Roc Nation Is Launching ROC Nation Distribution, A Company To Support Indie Artists In Keeping Their Masters – Essence

Roc Nation’s latest venture is aiming to help artists maintain their creative and monetary freedom.

The company recently announced the merger of its Roc Nation Label and Equity Distribution (EQ) divisions to form ROC Nation distribution, a platform and destination for artists, led by the artist’s needs, interest and focus, according to a news release.

What this means is the new division will sign up any artist at any time to allow creatives access to the financial, technological and marketing tools needed to create music that they will maintain ownership of.

This is a major move since a large number of major recording artists fail to have ownership of their recording masters, which means they will likely not have the opportunity to license the music for money.

“ROC Nation distribution is a hybrid, offering a unique blend of services,” a news release says of the venture. “Artists who partner with ROC Nation distribution are independent, retain ownership of their master’s and creative control of their art. Artists also receive data analytics from a proprietary dashboard and have the ability to opt into various services across the company. We will sign all artists in all genres around the world.

It adds: “Roc Nation was founded with an independent spirit and an artist-first mentality. The formation of ROC Nation distribution is a natural transition in the music space. The mission is to support and empower independent artists while providing them the tools and services to distribute their music. All artists signed to Roc Nation Label will join and benefit from the new ROC Nation distribution structure.”