The Deals: Sony Korea to Distribute FIFTY FIFTY Label Attrakt; Apple Music Expands Footprint in India

Sony Music Entertainment Korea signed a deal to distribute the roster of K-pop label Attrakt, including its most successful act, FIFTY FIFTY. Sony Korea will also oversee global marketing campaigns and business development initiatives for the company, while Arista Records will handle U.S.-based marketing and distribution. FIFTY FIFTY has a new album slated for release at the end of September.

Apple Music partnered with Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel in a deal that will give the latter company’s customers access to Apple Music later this year by bundling it with Bharti Airtel’s Wynk Music platform, greatly expanding the streamer’s footprint in the world’s most populous country. Access to Apple TV+ is also included in the agreement for Bharti Airtel’s Xstream customers.

Flo Rida and his JettSet1 Enterprises struck a partnership with High Point Gamer, Dash Media Partners and executive producer Damon Jones that’s aimed at building out the gaming lifestyle segment for underserved communities globally, including by increasing educational and career opportunities to those communities in the gaming and tech sectors. Under the deal, the partners also plan to tour High Point’s Madden God tournament series and other console games via a festival-style model. “Together, we’re building career pipelines that will empower the next generation of leaders in gaming and entertainment,” said High Point Gamer co-founder Derek Watford in a statement, adding that the Madden God 4 tournament will be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. at the end of the year.

Seat Unique, an online platform that connects fans with hospitality packages and premium tickets for live events, raised 14.5 million pounds ($19.04 million) as part of an extended Series A funding round led by Nickleby Capital. The funds will be used to further develop the Seat Unique platform, expand its reach into new sectors and more.

Myst Music, a label dedicated to showcasing South Asian music to a global audience, announced a global distribution and label services deal with The Orchard. Under the agreement, Myst artists will have access to The Orchard’s full suite of artist and label services. Sri Lankan musician, actress and model Jacqueline Fernandez will be the first artist to release music under the deal later this month.

Artist partnership company COLTURE, which was a key player in the rise of singer Brent Faiyaz and other artists, formed a partnership with Joe Kay and his company Soulection, which encompasses an independent record label, a global touring arm and a weekly radio broadcast on Apple Music 1. “After thirteen years of remaining independent and achieving many milestones with an ‘artist first’ approach, this collaboration will elevate Soulection to new heights,” said Kay in a statement. “COLTURE’s track record in scaling businesses and their commitment to artist-friendly practices align perfectly with our values.” The partnership kicked off with a series of New York events presented by COLTURE and Kay. More information can be found here.

Three Norwegian indie labels — PropellerRecordings, IndieRecordings and 777 Music — merged to form the new label group Sounds Like Gold. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, the label group will be partnered with Virgin Music Group worldwide. The company is being managed by the founders of Propeller Recordings, Indie Recordings and 777 Music to provide distribution, marketing, administration and creative support to executives working with artists including boy pablo, Highasakite, Gåte and Jan Eggum. The management team includes Kristine Bjørnstad and Tim Dunham, the founders of 777 and former heads of Virgin Music Group’s Nordic operation. Additionally, Sounds Like Gold has assumed operations of the historic record label Grappa and its affiliates, with Grappa founder Helge Westbye serving as the label group’s chairman of the board.

Independent distributor IDOL signed a global partnership with Berlin-based indie label City Slang. Under the deal, IDOL will handle digital distribution, digital marketing and audience development for City Slang’s frontline and catalog releases globally. IDOL will service Caribou’s upcoming album Honey, due out Oct. 4, along with music from Eferklang, Faux Real, Jessica Pratt, Lambrini Girls, Los Bitchos, SPRINTS, Calexico, Tindersticks and Lambchop.

Indie hip-hop label Backwoodz Studioz signed a global distribution deal with Rhymesayers Entertainment that will bring Backwoodz’s catalog to retailers for the first time, including releases by Armand Hammer, billy woods, Kenny Segal, Blockhead, ELUCID, Cavalier, ShrapKnel, Moor Mother, AKAI SOLO, Fatboi Sharif and Fielded. The first release under the deal will be a reissue of artist and Backwoodz founder billy woods and Kenny Segal’s 2019 album Hiding Places on Sept. 27th. “For much of the last ten years, our physical distribution network has been an a la carte affair, working with a variety of different entities on a case-by-case basis,” said woods in a statement, adding, “This distribution partnership should benefit our artists by bringing all our titles under one umbrella, thus simplifying and streamlining our operations, while simultaneously increasing our reach and marketing abilities.”

Licensing platform Soundstripe partnered with DAACI to launch its new AI song editing feature. The tool “analyzes a song and instantly identifies its short, self-contained sections,” allowing editors to rearrange, loop, add or delete those sections in-browser to produce different variations and mixes of a track, according to a press release. They can then download them to insert into their projects. Soundstripe also saves the Content ID of the original track, “keeping producers within the parameters of the original license while editing the track,” the release adds.

iHeartMedia and TelevisaUnivision struck strategic media partnerships with Airtasker, a global marketplace for local services including home repairs, pet care and event planning. iHeart will contribute $5 million in audio advertising media in exchange for a four-year, $5 million convertible note with a 5.0% coupon rate. Univision will invest $4.75 million in terrestrial and digital broadcast services for 17.2% equity in Airtasker.

Turntable Labs secured $8.2 million in seed funding ahead of the public launch of its new social music platform Hangout, which allows music fans, coworkers and more “to gather, DJ together and interact in a playful virtual setting,” according to a press release. The round, which will be used to expand Hangout’s engineering infrastructure team, was led by Founders Fund, Elizabeth Street Ventures, 468 Capital and f7 Ventures, with contributions from angel investor Michael Giumarin, CEO of WordOut. Created by Turntable.fm co-founder Joseph Perla, Hangout boasts virtual DJ booths that allow users to privately spin selected tracks for themselves and their friends while also offering “public themed rooms based on their tastes and interests.” The platform, which is slated for a full public launch later this year, also offers custom digital avatars and chat options.

Canada’s ACTRA Recording Artists’ Collecting Society (ACTRA RACS) partnered with no-code metadata platform Noctil to streamline the ingestion and processing of artist and sound recording metadata. The move is designed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of ACTRA RACS’ operations. Noctil uses AI and machine learning technologies to improve matching and identification, leading to faster and more accurate royalty distributions to artists and performers.