, the company behind the collaboration app Session Studio for music creators, partnered with SoundCloud in a deal that will see the streaming platform become the first to digitally receive both song audio and essential song metadata directly from the Session Studio app. Session Studio is designed to make it easier for songwriters, artists, producers and more to track who contributed what at the point of creation across mobile, desktop and online.
Web3 platform OneOf signed an exclusive three-year partnership with the Latin Recording Academy. Under the deal, OneOf will host the first-ever NFT collection tied to the Latin Grammy Awards. The first collection will debut throughout October 2022.
Pop-rock singer Charlotte Sands (“Dressed,” “Loved You a Little”) signed a distribution deal with Vydia, as did house DJ Robbie Rivera, for whom Vydia will also handle marketing, synch, project management and DSP pitching for forthcoming releases on Rivera’s Juicy Music Group along with Rivera’s existing catalog. The Rivera deal includes a catalog transfer of over 350 songs via Juicy Music.
Ryan Oakes signed a recording and publishing deal with Position Music that will cover both new and existing repertoire.
New York artist VÉRITÉ partnered with Troy Carter and Suzy Ryoo‘s Venice Music, which offers tools, services and artist support while allowing artists to retain creative autonomy and ownership over their work.
Berlin-based house and techno record label Get Physical Music signed a global sales and distribution deal with independent digital label services provider LabelWorx. The deal covers Get Physical’s full catalog, along with its imprints Cocada Music, Kindisch, Metaphysical and Poesie Musik.
Digital collaboration-based music platform BeatConnect closed an initial investment round of $2.2 million. Participants include lead investors FICC (Fonds d’investissement de la culture et des communications) and its partners, which contributed a total of $1 million. Also joining the round was angel investor network Anges Québec with around $615,000 and entertainment tech investment fund Triptyq Capital with around $540,000. BeatConnect will use the funds to build a new tool aimed at linking multiple DAWs together for cross-platform collaboration and remote sharing sessions for music creators.
R. Wayne Martin‘s boutique management firm mthree signed music producer John Hiler (Rihanna, Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins) to its new division focused on managing music producers. His day-to-day manager at the firm is Jeff Betten.
Nettwerk Records announced a slew of signings, including lo-fi trio PanCake, Flemish lo-fi producer Phlocalyst, Germany-based singer-songwriter M. Byrd, Berlin-based songwriter and producer Chris James, Los Angeles rock band The Strike and pop singer Michal Leah, whose new single “the way i love you” drops on Friday (Oct. 14).
Triple 8 Management signed singer-songwriter Erin Kinsey, who is signed to RECORDS/Columbia Nashville.
Texas-based singer E Bleu signed a 10-song partnership with AWAL that will provide him with marketing and streaming support while allowing him to keep his masters. His most recent release is the Shawn Barron-executive produced single “No Biggie.”
Create Music Group signed Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) #9797 (a.k.a. Jimbo).
Membership of the Secretly Group Union has ratified a contract with the company’s managers, the union announced on Twitter Wednesday (Oct. 12).
Although the union — which represents workers at indie labels such as Secretly Canadian, Dead Oceans and Jagjaguwar — declared it “could not be prouder to be the first independent label group union,” it did not disclose contract terms. It described contract negotiations with management as a “long and very difficult fight.”
In a Twitter statement Wednesday, Dead Oceans said, in part: “This agreement marks a new chapter in Secretly’s ongoing commitment to our staff, to our workplace and to the core values we bring to artist and label partners every day.”
Secretly reps did not respond to a request for a comment, and an anonymous union spokesperson said they weren’t ready to discuss the terms of the contract, announced last night. “At the moment, we’re all exhausted from yesterday’s events,” the spokesperson said.
Working with the Office and Professional Employees International Union, or OPEIU Local 174, the Secretly employees formed their union in March 2021 and set a recognition deadline for management — which the company quickly agreed to do. Secretly Group artists include indie stars such as Phoebe Bridgers, Japanese Breakfast, Bon Iver and Angel Olsen, several of whom have expressed support for the union effort over the past year.
Last year, a Secretly Group Union rep told Billboard, “The enthusiasm for the culture in which music industry workers contribute can be weaponized against them and lead to exploitation and unfair treatment. . . . We absolutely hope this inspires others to unionize.”
The company, which employs 150 people, responded, “It’s always difficult to hear that there are people within the company who are unhappy . . . but we hope that this union effort speaks to their belief that our common ground — love for the work we do, and for the music and culture we share with the world — is truly and deeply shared.”
Unions are common for musicians, who belong to longstanding groups like the American Federation of Musicians, but they’re rare among record labels. After the Secretly union began its bargaining process last year, the group put out statements from workers to draw support for its cause. “I believe we can set a precedent for ourselves — and others working in the industry — that mandates fairer wages, inclusivity, and increased diversity, all in a collaborative workplace,” Michael Brennan, a designer for the company, said in an August 2021 union Instagram post.
The comedian & his co-plaintiff Clayton English allege they were racially profiled and illegally stopped at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.