When the news broke yesterday that Daft Punk would be releasing a new album, it was hailed as a triumphant success worldwide. It’s curious that while many people celebrated the album news, I doubt that all of them grew up listening to Daft Punk or their music played a significant role in their lives. Yes, they take some credit for a revolution of dance music that they’ve had almost no involvement with over the past two years but still it’s cool to like Daft Punk.
You know who else it’s cool to like? Armin Van Buuren. The only difference is one plays 8-hour sets for fans, podcasts regularly and tours so that everyone has a chance to see him. The other just teases us with potential tour dates and track releases over and over again.
Okay here’s where the Daft Punk news gets interesting though….
Daft Punk left EMI / Virgin for Columbia Records to release their new album. Columbia Records hosts a lot of significant artists (full list) including Adele, Beyonce, Pink Floyd and recently signed Calvin Harris. They don’t have a lot of artists in the EDM genre, but certainly are one of the powerhouse labels. Columbia Records is owned by Sony Music Entertainment, the second largest record label behind only Universal Music Group (wiki).
Two days ago it was announced that Ultra Music and Sony Music were forming a partnership. Patrick Moxey the current president of Ultra Music is now known as the President, Electronic Music, Sony Music Entertainment. The deal opens distribution channels for Ultra artists, while the niche label will also provide promotion for Sony in the United States and Canada on a project-by-project basis.
Doug Morris, Sony Music President in press release,
“We are excited to expand our presence in Electronic Dance Music through this new global partnership with Ultra Music. Patrick Moxey is a fantastic music executive and a proven hitmaker in this important genre.”
In business there are few things that happen by “coincidence”, especially with Ultra. The UMF marketing team did a superb job of launching their #NAMEASTAGE campaign to generate maximum awareness to their social channels before dropping their Phase Two announcement. The traffic levels crashed their website and it trended worldwide.
So could it be a coincidence that Ultra and Sony Music announced a partnership just two days before Daft Punk signs to Columbia Records who’s owned by Sony? Maybe, but like Eric Prydz showing up in the preview video I think this is a clear indication of something. Just what that something is, we’ll have to wait and see.
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