Exceleration Music has officially announced a strategic partnership with +1 Records, including investments in the catalog of the record label from New York and Los Angeles.
The three-year-old company Exceleration Music, which acquired Bloodshot Records in 2021 and bought the Heroic Music Group catalog last year, officially unveiled its latest piece today. For reference, the indie music-focused investor Exceleration is considered to be partners of former Merlin CEO Charles Kaldas, longtime Concord executive John Burke and former ADA executive Amy Dietz, to name just a few.
Meanwhile, +1 Records (which announced an Empire distribution deal in 2019) entered the scene in 2008 and signed contracts with artists such as Anna of the North, Geordie Kieffer and Japan, Man. Although the companies have not publicly disclosed the exact financial figures and details of their agreement, Exceleration said it would support the upcoming releases of artists +1 with “resources and operational support.”
Projects of 2023 from Rejjie Snow, Nate Husser, Lo Village and Anna Shoemaker should be “the first releases created thanks to a new partnership,” Exceleration and +1 reported. And, as mentioned initially, Exceleration is also “nested in the +1 directory”.
As expected, the official report of the organizations does not determine the exact size of these investments and does not describe the comprehensive transaction as an acquisition. But on the executive side, while +1 co-founder and CEO Johnny Caps will continue to lead his company, his fellow co-founder Nat Hayes Boas has “left to pursue other opportunities,” stakeholders said.
Finally, regarding the +1 executive list after the deal, Josh Swade, the label’s third and final co-founder, is mentioned only in passing in the Exceleration release. However, at the time of writing this article, Swade’s LinkedIn profile still listed him as a +1 partner.
Also at the time of writing this article, Nat Hayes Boas has not commented on his departure or the Exceleration agreement on Instagram. Caps, for his part, touted the collaboration with Exceleration in a statement (“we will be an even greater resource for independent artists”), and Amy Dietz emphasized her ambitious vision of promoting +1.
“Johnny and the +1 team have created a vibrant and influential label by focusing on artist development, being flexible and innovative,” said former Ingrooves CEO Dietz in part. “From my first meeting with Johnny, it became clear that his passion, vision and ideal of an artist fully correspond to our mission in Exceleration Music.
“I know that by combining the talented +1 team with the experience and resources of the growing and talented Exceleration team, together we will lead +1 and its artists into a bright future,” Dietz concluded.
