Armada Music Group’s acquisition arm continues upward momentum with latest move including a deal with singer-songwriter AMBA SHEPHERD and new releases with Sola Records
BEAT Music Fund, the dance music investment company from Armada Music Group, today announced it has acquired artist shares and songwriter royalties from Grammy®-nominated artist Jax Jones and artist shares on popular tracks from Australian singer-songwriter, AMBA SHEPHERD. BEAT is also unveiling new developments off the back of its 2023 acquisition of Sola Records' back catalog.
Acquisition specifics include:
Jax Jones – Artist shares and songwriter royalties across a portion of the London-based DJ and producer’s catalog, including hits such as ‘You Don’t Know Me’ (with RAYE), ‘Where Did You Go’ (feat. MNEK) and ‘Breathe’ (with Ina Wroldsen), which have accumulated over nine billion streams combined and garnered 72 Platinum-certified sales awards worldwide. Jax Jones first achieved commercial success when he co-wrote and co-produced the 2014 hit ‘I Got You’ with Duke Dumont, which debuted at number one on the U.K. charts. Since then, Jax Jones has worked with artists like Charli XCX, Saweetie, Tove Lo, Demi Lovato, Years & Years, and more.
AMBA SHEPHERD – BEAT acquired artist shares on notable dance tracks including collaborations with Hardwell, ‘Apollo’ and ‘United We Are,’ ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ with R3HAB, Porter Robinson’s ‘Vandalism,’ and her joint track with QUIX, ‘Heads or Tails,’ which have amassed nearly one billion streams on Spotify combined.
Sola Records – A joint venture on Sola Records working closely with Solardo on the A&R, label management, distribution and promotion/marketing for label releases. In addition to Solardo, confirmed artists include Maur & FABER, Draxx and Majestic.
“After spending time with Maykel and learning about his journey in music, partnering with BEAT and Armada Music Group was an obvious choice for me,” said Jax Jones. “Both teams share an incredible knowledge of dance music and passion for my work, so I’m confident that my music is in safe hands. With BEAT and Armada as partners, I'm excited to explore new creative avenues and collaborations that will not only expand the scope of my work, but also resonate with my audience. As we embark on this journey together, I am fired up to see where our shared vision takes us!"
“Following Armada’s 20th anniversary last year, it’s incredibly exciting to see such momentum for BEAT and the spotlight on the dance music market right now,” said Maykel Piron, CEO of Armada Music Group. “We are honored to be entrusted with a portion of Jax Jones’ incredible catalog and several of AMBA SHEPHERD’s most notable tracks and look forward to taking their work to exciting new places. The forthcoming releases with Sola Records also fuels BEAT’s growth in the music acquisition market and further empowers our mission to celebrate dance artists and breathe new life into the most beloved labels.”
With the rapidly growing global electronic dance industry projected to reach $20.9 billion by 2033, this deal continues Armada’s upward momentum and further solidifies the company as a significant driving force in contributing to this boom worldwide. These acquisitions join BEAT’s notable roster of catalogs including King Street Sounds’ master recordings and publishing catalog, a large portion of VIVa MUSiC’s catalog, and the master and publishing catalogs of Chocolate Puma. BEAT recently relaunched King Street Sounds, one of the oldest and most respected independent dance music labels in New York City, to weave existing releases into the modern ecosystem to educate and entertain both new ears and existing fans as a way to maintain and build upon some of the most respected catalogs in dance music.
About Armada Music Group
Armada Music Group is the parent company of Armada Music, the world’s biggest independent dance music label; BEAT Music Fund, the first-ever dance investment fund; and Armada Music Publishing, its dedicated publishing division. Established to seamlessly offer label, publishing, and catalog acquisition services under one roof, Armada Music Group is driven by the power of creativity and an ongoing mission to amplify the success of today’s artists in the dance genre. Armada Music and BEAT jointly manage a growing catalog of over 50,000 tracks by artists such as Armin van Buuren, Lilly Palmer, D.O.D, Yulia Niko, Loud Luxury, THEMBA, and Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano. On the publishing side, Armada Music Publishing represents songwriters and producers who are active as artists in the electronic music space, such as Kevin Saunderson, ARTY, Nervo, and Reinier Zonneveld. Notable releases include Cassö, RAYE, & D-Block Europe's "Prada" (written by Da Beatfreakz), Mae Stephens' "If We Ever Broke Up" (written by Morien van der Tang), and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, David Guetta, Afro Bros & Akon's "She Knows" (produced by Bob Sandee). With offices located in Amsterdam (HQ), New York, London and Laren (NL), Armada Music Group offers a truly global appeal to its growing roster.
About Jax Jones
Jax Jones is one of the biggest names in the worldwide dance music scene. Not only is he successful with his own music such as ‘Where Did You Go’ (feat. MNEK), ‘You Don’t Know Me’ (feat. Raye), ‘OUT OUT’ with Joel Corry (feat. Charli XCX & Saweetie) or ‘Breathe’ (feat. Ina Wroldsen) but also with his own label WUGD. WUGD creates a path in the music industry for upcoming artists like Hannah Laing who was recently crowned as Best Breakthrough Artist at this years’ BBC Radio 1 Dance Awards.
Known to the world as the man behind some of the biggest records in the past decade such as Duke Dumont’s 2014 number one hit ‘I Got U’ and ‘You Don’t Know Me’ feat. Raye; Jax has stacked up Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello nominations and sold over 60 million records, making him a multi-platinum artist.
About AMBA SHEPHERD
From Tomorrowland to Ultra to EDC, you’ve heard her vocals grace the sovereign main stage of every major dance music festival across the globe. AMBA SHEPHERD, one of dance music's most loved vocalists / songwriters, has collaborated with R3HAB, Hardwell, Porter Robinson, Tiesto, Nicky Romero, EDX, Afrojack, Nervo, Ferry Corsten, Benny Benassi & many more; had releases on nearly every major dance label including Armada Music, Ultra, Spinnin, OWSLA, Revealed, Protocol, Island Records, EMI, Sony, Musical Freedom, Strictly Rhythm, Defected, Ministry Of Sound; & she has performed in Amsterdam, Miami, New York, Las Vegas, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin, Perth & more.
About Sola Records
Born in Manchester, Sola Records was founded in 2017 by production and DJ duo Mark Foster and James Barlow, collectively known as Solardo. An extension of the Solardo “sound”, with a focus on UK tech house and techno, the label promotes dance-floor-focused tracks and represents a range of established to emerging artists in contemporary dance music such as Reblok, SOSA, Andrea Oliva and more. The label’s back catalog includes tracks from Solardo, Biscits, Hannah Laing, Shermanology, CamelPhat, ANOTR, Eli Brown, SOSA, Piero Pirupa, Ben Hemsley, Martin Ikin, Hannah Wants, Mason Collective, Franky Rizardo, Will Clarke and Secondcity.
About Armada Music
Armada Music is the biggest independent dance music label in the world. Founded by Armin van Buuren, Maykel Piron (CEO) and David Lewis, the label manages an ever-growing catalog of over 40,000 tracks, built up across twenty-plus years of specialized dance music exploitation.
Representing artists such as Armin van Buuren, ARTY, D.O.D, Eelke Kleijn, Jan Blomqvist, Loud Luxury, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Tensnake, THEMBA and Yulia Niko, Armada Music amasses more than one billion streams per month, airplay on leading radio outlets such as BBC Radio 1 and Sirius XM, and top positions in the world’s most notable charts. The label also takes great pride in major achievements such as Armin van Buuren’s GRAMMY nomination for ‘This Is What It Feels Like’, Loud Luxury and Brando’s ‘Body’ surpassing one billion streams on Spotify and breaking artists such as Lost Frequencies into global stardom.
Across offices in Amsterdam (HQ), New York, London and Laren (NL), Armada Music offers a truly global appeal to its growing roster. The label has its own club, radio studio and multiple production studios, and hosts various live formats. Producer platform Armada University, which offers educational products and opportunities, shows the label’s sustained effort to nurture the next wave of talent.
In 2023, Armada Music launched BEAT Music Fund, the world’s first dance music investment company, that acquires catalogs with the mission of honoring, representing and reinvigorating them. BEAT’s portfolio will continue to grow; in the first six months following its launch, BEAT acquired the catalogs of, among others, electronic music star ARTY, house and techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson’s KMS Records, legendary NYC-based house label King Street Sounds and chart-topping producers Chocolate Puma.
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