YouTube Music Admin Company AdRev Snaps Up Distro Service DashGo
AdRev, a music administration service for YouTube, has acquired digital distributor DashGo. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
AdRev, a music administration service for YouTube, has acquired digital distributor DashGo. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
All DashGo employees will make the transition to AdRev, and DashGo will retain its name, according to AdRev CEO Ryan Born. Ben Patterson will continue on as chief executive of DashGo. Three AdRev executives will now be involved in DashGo’s day-to-day operations and help in some areas of strategy: Ben Barger (vice president of operations), Noah Becker (vice president of rights management), and Brian Felsen (president).
The addition of DashGo allows AdRev to offer more to its clients, Born tells Billboard. AdRev currently provides YouTube monetization and administration plus micro-synchronization licenses to multi-channel networks. DashGo adds digital distribution to the list and provides AdRev with access to digital service providers as well as new clients.
And AdRev plans to add more to its suite of services. “?We plan to continue to expand our service offerings by way of launching our own solutions and services as well as further M&A,” says Born.
The purchase of DashGo, a Santa Monica-based digital distributor with over 10,000 artists and over 200,000 songs in its catalog, is the latest in a string of deals involving digital distribution. Digital distributor INgrooves’ acquisition of Fontana Distribution in early 2012 gave it label services and physical distribution. The Orchard merged with IODA that same month, acquired IRIS Distribution two months later, and this year purchased Frenchkiss Label Group and BalconyTV, an Irish company that films and streams live performances by up-and-coming artists.
Born cites DashGo’s marketing and client services as an asset to AdRev. One important function of a digital distributor is the ability to help independent artists and labels reach fans and listeners with scarce resources. A digital distributor needs to help independent artists and labels succeed with scarce resources. To that end, CEO Patterson points to pre-order and instant gratification campaigns for artists like Tony Lucca and DH1 Media, and a digital campaign for Jason Schwartzman that resulted in sales of 50,000 albums, with no tour support. Plus, the seven-year-old company is one of the few companies to partner with iHeartMedia to share broadcast revenue. DashGo is also active in helping clients with streaming strategies, says Patterson. “More plays lead to more revenue and the right playlist adds lead to more plays.”
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