After a big reveal of their new venture in April, Troy Carter and his Q&A team have worked fast. An announcement of a pact with Jon Platt’s Sony/ATV came in May, followed by the hiring of Spotify and Facebook veterans to bolster the Los Angeles-based startup’s creative offering.
Now, MBW can exclusively reveal details of a new partnership between Q&A and Warner Music that, until today, has flown under the radar.
Why no splashy press release? We’re guessing that’s because this partnership is considered fairly unusual and that both parties are in ‘stealth mode’.
One source portrayed it as a “special agreement that’s nothing like a traditional label deal”. Carter himself points out that it gives Q&A the ability to “upstream independent artists that are looking to release through a major label system, therefore enabling us to continue to add value at every stage of their career.”
There was also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to the Warner partnership during Carter’s MIDEM key note last month. He told the audience that “there’s a false narrative out there right now that every artist wants to be independent”.
This must have been music to the ears of Max Lousada, Warner’s global CEO of Recorded Music, who has led the new agreement with Carter and Q&A. Relevant: at the end of last year, in an interview with MBW, Lousada talked about his desire to “be bespoke at scale” and offer artists “as many roads as possible into the Warner system.”
This latest deal is a coup for Warner, given the high level of industry interest in what’s being built at Q&A. Three of Q&A’s founders – Carter, J. Erving and Suzy Ryoo – all previously worked together at artist management company Atom Factory, overseeing a roster including Lady Gaga, Meghan Trainor, Nelly and Charlie Puth.
Another Q&A high-flyer, the firm’s Chief Product Officer, Tim Luckow, previously co-founded artist payment and services platform Stem, in addition to the record label / management company, GHouse.
Prior to its merger with Q&A, J.Erving’s company, Human Re Sources, had a roster of artists including Pink Sweat$, Peter Manos, Charlotte Lawrence and Brent Faiyaz, surpassing more than 1 billion streams in less than a year.
“Q&A’s artist-centric approach will make this a very natural, seamless collaboration, as we work together to develop bespoke strategies for a diverse group of extraordinary talent.”
Max Lousada, Warner Music
Max Lousada told MBW today: “We’re building an environment at Warner that amplifies true originality and backs creative risk-takers. That includes bringing dynamic entrepreneurs like Troy into our orbit, giving them access to a global network, and empowering their independent visions.
“Q&A’s artist-centric approach will make this a very natural, seamless collaboration, as we work together to develop bespoke strategies for a diverse group of extraordinary talent.”
This is also a big win for Q&A. In just four months, the company has established its brand and asserted its autonomy, while now being able to offer its artists the backing of two of the music industry’s biggest power players.
“Having a partnership with WMG allows us to upstream independent artists that are looking to release through a major label system, therefore, enabling us to continue to add value at every stage of their career.”
Troy Carter, Q&A
In an email to MBW, Carter told us: “At Q&A we understand the importance of taking a diversified approach to an artist’s career and we’ve built an offering that has the ability to scale to accommodate those unique needs. After speaking with Max, it is clear that we are aligned on the mission to maximize our ability to impact an artist’s career.
“Having a partnership with WMG allows us to upstream independent artists that are looking to release through a major label system, therefore, enabling us to continue to add value at every stage of their career.”
[Pictured: Troy Carter with Max Lousada]Music Business Worldwide
