Russell Simmons Launches All Def Music Label Signs Asher Roth
Russell Simmons can "t leave the music business alone. The Def Jam Records co-founder,
is launching a new label, All Def Music, that will mine for talent on YouTube.
Uncle Rush "s partners in his latest venture include Loud Records founder Steve
Rifkind and film director/producer Brian Robbins.
The All Def Music label will be distributed by the Universal
Music Group and plans to promote and market its artists via YouTube. Billboard
reports:
The official launch of All Def Music is a concerted push
behind the YouTube network (and underlying model of) All Def Digital that
Simmons launched last year through his company Rush Digital Media. As well,
a partnership between Simmons and Robbins on the venture, via Rush and Robbins "
AwesomenessTV startup, was announced earlier this year. The pair had also
collaborated on hip-hop documentary "The Show" in the mid- "90s.
Rifkind, who founded Loud Records in 1992 (home of the Wu-Tang
Clan, Xzibit, Three 6 Mafia among others), had most recently signed a three-year
deal with Universal in early 2011 to continue on as president of SRC, the
hip-hop label he founded in 2002, before exiting in September of 2012, reportedly
going on to help promote a new basketball league, though details on the fate
of the league remain scarce.
“The exponential growth of Internet-based video has
created a powerful new outlet for music and music-based content, and the launch
of All Def Music is a part of our broader strategy to partner with some of
the most experienced entrepreneurs in media and technology to identify future
stars and develop powerful content on the world "s fastest growing media platform,”
wrote UMG chairman Lucian Grainge about the new business and its attendant
model.
One of the All Def Music label "s first signings should be familiar
to Hip-Hop heads, Asher Roth. The rapper will have his own unscripted show on
Simmons " All Def Digital (ADD) channel called Lemonade.