Amsterdam, 15 November 2018: FUGA, the industry-leading technology and services company for rights holders, continue a period of sustained international growth with the announcement of partnerships with League of Legends’ developer Riot Games and EDM pioneers Monstercat.FUGA’s partnership with Riot Games encompasses ongoing global digital distribution, excluding China and South Korea, for the entire musical catalogue for League of Legends. This includes the current release “POP/STARS” from pop culture sensation, virtual band K/DA.
The group’s music debuted on Saturday 3rd November during the opening ceremony for the finals of the League of Legends World Championship in Seoul, South Korea to a massive global audience. The hit song has charted on pop charts worldwide and has shown no sign of slowing down, rocketing past 50 million views within two weeks on YouTube alone, spawning countless tributes and covers in the process.
FUGA have also struck a global digital distribution deal with the innovative independent electronic record label and brand Monstercat. The Vancouver, BC label source and curate the soundtrack for the hugely popular video game Rocket League, serialising the tracks through compilation ‘mixtape’ albums. The latest of these is ‘Rocket League x Monstercat Vol. 4’, released this September.
Monstercat work with some of the biggest stars in EDM including Marshmello, who scored a platinum single with ‘Alone’ in 2016.These deals recognise the growing influence of esports on listening habits: League of Legends is the most played PC game in the world with over 100 million monthly players whilst Rocket League now has 50 million players worldwide according to a recent PC Games article.Beyond esports, FUGA have grown their music rightsholder client base in the Americas.Big Yellow Dog, the Nashville based artist development company and publisher, are now working with FUGA on digital distribution for selected releases including singer-songwriter Leah Nobel.
Big Yellow Dog have previously developed major artists including Grammy award winner Maren Morris and Billboard country chart topper Jessie James Decker.Mexico’s Movic Records, whose roster includes Latin Grammy nominees Los Claxons and the widely popular rock band Panda, are another new addition to FUGA’s global digital distribution roster. Meanwhile, Alpha Pup, the
Los Angeles-based boutique aggregator of over 80 independent record labels including Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder, have selected FUGA as their new partner for catalogue management and deliveries worldwide.
Commenting on the deals, FUGA CEO Pieter van Rijn said, “We’re very excited to be partnering with two of the most innovative companies in the field of esports, a rapidly growing area for music promotion and consumption alongside signing more deals with respected rights holders across the globe.”
“Working with FUGA allows us to focus on production and creativity,” said Toa Dunn, Head of Riot Music Group. “They really understand how important our players and talent are to us, and we’re looking forward to working together in the future.”Daniel Turcotte, Head of Business Affairs at Monstercat said: “Monstercat has always prided itself on working with similar forward thinking companies, and that is exactly the case in working with FUGA.”
About FUGA
FUGA is the largest full-service B2B music distributor in the world. Mixing deep marketing prowess with continual investment in leading technologies, FUGA’s clients – from Armada, Better Noise and Curb to Mom + Pop, mtheory and Ninja Tune – get equal access to its all-encompassing services.
Owned by Downtown Music Holdings, FUGA is one of the very few distributors to sit on the highest preferred partner tiers for Spotify, Apple and all other major DSPs. FUGA’s global marketing team operates across 17 countries. Together with marketing and distribution, FUGA’s holistic product and services suite – including analytics, royalty accounting, neighbouring rights, rights management and white label services – empower over 800 music rights holders globally.
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