Dominican rapper El Alfa, known as “The King of Dembow” has signed what is described in a press release as a “multi-million-dollar, eight-figure deal” with Florida-headquartered financial services firm Sound Royalties.
Over the weekend, citing confirmation from El Alfa’s team, Complex reported that the deal was worth $70 million.
Established in 2014, Sound Royalties provides royalty financing for music creators, independent labels, publishers, and distributors.
The firm offers royalty advances of anywhere from $5,000 to tens of millions. It does this by advancing artist, producer and songwriter royalties paid through music labels, distributors, publishers and PROs such as BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, SoundExchange and more.
In 2021, Sound Royalties announced that it would also offer advances for artists and performers seeking tour and production support.
Sound Royalties has a presence in 16 countries and has notably collaborated with artists like Pitbull, Alejandra Guzman, Lil Wayne, and DJ Khaled, particularly in the Latin and crossover genres.
According to a press release issued last week, El Alfa evaluated several offers from other industry players before picking Sound Royalties.
El Alfa, born Emanuel Herrera Batista, infuses Jamaican dancehall “riddims” into the Dembow genre, which Sound Royalties says was popularized and brought to mainstream radio by El Alfa.
The artist’s discography includes eight albums and 22 million monthly listeners on Spotify. On October 19, El Alfa will release his new album, El Rey Del Dembow.
“The best advice I ever received was from Alex Heiche and his team, telling me to register and organize my royalty streams and that whatever I do – don’t sell.”
El Alfa
“I’ve been speaking with Sound Royalties for years, and the time finally made sense for us to work together. The best advice I ever received was from Alex Heiche and his team, telling me to register and organize my royalty streams and that whatever I do – don’t sell,” El Alfa said.
“It was because I didn’t sell that I am now able to leverage my back catalog to invest in my future. This multi-million-dollar fundingwill be instrumental in continuing to build my legacy and cement my influence in the Latin music space.
“Beyond that, it is foundational for promoting and marketing my music, launching new career opportunities, and releasing more work through my own music label, El Jefe Records.”
“Getting to know and working with El Alfa over the years has been incredible. His innovation and dedication to his craft is contagious.”
Alex Heiche, Sound Royalties
Alex Heiche, CEO & founder of Sound Royalties, said: “Getting to know and working with El Alfa over the years has been incredible. His innovation and dedication to his craft is contagious.
“Alfa has carved out a legacy of his own in the Latin music community, pioneering his own style of Dembow music and building on that through collaborations with some of the industry’s top artists. It’s an honor to be the financial partner that he has chosen to fund his continued growth for years to come.”
Sound Royalties says it has worked with “hundreds of thousands of songs and streams” that include credits by artists like Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Alicia Keys, Don Omar, Ozuna, Nicky Jam, Eliel Lind, El Alfa, Smokey Robinson, and many more.
Sound Royalties operates as a subsidiary of GoDigital Media Group, a multinational conglomerate that owns label/rights management firm Cinq Music Group, following a “high eight-figure” acquisition in 2021.
The deal with El Alfa came nearly a year after Sound Royalties carried out major expansions. In October 2022, it expanded into Canada and a month later, it launched a US West Coast unit.
