Warner Music Group partners with Qrates to extend vinyl reissue initiative of back-catalog for Run Out Groove imprint
31 January 2019 - Press releaseQrates announced today that it will support Run Out Groove, Warner Music Group’s fan-driven vinyl-only record label, with vinyl reissue initiatives. As a one-stop shop for vinyl pressing, and an online marketplace for content owners to sell or crowdfund music onto vinyl, Qrates will provide Run Out Groove with scalable manufacturing and direct-to-consumer and retail distribution solutions. While the company has already helped over 2,000 artists issue their vinyl recordings, this is its first partnership with a major-label imprint.
Warner Music Group launched Run Out Groove in 2017 to allow fans to vote on the label’s next high-quality vinyl pressing, chosen from three selections of either unreleased material, out-of-print material, or brand-new collections compiled from the Warner Music vault. Soon after, the label added the Cornerstones imprint, featuring records considered to be a foundational part of any music collection. While Run Out Groove’s monthly voting model will not change, Qrates will help the company make even more fan-demanded releases a reality. Qrates will also provide a more seamless user experience via an embeddable widget for album discovery and purchase through Run Out Groove’s website, and the Warner Music catalog will be made available to retail partners through Qrates’ Store Delivery network.
The first four back-catalog titles from Warner Music – Ronnie Hawkins’ Mr. Dynamo (pressed on red vinyl), Fred Neil’s Bleecker & MacDougal, Better Than Ezra’s Friction, Baby, (pressed on clear vinyl) and The Incredible String Band’s The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter (pressed on solid blue, white and black) – are currently available through Qrates and Run Out Groove, with more releases to be announced soon.
“We’re proud and excited to be working with Taishi and the lovely people at Qrates who share in our independent spirit and dedication to the craft,” said Billy Fields, VP of Sales & Account Management at Warner Music Group. “While these titles didn’t win the monthly vote the first time around, we here at Run Out Groove felt they still deserved to be pressed. We are trying something new with Qrates to bring this music back out to the world - think of these releases as the ones that got away, but you got ‘em anyway.”
“Since we’re able to press smaller production runs, Qrates is the perfect partner for the kinds of exclusive releases Run Out Groove offers to music fans,” said Taishi Fukuyama, CMO of Qrates. “In addition to top-quality audio fidelity, we offer so many custom options for the package as a whole - over 100,000 possible variations - so each Run Out Groove release will continue to be something unique.”
As the vinyl record market enters its 13th consecutive year of growth, improving manufacturing efficiency and marketing has provided both labels and independent artists with new revenue channels, as well as an expanded audience of vinyl enthusiasts. However, creating and distributing vinyl releases can still be costly and inefficient. Qrates solves this by providing a platform that can be used as an order and inventory management portal, a pre-order launch, or a crowdfunding campaign. These options allow the label, distributor, or artist to better plan their manufacturing or album launch, providing true flexibility in a world of deadlines, manufacturing delays, and competing mindshare of the music fan. Qrates handles all fulfillment, whether sold direct-to-fan from the artist’s website or to its global network of vinyl retailers. Since its launch in 2015, Qrates has helped over 2,000 artists release vinyl records across 60 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Germany, the U.K., and France.
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