Australia-born indie multi-service music company UNIFIED Music Group has announced it is relaunching its distribution service, Community Music, as a “full artist services ecosystem and platform.”
UNIFIED launched Community Music in 2021, spinning out its in-house distribution service into a separate brand. The new relaunch comes with custom-built technologies and a AU$10 million (USD $6.8m) commitment to “support the development of great Australian artists in building long-term, global careers.”
Among other things, artists on the platform will gain access to the ‘Community Centre,’ an information hub for music release management.
The new platform is currently available to artists in beta. Still, it’s already supporting a host of artists, including Ocean Alley, ISHAN, and Sarah Saint James, and onboarding new artists Maddy Jane, Azure Ryder, Jahnavi Harrison, The Stamps, and Mulga Bore Hard Rock.
Community Music will also provide services to UNIFIED’s labels Domestic La La (Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Dear Seattle, and Teenage Joans) and UNFD (Silverstein, Void of Vision, Thornhill, and Yours Truly).
Community Music boasts that its client artists have “achieved various milestones” including Ocean Alley exceeding 1 billion global streams. Its single Confidence has been certified 6x Platinum in Australia, and 4x Platinum in New Zealand.
The company also notes the ARIA Awards nominations for Teenage Joans, and Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers.
“Community Music’s offering is inspired by music, amplified by tech.”
Jaddan Comerford, UNIFIED Music Group
Headquartered in Melbourne, UNIFIED was launched in 2011 by Jaddan Comerford, who serves as the company’s CEO.
“We want to put the creative control back in the hands of Australia’s music community. The way we can do that is by offering them the tools and the tech platform to craft the career and support systems they need,” Comerford said in a statement.
“Community Music’s offering is inspired by music, amplified by tech. The artists, managers and label representatives who have worked on this transformation care for the music first and foremost, and the system uses data and custom-built technology to support everyday decision making.
“There’s always more that can be done to uplift and uncover more in the Australian independent music community, and that’s why we’re also committing $10 million over the next three years to support Australian artists build long-term global careers.”
Community Music’s new tech platform was spearheaded by Will Cuming, who has joined as the platform’s Product Development Manager. Cuming’s background includes experience with music and tech, having worked as an artist manager, an artist and songwriter under the moniker LANKS, and as a Director of Zantipi, a music-focused data and digital advertising agency.
UNIFED’s Los Angeles-based Vice President of Recorded Music, Francesca Caldara, will lead Community Music, while Melbourne-based Dan Nascimento has been named its General Manager.
The relaunch of Community Music follows its new partnership with Merlin, the global digital licensing agency for indie distributors, publishers and other rights holders, which gave Community Music access to Merlin’s various deals with music streaming services and other digital service providers.
It also follows the announcement last week (October 10) of UNIFIED’s deal with Downtown-owned B2B distributor FUGA, under which UNIFIED gains access to FUGA’s global tech platform, physical distribution network, marketing support, and neighboring rights services.Music Business Worldwide