It’s no surprise to see companies stepping up their efforts in one of the most interesting territories for recorded music growth.
Tag: Monstercat
Posted inNews
Collabs, socials and more: international marketing for Chinese artists
The inaugural Music Ally China Digital Summit is taking place this week, and a panel session today focused on international marketing, with a particular focus on Chinese artists.
“Outside of China, the main Chinese music markets are Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao,” said Keith Tan, director, market development, APAC at CD Baby.
“But I think that the digital side of things has allowed Chinese music artists specifically to also play in a lot of the big cities like London, Sydney, San Francisco, Vancouver, this kind of thing. If you backtrack it to maybe even 10 to 15 years ago, I don’t think Chinese artists – or not that many – were touring to those markets.”
Posted inNews
Monstercat talks games, NFTs and its new 3D influencer
Music Ally has been talking to electronic music label Monstercat, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this month. Activities include a compilation; livestream; the creation of a 3D influencer based on the label’s logo; and the imminent launch of a ‘Lost Civilization’ experience on Roblox.
The latter launches on 6 July, and will be a space where players can complete label-themed quests, buy virtual merch, and hear “hundreds” of tracks from its catalogue. CEO Mike Darlington told us about the ethos behind Monstercat’s deals with games firms and Twitch.
“It’s about new ways to allow people to create with our artist content, but still in models that fairly compensate our artists,” he said. “We always create unique deals, unique discovery mechanisms, that we believe will pay substantially more to their career… none of these deals are standardised, and they are always done in a way that supports the creative economy on the artist side, and on the content creators side. We are committed to making sure our artists can live as artists. Not having to work three jobs to get by as an artist, or having to go on tour for 300 days a year…”
Read the full interview here.
Posted inNews
Monstercat at 10: ‘We haven’t scratched the surface of the possibilities…’
Happy tenth birthday, Monstercat. The Canadian electronic music label has made a habit of innovation and experimentation since being founded in 2011.
In 2021, its catalogue does more than 200m audio streams a month, its weekly live radio show reaches 1.3 million listeners, and it’s deeply embedded in the gaming world through partnerships with Roblox, Twitch, Rocket League developer Psyonix and more.
Now Monstercat is taking a moment to celebrate its first decade in several ways. There’s a ’10 Year Anniversary’ compilation; a livestream featuring artists from across the world on 3 July; the launch of a ‘3D influencer’ based on the label’s logo; and the imminent launch of a ‘Lost Civilization’ experience on Roblox.
Founder and CEO Mike Darlington talked to Music Ally ahead of the anniversary about Monstercat’s first 10 years, and where it might be going next.
Posted inNews
Monstercat bucks the pricey NFTs trend with 50-cent collectibles
It’s fair to say that some of the stonkbusting NFT sales earlier this year were down to crypto-rich collectors: people who’d made fortunes from bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and were […]
Posted inNews
Monstercat gets its own battle pass in online game Smite
“Go ahead. Play God.” No, not the title of the training manual for DSP playlist editors / major label executives / insert other music industry role here as preferred. This […]
Posted inNews
Monstercat buys Silk Music to create its third brand
Monstercat remains one of the most interesting independent labels in terms of the partnerships it’s striking with the games industry. Now it’s also flexing its acquisition muscles. Monstercat has bought […]
Posted inNews
Monstercat revs up for Rocket League’s music-themed second season
We haven’t written as much about Rocket League (three-word primer: football with cars) as we have about games like Fortnite and Roblox, but its creator Psyonix has been working with music labels like Monstercat for some time on its soundtrack.
Psyonix was bought by Fortnite publisher Epic Games in 2019, and this year relaunched as a free-to-play game, complete with Fortnite-style ‘seasons’ with different themes and content. The second season kicks off on 8 December, and it’s going to have a music focus.
That includes a deepening of the Monstercat partnership, starting with a new track from Kaskade and Will K called ‘Flip Reset’ that is available within the game, with a full EP to come. It ties in with a new feature called ‘player anthems’ that will see players choosing songs to play whenever they score a goal. More Kaskade content will follow.
Posted inNews
Monstercat goes ‘hyper-casual’ with Amanotes mobile games deal
Electronic music label Monstercat has always been keen to get its music into games, with a series of inventive licensing deals and partnerships. Its latest is with Amanotes, the Vietnamese developer of ‘hyper-casual’ mobile games.
The deal has already made some of Monstercat’s catalogue available within Amanotes’ biggest mobile game, Tiles Hop (350m downloads and counting) with plans to add the tracks to more than 30 of its other games by the end of this year.
Amanotes says it has more than 95 million monthly active users across those games, with a demographic dominated by 25-44 year-old women.
Posted inNews
Soundtrack by Twitch offers licensed music to streamers
Livestreaming platform Twitch is launching a new feature, Soundtrack by Twitch, with a catalogue of licensed music for its community of creators to use in their streams.
The Amazon-owned company has licensed more than 1m tracks from more than 30 independent labels and distributors for the beta launch, in what’s its second attempt at an in-house music library.
Labels on board include Anjunabeats, Chillhop, Empire, Monstercat, Nuclear Blast and Alpha Pup. The initial distributor partners are DistroKid, UnitedMasters and SoundCloud.
Posted inSandbox
Sandbox issue 232: Music Marketing in Trigger Cities
Lead: This issue we have a special extended feature looking into the phenomenon of Trigger Cities. These are places outside of the obvious music markets that are now – due to streaming and how algorithms are fed – playing a key role in helping break artists and genres. This represents a whole new dynamic for […]
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Posted inNews
Monstercat to hold weekly virtual-reality music events
Independent dance label Monstercat has been one of the more forward-thinking when it comes to gaming: witness its partnership with Psyonix, the developer of popular cars-play-football game Rocket League. Now Monstercat […]