In the second half of September, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC teamed up with Warner Music UK’s Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) to launch a new record label – becoming the first UK football club to have its very own label.
The initiative aims to ensure club-linked performers benefit from the reach of the Premier League football club’s international audience and global reach whilst simultaneously gaining access to ADA’s marketing and distribution.
The launch was promoted across both club and record company social channels through video, still imagery and explanatory content which also began the process of inviting track submissions from local, national and international solo acts, bands and producers for consideration via the website wolvesrecords.com.
Wolves fan and Wolves Foundation ambassador S-X’s music and music production fronted the launch creative.
❓ What is @WolvesRecordsUK?
❓ What can Wolves Records offer artists?
❓ How does this help Wolves?
❓ Why can Wolves Records work?Submit your music https://t.co/MEEa3xKtM6 pic.twitter.com/nR4Kfra5N1
— Wolves (@Wolves) September 21, 2021
Artists who sign on with Wolves Records will be supported by the club’s various social media and other channels and will also receive airplay at its Molineux Stadium and promotion across the club’s digital productions.
The label’s initial focus is on nurturing, developing and promoting talented artists across all styles and musical genres local to the Midlands, but the club has also stated that its ambition is to later expand into international territories.
“Wolves Records is an ambitious and progressive project that we have been working on for some time, and we are delighted to finally be able to announce it publicly. Working hand-in-hand with Warner Music’s ADA and lots of very talented and experienced industry professionals, Wolves Records will provide talent with life-changing opportunities,” said Wolves’ General Manager of Marketing and Commercial Growth Russell Jones. “As many of our supporters will be aware, one of our goals at Wolves is to grow the club in innovative and entrepreneurial ways, developing new business ideas that will eventually complement and help support the continued success of the football club. Of course, this is just the beginning of the journey for Wolves Records, and the hard work now intensifies as we begin the search for our first acts to sign to Wolves Records; I am confident that we have a great team in place to make the label a huge success.”
Wolves Records’ Head of Label Ricky Hill added: “I went to University in Wolverhampton so I’ve a lot of affection for the city and the Midlands. There’s so much talent in the local area, that Wolves Records is perfectly positioned and hungry to back. However, this is not just about supporting local artists, but a genuine and authentic move by a football club with a vast audience to penetrate the music industry and develop new and emerging talent across the world. By partnering with Warner Music and ADA, we are also able to plug into some of the best distribution available and have support from their team of experts when it comes to releasing music.”
“I am very excited to be involved and support Wolves Records from the beginning and am looking forward to helping identify the best local talent and working with the label’s first artists,” said S-X. “Wolves and the city of Wolverhampton are both very close to my heart, and I am deeply passionate about giving talented young people from this area the best opportunities, and the rich musical talent that the West Midlands has to offer. I am genuinely looking forward to seeing how Wolves Records can impact the music industry and support new artists, and I’m also very proud that it is my club that is going to be the first in the UK to venture into music in such an authentic and exciting way.”
Music manager and Wolves fan Peter Rudge, who managed The Who and The Rolling Stones amongst others, also plays a key role in Wolves Records as a strategic consultant.
“I was born one mile away from the famous old Molineux and came to my first game with my Uncle Had in March 1951,” commented Rudge. “I sat on my uncle’s shoulders on the old South Bank, and thus began a love affair with Wolves that has been such a major part of my life ever since. Football and music are a universal language. Wherever in the world you visit you will likely see a Beckham or a Beatles t-shirt, and the footballers of today have so much in common with musicians in terms of influencing and setting the cultural tone of the times. Wolves and Warner Music’s ADA will merge these two cultures and partner in combining their respective skills and assets to develop Wolves Records, and in turn support, nurture, and encourage the local music community. I am thrilled to be involved in this initiative, to be able to be part of creating Wolves Records, and thus merging two of mine, and the world’s, great passions – football and music.”
Comment:
Wolves Records seems an inventive and ambitious initiative which leverages the ever increasing crossover between two of the world’s biggest passions – music and football.
It is the latest in a raft of Wolves initiatives and investments beyond football which range from eSports (such as its recent partnership with US eSports giants Evil Geniuses) to fashion (it recently linked up with a high-end fashion line launched at a runway show on top of a skyscraper in Shanghai).
We are proud to announce our new partnership with the ultimate sports and entertainment challenger brand, the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. (@Wolves).
World domination is easier with a good mate. Read more here: https://t.co/fKVkp9e5Cw pic.twitter.com/y6eryVx1KR
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) July 28, 2021
It was a fantastic evening for the club in Shanghai yesterday as 'Wolves Fashion Night' was held on a @Fosun_Intl's rooftop overlooking the famous Pudong skyline.
The event was a celebration of Wolves coming to China and the launch of a high-end fashion line.
— Wolves (@Wolves) July 16, 2019
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