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Audio Up and WME have announced a new partnership supporting the development of artists from Audio Up’s podcast slate. Here are the details…
WME will advise Audio Up on its touring and content opportunities across film, television and digital. WME will provide the company access to its network across music, entertainment and brands to support the growth of Audio Up’s artists and projects.
Among the first initiatives under the partnership is the development of up-and-coming Latin artist Balam, who stars and contributes original music to the Audio Up scripted podcast Dia de Los Muertos in Hell, which was simultaneously the #1 series in all categories across Mexico and the #1 music podcast in the United States during its first week of release and features some of the biggest names in Latin music. To run in conjunction with the podcast’s promotional efforts, WME served as an advisor on booking Balam’s upcoming December 10th debut performance at Vibra Urbana, the largest Reggaeton festival in the U.S. Balam will open for luminaries such as J Balvin, Nicky Jam, Maluma and countless others, and will be timed to the release of the official Day of the Dead podcast soundtrack, which will also act as Balam’s debut EP. This unique form of synergy allows Audio Up to identify talent, create content and marketing opportunities through their Sirius XM, Audible and iHeart slate, and immediately put the music into a radio and digital streaming ecosystem while growing artists at the live level.
“This unique partnership is aimed at fast-tracking music development in a crowded marketplace where discovery is one of the most challenging and difficult tasks for new artists,” said Audio Up Founder and CEO Jared Gutstadt. “There is a special alchemy at play here; mixing Balam’s outsized talent with our ability to open-up an incredible range of media access points. All of this culminates with Balam’s first array of songs featuring co-writes with Poo Bear, 24kGoldn and SAINt JHN. This combination will make him a mega-star.”
Balam and Day of the Dead mark only the beginning of the partnership’s possibilities. Coming up, the strategic alliance will also take Audio Up’s recent #1 Apple Music podcast The Ballad of Uncle Drank, and turn fictional character Uncle Drank (played by Will Sasso) into a real life touring country experience featuring comedy and music. Gutstadt stated, “This is the perfect vehicle for our music vertical and a way for folks to discover our deep and rich catalogue of music says. Vegas, cruise ships, and summer festivals will be our first port of call for this unique offing. With WME in our corner, we hope to get there quicker.”
Serving as a Trojan horse for music discovery, Audio Up builds unique scripted podcast content featuring original music and A-list talent voicing the roles. The company’s unique brand of proto-musicals has recently been capturing the attention of the music business through its incredible array of diverse and unique titles. Over the last two years, these efforts have spawned collaborations with artists like Machine Gun Kelly, 24KGoldn, iann dior and hit songwriter, producer and artist Maejor, for his critically acclaimed Audible podcast, Maejor Frequency, which is now a winner of four 2022 Adweek “Podcast of the Year” awards: Best Travel Podcast, Best New Podcast, Best Creativity Podcast, and Podcast of the Year.