A new artist development incubator called Verswire has launched in Los Angeles and says that it aims to act as a “venture capital-like” music fund.
Verswire was founded by blink-182’s Mark Hoppus (Partner of A&R), veteran music manager Nick Lippman (Partner) and Veeps co-founder & COO Sherry Saeedi (CEO and Founder), while Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz will serve as a strategic advisor.
Elsewhere, Myia Ingoldsby will act as Director of A&R and Branding, with music veterans Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour Founder) and Gus Brandt (Mark Hoppus, Foo Fighters) joining as advisors and investors.
The startup says that it will act as a venture capital fund “that views artists as entrepreneurs, tailoring each with a custom investment”.
According to press materials from Verswire, artists selected to take part in the incubator will receive “funding, resources, tools, A-list mentoring, support from prominent music executives and an ecosystem to own and operate their businesses within while allowing them to keep majority ownership of their masters”.
Verswire confirms that it will take equity in the masters of artists that it invests in and that the split will be decided on a case by case basis.
Verswire will also offer artist and label services ranging from A&R to distribution, marketing, brand partnerships, sponsorships, publicity and artist development.
Every artist is partnered with a “mentor” to learn and evolve with, such as link-182’s Hoppus.
They will also get the opportunity to work with “some of the best songwriters and producers in music today”.
Verswire’s debut signing is Beauty School Dropout, who have released a single called Assassin. Verswire says that the band has been championed by both Hoppus and Wentz and alongside the personal mentorship of Hoppus.
The company’s founder and CEO Saeedi co-founded Los Angeles-based livestream platform Veeps in 2017 with Joel and Benji Madden of the band Good Charlotte.
In January last year, Live Nation Entertainment acquired a majority stake in the company for an undisclosed sum.
“I decided to build Verswire with an incredible team to re-envision the industry and provide musicians with an alternative that’s truly created with their well-being and careers as the priority.”
Sherry Saeedi, Verswire
“The countless tech solutions that allow artists to make extra money have merely been a bandaid, while no one has fixed the root of the problem: that unfavorable deals do not allow artists to make money or own their music,” said Verswire CEO & Founder Sherry Saeedi.
“In witnessing my closest friends put on the back-burner or trapped within the deals they signed while going bankrupt, I didn’t feel like anyone out there was providing the right solution to artists, but rather an iteration of the same archaic business model we’ve seen fail artists time and time again.
“I decided to build Verswire with an incredible team to re-envision the industry and provide musicians with an alternative that’s truly created with their well-being and careers as the priority.”
Added Saeedi: “Seeing documentary after documentary about multi-platinum, arena-selling artists coming forward with their experiences of unfavorable label deals.
“I was tired of hearing the same horror story over and over again: that musicians are struggling to make a dime off their work, while their label partners rake in millions.”
“I am very excited to help build a new way for bands and artists to create music for communities, while retaining ownership of their work.”
Mark Hoppus
Mark Hoppus said: “I am very excited to help build a new way for bands and artists to create music for communities, while retaining ownership of their work.”
“I’ve been a fan of Sherry and the work she’s done for years, and look forward to being part of Verswire’s journey.”
Pete Wentz
Pete Wentz added: “I’ve been a fan of Sherry and the work she’s done for years, and look forward to being part of Verswire’s journey.”
Verswire Partner Nick Lippman said: “The artist and label relationship needs to be a symbiotic partnership in order to garner absolute success.
“Verswire is the culmination of this ideology and something I’m proud to be a part of.”Music Business Worldwide