Beatbread funds seven figure deal with Elley Duhe and Not Fit For Society

08 June 2022 - Press release

Internationally charting artist becomes first beatBread funded artist with global Top 10 hit, with 21M Spotify listeners and 500M streams for single ‘Middle of the Night’

beatBread (www.beatBread.com), the pioneering music funding platform that enables artists to access growth capital while maintaining control of their careers and ownership of their music, has closed a seven figure artist financing deal with globally-charting singer-songwriter Elley Duhe.

Elley Duhe has already racked up more than 21 million listeners on Spotify, multiple weeks on charts around the world, and has secured more than 500 million streams and counting for her hit single “Middle of the Night”, which reached the top 10 on Spotify’s Global Top 50. She has also recorded major collaborations with artists including Zedd, Gryffin, and Snakehips. beatBread’s funding provides the financial freedom for Not Fit For Society, Elley’s management company and independent label, to continue to work in partnership with Duhe to develop her career.

“Our mission is to empower artists, independent labels and other music projects, as they continue to grow,” said beatBread CEO Peter Sinclair. “This latest deal with Elley and Not Fit For Society demonstrates that beatBread is a powerful financial tool for artists with global chart success. Artist choice is our North Star - we give artists and labels full control of their marketing, distribution and management decisions without having to sacrifice ownership. We are excited that Elley and her talented team chose us to fund her ongoing career development, and look forward to watching her continued growth.”

J. Hill, CEO of Not Fit for Society commented, “Although we’re not against major labels, independence just felt like the way to go. After multiple major label negotiations, we felt like they didn’t fully align with our ideas and vision for Elley. beatBread is the most transparent and flexible team we’ve worked with. We had one quick conversation with them, and constructed a deal that kept open all her options for the future.“ Tabari Francis, Co-Founder of Not Fit for Society, added, “Our DNA as managers and executives is rooted in an independent mindset. With the current climate in the industry, you have to know when it’s time for a major label deal and when it’s best to stay independent. For Elley, we all wanted to stay indie but still be able to make major moves. beatBread understood our overall vision and didn’t hesitate to make this a reality with us.” 

Since launching in November 2020, beatBread has made financial advances to almost 400 artists and labels across multiple genres, six continents, and a broad range of career stages. Last year, the company funded Yung Bleu before he was named BET’s Best New Hip Hop Artist, and is working with artists across more than 30 different distributors including Ingrooves, The Orchard, DistroKid, United Masters, Symphonic, Horus Music and Too Lost.

Advances offered through beatBread range from as little as $1,000 to as much as $2 million per artist, with options for artists to receive sizable advances on new and unreleased music. All advances are repaid from a share of an artist’s streaming and airplay revenues, over a period of the artist’s choosing. Advance agreements leave touring, publishing, synch, and merchandise revenue streams untouched; do not place restrictions around how funds are used; and leave the choice of marketing and distribution partners in the artist’s own hands.