The UK office of France-headquartered digital music company Believe has formed a long-term partnership with Mahogany, the global music brand behind video channels Mahogany Sessions, COVERS and Lagoon.
The “long-term label solutions partnership,” as it’s being called, will see Believe handle global distribution for Mahogany’s channels as well as its record label, Mahogany Records.
The partnership forms a springboard for the launch of Mahogany’s distribution service for DIY artists, Mahogany Songs. The company beta-tested the distro service in 2021, and says it expects a full launch in the next few months.
Supported by Believe, Mahogany Songs will provide “digital distribution for the rapidly-expanding global community of unsigned artists,” through partnerships with Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music and other platforms, the company said in a statement issued on Thursday (January 11).
The Mahogany Sessions YouTube channel launched in 2010, and has built a subscriber base of 915,000 with its stripped-down live performances.
It has developed a reputation for being a launchpad for musical careers, including those of Billie Eilish, George Ezra, Flume, Michael Kiwanuka, Rag’n’Bone Man, Leon Bridges, Birdy and others.
New performances on the channel in 2023 included Ed Sheeran, Jacob Collier, Florence Pugh, Barry Can’t Swim and Mahalia.
Sister channel COVERS, which features up-and-coming artists performing covers of songs from popular artists, has amassed nearly 25,000 followers on YouTube.
The brand launched its Mahogany Recordings label in 2017, and today the label represents a roster of up-and-coming artists such as KAWALA, Model Man, Toby Johnson and RoRo.
The company has also partnered with a number of charities and brands to deliver curation, content, licensing and events, among them luxury retailer conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs and others), Spotify, BMW and the British Red Cross.
“Partnering with Believe marks a pivotal phase of growth and development for Mahogany, as we advance our operations to serve independent artists globally.”
Mark Murdoch, Mahogany
Mahogany will work with Believe’s audience development team “to develop the global reach of its imprints across established and developing markets, and to expand their content into new territories, genres and audio-visual formats,” the companies said.
“Partnering with Believe marks a pivotal phase of growth and development for Mahogany, as we advance our operations to serve independent artists globally,” Mahogany Founder and CEO Mark Murdoch said in a statement.
Mahogany Managing Director James Gaster added that the company is “hugely excited” by the partnership with Believe.
“Thanks to their international reach, infrastructure and market-leading tech this partnership allows us to level-up our ambitions as we expand our offering to unsigned and emerging artists on a global scale, and we look forward to spotlighting some of the world’s most exciting new talents through distribution and content collaborations,” Gaster said.
“Mahogany is a truly independent and forward-thinking music company,” commented Ben Rimmer, Regional Director, Believe UK & Northern Europe
“James and Mark have built a huge audience for their brands and bands and to be in long term partnership with such an artist-friendly, ambitious, and entrepreneurial duo is exactly where we want to be.”
For Believe the partnership marks another strengthening of its UK label roster, which expanded in recent months with the signings of dance labels Hospital Records and Rinse.
Believe, which bills itself as “one of the world’s leading digital music companies,” has expanded into various global markets in recent years, most recently into Japan last fall with the opening of a Tokyo office.
“James and Mark have built a huge audience for their brands and bands and to be in long term partnership with such an artist-friendly, ambitious, and entrepreneurial duo is exactly where we want to be.”
Ben Rimmer, Believe
The company has amassed a number of brands in the music world, including distro service TuneCore, indie distributor Groove Attack, and rock and metal label Nuclear Blast.
It’s also moving into music publishing, having acquired UK-headquartered publishing platform Sentric in the spring of 2023, a move the company said is “a first step for Believe in rolling out a global and comprehensive publishing business.”
The company, which now counts 1,720 employees in more than 50 countries, including 45 UK staff, recorded revenues of USD $800 million in 2022, and $234 million in Q3 of 2023, which marked a 9.1% YoY increase, or 7.5% YoY on an organic basis.Music Business Worldwide
