UnitedMasters is an American music distributor based in the United States founded by

Steve Stoute Steve Stoute (born June 26, 1970) is an American businessman and record executive. Stoute is the founder and CEO of the Translation, a marketing agency, and the author of ''The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the ...

in November 2017. UnitedMasters gives artists the ability to distribute music to all major streaming services. Distributed artists are eligible to participate in advertisements, brand partnerships, and other promotions that can earn them money and new fans. UnitedMasters gives artists access to their streaming and social data, this gives them information on how to maximize their fan engagement. The company claims to represent 1 million artists, one of the more notable being rapper NLE Choppa. 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

on ''Rap Radar'', a music podcast.

History

Formation

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 Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, f ...

Music distribution

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. In 2019, UnitedMasters announced the appointment of its first President, Lauren Wirtzer-Seawood. Wirtzer-Seawood formerly served as Head of Music Partnerships at Instagram. Prior to that, Wirtzer-Seawood spent two years as the Head of Digital at

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

's entertainment and management company, Parkwood Entertainment. In 2022, UnitedMasters distribute songs for

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was founded ...

by cooperating with several artists like Nora Fatehi, Rahma Riad, Balqees, Manal and

RedOne Nadir Khayat ( ar, نادر الخياط; born 9 April 1972), better known by his stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan singer, songwriter, record producer and record executive. As a record producer and songwriter, he has worked with many high-profi ...

Partnerships

In 2018, UnitedMasters announced a global partnership with the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. 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. In a 2019 partnership with

iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...

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. Also in 2019, UnitedMasters announced a partnership with NBA 2K20. In June 2020, UnitedMasters has partnered up with

Cash App Cash App (formerly Square Cash) is a mobile payment service available in the United States and the United Kingdom that allows users to transfer money to one another (for a 1.5% fee for immediate transfer) using a mobile phone app. In September 2 ...

to launch a new grant program called "Cash for Change", to highlight songs by artists that address social and political climate. In August 2020, UnitedMasters and TikTok announced a partnership to allow TikTok artists to distribute their original songs through all streaming platforms, Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube among others. It will also allow artists to sign deals with brands like the

. In September 2020, UnitedMasters has partnered up with Twitch to feature licensed music for creators. That also includes with CDBaby,

Distrokid DistroKid is a service by an independent digital music distribution service, founded in 2013 by American entrepreneur Philip J. "Pud" Kaplan. DistroKid principally offers musicians and other rights-holders the opportunity to distribute and sell ...

, and other music distributors. 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. In August 2021, UnitedMasters,

Symphonic Distribution Symphonic Distribution is a digital music distribution company launched in late 2006 by Jorge Brea, in Tampa, Florida. Symphonic Distribution delivers music from independent record labels and musicians to online retailers such as Spotify, iTune ...

, and

Horus Music Horus Music Limited is a global digital distribution and label services company. Established in 2006, Horus Music allows artists, labels and right-holders to send their music to over 200 download, streaming, and interactive platforms including ...

partnered with music funding company
beatBread
to offer clients more access to capital. beatBread's chordCashAI technology provides an automated advance experience for independent musicians while enable clients to choose their own terms and retain ownership of their music.

Technology

In July 2019, UnitedMasters unveiled its new iOS app which makes the features of the UnitedMasters platform available on mobile devices. 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. 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.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
American companies established in 2017 Companies based in New York City Companies based in San Francisco