Instrumental, the fast growing artist discovery and development business focused on talent emerging on social media, today announced that Warner Music has invested in the business, closing its current funding round.
As well as taking a stake in the company, the two will collaborate non-exclusively on a range of activities including A&R, artist development, YouTube channel management, release promotion, brand and content partnerships. Additionally Warner will have an exclusive first look at talent represented by Instrumental Artists – the company’s newly established management arm.
London-based Instrumental focuses on rising music stars in the social space and provides support to talent signing up to its exclusive platform to develop their music careers and commercial potential. Instrumental currently includes over 300 artists and reaches a global fan base of 30 million subscribers on YouTube alone.
Conrad Withey, CEO of Instrumental commented: “This is an extremely exciting development for the business. The investment and partnership gives artists joining Instrumental the confidence that we can help them go from social stars to the top of the charts. Warner Music is a company I know well and the whole team at Instrumental are excited about the potential of this partnership in the UK and around the world to unlock value for artists and brands”.
Max Lousada, Chairman and CEO of Warner Music UK, will join the board of Instrumental as a non-executive director, alongside current board members Bill Roedy (ex Chairman of MTV International), Stewart Easterbrook (ex CEO of Starcom EMEA) and tech entrepreneur Michael Tobin OBE.
Lousada said: “We want to be where creators are and we want to be where fans are. The multichannel network space is somewhere those communities are connecting in rapidly growing numbers so this investment opens up a number of exciting opportunities for us both creatively and commercially.”
John Rees, VP and Head of Digital Strategy and Business Development, Warner Music International commented, “For many of today’s promising new music artists, the online and social arena is where they take their first steps toward building a fan base and honing their craft. Our agreement with Instrumental provides additional potential for us to discover fresh talent and for new acts to find the backing to take their careers to the next level.”
About Instrumental
Instrumental focuses on the discovery and development of artists emerging in the social media space. Since launching, the Instrumental talent network has grown to over 300 artist partnerships around the world and its creative agency arm has delivered campaigns for major brands including Vodafone, Head & Shoulders, Citroen, Studio Canal and Brand Attic. Read more at weareinstrumental.com.
About Warner Music Group
With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry, including Asylum, Atlantic, Big Beat, East West, Elektra, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros., Warner Classics, Warner Music Nashville, and Word, as well as Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world’s leading music publishers, with a catalog of more than one million copyrights worldwide. WMG’s Artist & Label Services division is the umbrella for WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic) – the pioneering distribution and marketing network, and Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) – the groundbreaking global distribution company for independent artists and labels.
