London, 26th April 2023
The UK office of Believe, one of the world’s leading digital music companies, has formed a partnership with Rinse, pioneers within London’s underground dance scene, to handle distribution and label services for its Rinse Recordings and Bad Music imprints.
Under the new partnership, Believe will handle the global digital distribution for all Rinse and Bad Music frontline and catalogue releases. Rinse Recordings represents celebrated dance acts including Katy B and Vigro Deep, and has also released music from Nia Archives. Its pop-leaning sister label Bad Music, launched in 2018, has released music from singer-songwriters Sinéad Harnett, Sasha Keable and James Smith, among others.
While Rinse will continue to handle day-to-day marketing for both imprints, it will now benefit from Believe’s audience development team spread across 50 countries, with a focus on audio and video plus editorial and marketing partnerships with DSPs. Both Rinse Recordings and Bad Music will benefit from the expertise of Believe’s specialists across dance, electronic, pop, and other relevant genres.
From its beginnings in pirate radio in the ’90s, Rinse FM gained notoriety for its role in the development of garage, jungle, grime and dubstep, starting to release music under Rinse Recordings in 2003. Rinse arrives as the latest signing under Believe’s new b:electronic global imprint, also helping establish Believe’s position in dance and electronic music distribution in the UK. Rinse joins a local roster including Cr2 Records, Greco-Roman, Knee Deep In Sound and Southern Fried Records, with Hospital Records also signing last month.
Upcoming releases include projects from Watch The Ride, Katy B, Vigro Deep and Perempay & DaVinChe through Rinse, and James Smith through Bad Music.
Graham Luckhurst, Head of b:electronic UK at Believe, commented: “Everyone at b:electronic is excited to work with such an important cultural foundation of UK music. Rinse continues to actively nurture and support new talent through radio, events and releases.”
Panos Polimatidis, Head of Label & Artist Solutions, Believe UK, added: “We’re delighted to welcome to Believe such an iconic brand and label as Rinse. Their vision and independent mindset fully align with Believe’s ambition and there couldn’t be a better time for this partnership helping Rinse in their new era. We look forward to working closely with Gee, Marva and the Rinse team on their excellent frontline and catalogue releases and amplifying their efforts via our global set-up.”
Marva Kreel, Label Manager at Rinse, said: “We’re very excited to sign this deal with Believe. Our label at Rinse is ready to move into our next chapter and we feel that Believe is perfectly aligned with our ambitions and values.”
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About Believe
Believe UK is part of Believe, one of the world’s leading digital music companies. Believe’s mission is to develop independent artists and labels in the digital world by providing them the services they need to grow their audience at each stage of their career and development. Believe’s passionate team of digital music experts around the world leverages the Group’s global technology platform to empower artists and labels, distribute and promote their music.
Globally, Believe has 1,650 employees in more than 50 countries, including 45 staff in the UK. They aim to support independent artists and labels with a unique digital expertise, respect, fairness and transparency. Believe offers its various solutions through a portfolio of brands including Believe, TuneCore, Nuclear Blast, Naïve, Groove Attack, AllPoints, Ishtar and Byond. Believe is listed on compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (Ticker: BLV, ISIN: FR0014003FE9).
www.believe.com
About Rinse
From humble beginnings as a pirate radio station, Rinse has been a driving force behind some of the UK’s most influential music movements for over 25 years, playing an instrumental role in the development of genres like Grime, Dubstep, Garage and Funky. The star-studded Rinse alumni counts the likes of Wiley, Katy B, Dizzee Rascal, Skream, Hessle Audio, Josey Rebelle, Maya Jama & Julie Adenuga amongst its peers. Founded in 1994 by pioneering DJ’s Geeneus and Slimzee, Rinse dominated London’s clandestine airwaves before gaining an FM licence in 2011, allowing them to broadcast nationwide on 106.8FM & DAB.
An organisation with community at its core, Rinse has grown far beyond the airways. 2003 saw the launch of their own record label with releases from the likes of Magnetic Man, Suspect, P Money, Route94 and Skepta to name a few. Rinse has also helped to shape the face of club culture in the UK, responsible for iconic events around the UK, as well as big names such as Yellow.
https://rinse.fm/
