INFLUENCE MEDIA PARTNERS ACQUIRES GRAMMY® AWARD-WINNING ARTIST FUTURE'S PUBLISHING CATALOG

Catalog Includes Hundreds of Titles Including Global Hits "Mask Off" and "Life Is Good"

NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Influence Media Partners ("Influence Media") announced today that the company has acquired Grammy® award-winning, multi-platinum recording artist Future's publishing catalog from 2004 to 2020, which spans 612 titles including numerous chart-topping titles with frequent collaborator Drake ("Life Is Good," "Jumpman") as well as iconic artists like Kendrick Lamar ("King's Dead"), Rihanna ("Selfish"), and The Weeknd ("Low Life") and his own solo hits like "Mask Off." The impressive catalog marks Influence Media's latest eight-figure acquisition and builds on the company's commitment to investing in modern evergreens and cementing hip-hop and R&B's high value in the music rights marketplace. The announcement was made by Rene McLean, Influence Media Partner and Founding Advisor.

Rene McLean, Influence Media Partner and Founding Advisor, stated, "Future is a cultural icon. He continues to be a blueprint for impact and success in the music industry and has reinvented music in ways that no one has ever expected. It is rare to find someone who moves music and culture at the same speed with his distinct vocal and melodic style. His prolific career and continued popularity more than 15 years into the game is a testament to his undeniable influence on the contemporary music and culture landscape. We're honored to be partnered with him."

Future added, "I put everything into my music, and I wanted to make sure these were in good hands as I thought about the next chapter of these songs. I'm proud to partner up with Rene and the team at Influence Media and send a signal that this music has timeless value. My music is my art, and these songs represent some of the most precious artwork of my career."

"We consider Future an artist of the ages. He resonates across a spectrum of demographics. We're so excited about this partnership, it's a fitting addition to our growing repertoire of top-tier talent and promotes our forward-thinking mission. During my tenure at Epic Records, I was able to work with and support Future throughout his pivotal career. Now at Influence, it feels like fate to be able to collaborate with him again alongside my dynamic partners to protect his legacy and works," said Influence Media Co-Managing Partner, Lynn Hazan. 

Future has amassed a prolific discography in the first 16 years of his career—eight studio albums, four collaborative albums, one reissued album, one soundtrack, 16 mixtapes, four commercial mixtapes, and 114 singles (69 as a featured artist). Six of Future's eight studio albums have reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 200. He has placed 129 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, with four top 10 hits and two #1 hit records. His latest album, 2022's I Never Liked You, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in May and earned him his highest debut week as a solo artist to date, with 222,000 equivalent album units. The album's release coincided with a GQ cover story that proclaimed him "The Greatest Rapper Alive."

This acquisition comes on the heels of Influence's recently announced $750 million fund platform to invest in high-value compositions from diverse artists with backing from BlackRock, Inc. and Warner Music Group. Through this fund, the company has invested in over 20 catalogs from artists including Puerto Rican songwriter-producer Tainy, singer-songwriter Julia Michaels, songwriter Ali Tamposi, the hitmaking team The Stereotypes, singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez, and singer-songwriter Skyler Stonestreet.

Future was represented by Jeffrey Smith and Robert Finan of Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Influence Media Partners were represented by Lisa Alter, Katie Baron and Jaclyn Felber of Alter, Kendrick & Baron, LLP.

Launched in 2019 and led by Lylette Pizarro, Lynn Hazan, Rene McLean, and Jon Jashni, Influence Media Partners ("Influence Media" or "Influence") is a New York-based music and entertainment company that is transforming the music and content rights marketplace by partnering with artists and investing in them for the future. Backed by BlackRock and Warner Music Group, Influence's latest fund invests in the recording and publishing rights of artists, songwriters, producers, and music entrepreneurs who create commercially viable songs that resonate throughout pop culture. Influence's approach is centered around a purpose-driven brand and marketing ethos, leveraging the company's expert team to support and invest in diverse artists and entrepreneurs with global reach, growth potential, and streaming success–with a focus on songs that are poised to be modern evergreens.  

Rap would never sound, look, or feel the same after Future landed. If you want to know where the culture's going next, just watch and listen to the iconic Atlanta rapper, singer, and producer. He went from cooking up beats in a basement for the Dungeon Family to generational superstardom with a presence looming from the streets all the way to The Met Gala. He literally brought trap into the White House as President Barack Obama rapped along to his quintuple-platinum banger "Jumpman" [with Drake]. He has collected dozens of multiplatinum certifications and reached rarified air as one of only a handful of rappers to achieve Diamond status for 2020's "Life Is Good" [feat. Drake], affirming him as one of the best-selling acts of all-time. Not to mention, he carved out a place in the history books as "the first artist to release two Billboard 200 number ones in consecutive weeks." Along the way, he adorned the covers of Billboard, Clash, GQ, Rolling Stone, The Source, XXL and more in addition to delivering show-stopping performances on Saturday Night Live and Ellen. In 2019, he garnered a GRAMMY® Award in the category of "Best Rap Performance" for "King's Dead" alongside Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and James Blake. Kanye West sought him out as Executive Producer on the headline-making Donda 2 in addition to appearing on two tracks. He also pulled up on Gunna's "Pushin P" with Young Thug, appearing on yet another chart-busting banger. Future looks ahead again on his ninth full-length album, I Never Liked You. Upon arrival, it marked his 8^th #1 album on the Top 200 with the most seven-day sales of his illustrious career so far. In addition to praise from Billboard, Complex, and Rolling Stone, Vulture hailed it as "both instantly recognizable and easily distinguishable from past works," and GQ went as far as to crown him "the best rapper alive."

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SOURCE Influence Media