 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | November 2017 |
| Founder | Steve Stoute |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Website | www |
UnitedMasters is an American music distributor based in the United States founded by Steve Stoute in November 2017. [1] On February 16, 2023, Baton Rouge, Louisiana rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again noted that he owns a percentage of the company and has had several talks with Steve Stoute on Rap Radar, a music podcast. [2]
UnitedMasters was launched in November 2017 by Steve Stoute with a $70 million Series A led by Google's corporate umbrella Alphabet alongside venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and 21st Century Fox. [3]
In 2018, UnitedMasters rolled out the distribution feature on its platform titled Releases. The Releases feature allows artists to upload their music and album artwork and distribute their music to all major streaming services through the UnitedMasters platform. [4]
In 2019, UnitedMasters announced the appointment of its first President, Lauren Wirtzer-Seawood. Wirtzer-Seawood formerly served as Head of Music Partnerships at Instagram. [5] Prior to that, Wirtzer-Seawood spent two years as the Head of Digital at Beyoncé's entertainment and management company, Parkwood Entertainment. [6]
In 2022, UnitedMasters distributed songs for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by cooperating with artists like Nora Fatehi, Rahma Riad, Balqees, Manal and RedOne. [7] [ better source needed ]
In 2018, UnitedMasters announced a global partnership with the NBA. [8] [ better source needed ]
In early 2019, UnitedMasters artists helped launch the Bose Frames products by featuring the product in their music videos. UnitedMasters helped identify ambassadors for the campaign and Bose assisted in the development and promotion of each artist's music videos. [9] [ better source needed ]
In a 2019 partnership with iHeartRadio and AT&T, UnitedMasters helped major radio stations including Power 105.1 in New York City and Real 92.3 in Los Angeles celebrate emerging artists in their cities. Through 'The Come Up Show' series, independent artists got the opportunity to submit music for the chance to receive major radio play, $25,000, and a distribution deal through UnitedMasters. [10]
Also in 2019, UnitedMasters announced a partnership with NBA 2K20. [11] [12] [13] [14]
In June 2020, UnitedMasters launched "Cash for Change", a joint venture with mobile payment service Cash App to highlight songs by artists who address political and social issues, predominantly climate change. [15]
In August 2020, UnitedMasters partnered with TikTok to enable music from creators who have joined UnitedMasters to be promoted onto the platform's Commercial Music Library. The partnership was intended to translate trending activity into musical success; several artists who utilize UnitedMasters have found success on the app, such as NLE Choppa and BMW Kenny. [16]
In September 2020, UnitedMasters partnered up with Twitch to feature licensed music for creators. That also includes with CDBaby, Distrokid, and other music distributors. [17]
In March 2021, UnitedMasters raised $50m in a Series B venture round. Funding was led by Apple Inc, with follow-on funding by Google's corporate umbrella Alphabet and Andreessen Horowitz. [18]
In July 2023, UnitedMasters partnered with 1789, a record label owned by Nigerian music producer, Sarz to promote artists and producers across the five regions of Africa. [19]
In April 2024, UnitedMasters partnered with Nine+ Records, a record label owned by American-Nigerian singer and songwriter, Davido to focus on artist development, A&R, and comprehensive support for new signees across various genres, including Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B, and Latin music. [20]
In July 2019, UnitedMasters unveiled its new iOS app which makes the features of the UnitedMasters platform available on mobile devices. [21] The iOS app allows artists to easily distribute music directly from their text messages, Dropbox, or iCloud to major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple, Tidal, and YouTube. [22] Similar to the desktop platform, artists can view streaming stats, playlisting details, financial earnings, and social stats as well as access opportunities for brand partnerships. [23]
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, known professionally as Nas, is an American rapper and entrepreneur. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas began his musical career in 1989 under the moniker "Nasty Nas", and recorded demos under the wing of fellow East Coast rapper Large Professor. Nas made his recording debut on Professor's group, Main Source's 1991 song "Live at the Barbeque".
Dilated Peoples is an American Los Angeles-based hip hop trio, composed of rapper and record producer Evidence, rapper Rakaa, and Beat Junkies deejay and record producer DJ Babu. The group is better known in the UK, where they reached the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart with two tracks, "This Way" and "Worst Comes to Worst". Their songs were featured in the 2003 video games Need for Speed: Underground and NBA Street Vol. 2, as well as MLB 06: The Show.
Christian hip hop is a cross-genre of contemporary Christian music and hip-hop. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United States during the 1980s.
Korean hip-hop, also known as K-hip-hop or K-rap, is a subgenre of the South Korean popular music.
The Canadian hip hop scene was established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much slower than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained largely an underground phenomenon until the early 2000s.
Hakeem Temidayo Seriki, better known by his stage name Chamillionaire, is an American rapper. He began his career in Houston's hip hop scene in the late 1990s. He was briefly signed with the local record label Swishahouse until forming the hip hop duo Color Changin' Click with labelmate Paul Wall in 2002. The two signed with Houston's Paid in Full Entertainment to release the collaborative album Get Ya Mind Correct (2002), which entered the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
"Hate Me Now" is the second and final single by rapper Nas featuring Puff Daddy, from Nas' third studio album I Am.... The backbeat is inspired by, and contains some samples from, Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana". It was ranked 119 on XXL's 250 Best Songs of the 1990s.
Ill Na Na is the debut studio album by American rapper Foxy Brown. It was released by Def Jam Recordings on November 19, 1996, and reissued on September 29, 1997, in the UK with an additional song "Big Bad Mamma". Brown began working on the album after being discovered by the production team Trackmasters and appearing on a number of singles by other artists, such as LL Cool J, Case and Jay Z. The immediate success of the singles led to a bidding war at the beginning of 1996, and in March, Def Jam Recordings won and signed the then 17-year-old rapper to the label. Mostly produced by Trackmasters, Ill Na Na features guest appearances from Blackstreet, Havoc, Method Man, Kid Capri and Jay Z. Lyrically, the album mainly focuses on themes of fashion, sex and mafia.
Steve Stoute is an American record executive who concurrently was Executive Vice President of Interscope Geffen A&M Records and President of Urban Music at Sony Music from 1999 to 2009. In 2017, he founded the music distribution platform UnitedMasters, for which he is chief executive officer (CEO). He also founded Translation, a music marketing agency, in 2004.
The Album is the only studio album by American hip hop supergroup The Firm. It was released on October 21, 1997, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The project was created by rapper Nas, his manager Steve Stoute and producers Dr. Dre and Trackmasters, who came up with the idea of forming a hip hop supergroup. The original line-up included Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown and Cormega who were all featured on the song "Affirmative Action" from Nas' album It Was Written (1996). However, Cormega later left the group due to artistic differences between him and Nas, as well as contract disagreements with Stoute. He was replaced by Nature prior to recording of the album. The Album is a concept album that revolves around the themes of mafia and "gangsta" lifestyle. The songs on the album were mainly produced by Dr. Dre, Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Trackmasters, and feature guest vocals from Pretty Boy, Wizard, Canibus, Dawn Robinson, Noreaga and Half-a-Mill.
"If I Could Go!" is the first single released from American rapper Angie Martinez's second studio album, Animal House (2002). The track features rapper Sacario and singer Lil Mo and was produced by Rick Rock. Rick Rock co-wrote the song with the three performers. It is Martinez's highest-charting song to date on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 15. The song won two Certified BDS Spin Awards for 50,000 radio spins and 100,000 radio spins.
SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming services in the world and is available in 190 countries and territories. The service has more than 76 million active monthly users and over 200 million audio tracks as of November 2021. SoundCloud offers both free and paid memberships on the platform, available for mobile, desktop and Xbox devices. SoundCloud has evolved from a traditional online streaming platform to an entertainment company.
Drew "Dru Ha" Friedman is an American music and marketing executive based in New York City. Friedman is Co-Founder and CEO of Duck Down Music Inc., 3D Consulting & Distribution, General Manager for Cinematic Music Group, and former Director of Urban Music at Cornerstone Promotion. Born and raised in White Plains, New York, he is a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications where he studied advertising.
OVO Sound is a Canadian independent record label, founded in 2012 by rapper Drake, producer 40, and manager Oliver El-Khatib. The label operated as an imprint of Warner Records from its formation until 2022.
"0 to 100 / The Catch Up" is a song recorded by Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on July 15, 2014, by Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records. The song was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 30, 2015, for selling over 1 million digital copies in the United States.
Litt Live is a digital radio broadcasting platform with over 80 radio stations. These stations are curated by DJs, radio personalities, musicians, etc. The platform includes partner stations curated by Snoop Dogg, Kylie Jenner, Lil Wayne, Tech N9ne, Borgore, B-Real of Cypress Hill, and others. Dash Radio has no subscription fees and is commercial-free.
Genius is an American digital media company founded on August 27, 2009, by Tom Lehman, Ilan Zechory, and Mahbod Moghadam. Its website serves as an online music encyclopedia allowing users to provide annotations and interpretation to song lyrics, news stories, sources, poetry, and documents.
Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again or NBA YoungBoy, is an American rapper. From 2015 to 2017, he released eight independent mixtapes and garnered a regional following for his work. He signed with Atlantic Records and Artist Partner Group in the latter year to release the singles "Untouchable" and "No Smoke", both of which marked his first entries on the Billboard Hot 100. Released in January of the following year, his single "Outside Today" became his first to peak within the top 40 of the chart, and received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It served as both his mainstream breakthrough and the lead single for his debut studio album, Until Death Call My Name (2018), which peaked at number seven on the US Billboard 200 despite mixed critical reception.
Audiomack is a music streaming and audio discovery platform that allows artists to upload music and fans to stream and download songs. It is especially popular among emerging artists, offering a space to share their music. The platform supports genres such as Hip-hop, R&B, Afrobeats, and Latin music, with a focus on providing a free, user-friendly streaming experience. Audiomack is available as a web-based service and as an app on macOS, Android devices and Windows.
Nine+ Records is a Nigerian record label established by acclaimed Afrobeats artist Davido in April 2024. The label was launched in partnership with American music distribution company UnitedMasters, aiming to discover and nurture musical talents across various genres, including Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B, and Latin music.
