Mass Appeal X Orchard
Sony Music‘s The Orchard has inked a strategic partnership with Mass Appeal Records, one of the best known independent labels in hip-hop.
The agreement marks another aggressive deal in the US hip-hop space for Sony Music, following its acquisition of J Erving’s Human Re-Sources in December.
Mass Appeal Records is co-owned by rap legend Nas, who will release his own new material via The Orchard as a result of the deal.
The news comes off the back of a big year for Nas, who recently won his first ever Grammy for Best Rap Album for his latest LP, King’s Disease.
“TO COME BACK TO SONY MUSIC WITH MY OWN LABEL IS A MAJOR MILESTONE.
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Mass Appeal’s full artist roster will have access to The Orchard’s label and artist services, which include distribution, marketing, sync licensing, video services, data analysis, advertising, rights management, radio promotion and more.
The deal brings Nas back to Sony Music, where via Columbia he released classic early records like Illmatic (1994), It Was Written (1996), and I Am… (1999).
“This is a full circle moment for me,” said Nas. “To come back to Sony Music with my own label is a major milestone.
“We see this multi-phase initiative as an opportunity to continue to push the culture forward, educate, and inspire. It’s what we do it for, I couldn’t be more excited.”
The announcement brings to an end Mass Appeal Records’ three-year global distribution relationship with Universal Music Group.
However, it doesn’t mark the end of Mass Appeal’s relationship with UMG completely: Mass Appeal Records is an arm of the main Mass Appeal company, which makes content (movies/TV/podcasts) as well as acting as an award-winning creative media partner for clients such as Sony Music, UMG, and Google.
UMG became a minority investor in the parent Mass Appeal company in 2017.
In addition, UMG and Mass Appeal continue to run Mass Appeal India together – a label which recently saw track Chal Bombay by priority signing DIVINE go 30X Platinum (yes, thirty times) in its home country. DIVINE’s album, Kohinoor, recently went 20X Platinum in India too.
Mass Appeal Records’ roster today includes Dave East and DJ Shadow, along with successful album releases like Run The Jewels’s RTJ2, and Nas’s NASIR, The Lost Tapes 2, and King’s Disease.
Today’s news comes as Mass Appeal begins ramping up towards its ambitious Hip Hop 50 project in 2023, which promises to celebrate the full history of the genre as it celebrates half-a-century since its birth.
