Al Branch Creates Marketing Strategies For Hip Hop Artists
Al Branch is the Chief Marketing Officer & Partner of the powerhouse management group, The Blueprint Group & Maverick Artist Management. He sits down with Alyssa Julya Smith in LA to talk about how the brings artists like Nicki Minaj, G-Eazy and Drake to the next level in their careers.
Branch talks about his lifelong passion for hip-hop which has defined his style as a manager and marketing executive for over two decades. He talks about the importance of bringing together brands around musical acts and worked to landed the Sprite deal for Drake, which allowed his to cross over early in his career.
Branch also talks about how they helped bring G-Eazy from an independent darling to a bona fide multiplatinum superstar by 2015. Branch is currently working on projects for Cyhi, G-Eazy, Marc E. Bassy and looking forward to the new Nicki Minaj album.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
Universal Music Group and AI platform Udio have settled a copyright lawsuit and will collaborate on a new music creation and streaming platform. The companies announced on Wednesday that they reached a compensatory legal settlement and new licensing agreements. These agreements aim to provide more revenue opportunities for Universal's artists and songwriters. The rise of AI song generation tools like Udio has disrupted the music streaming industry, leading to accusations from record labels. This deal marks the first since Universal and others sued Udio and Suno last year. Financial terms of the settlement weren't disclosed.
