VK Music Records

History

2024: Closure of VK Beats Records label

At the end of February 2024, information appeared that VK closed the music label VK Beats Records, focused on working with rap artists. At the same time, all musical catalogs of artists and employees were transferred to the VK Music Records label, which develops pop musicians.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, the active launch of new music labels in the Russian Federation began after Warner Music, Universal Music and Sony Music curtailed their activities on the Russian market in connection with the emerging geopolitical situation. VK opened VK Records in the fall of 2022, highlighting VK Beats Records and VK Music Records. The business model is based on the promotion of artists on the principle of 360 - this is distribution, production, promotion of content, the organization of concerts and advertising activities.

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However, in the case of VK Beats Records, a reorganization was required. The company said that employees of this division joined the team of the main label, while the music catalogs were transferred to VK Records. Market participants believe that the closure of VK Beats Records is due to the weak performance of the label. A&R Director of Koala Music (manages the catalog of the Sony Music Group that left the Russian Federation) Grigory Yulkin says that a label focused only on one genre "greatly limits its competitiveness in the industry."

At the same time, it is noted that the Russian market by the beginning of 2024 was oversaturated with music labels, which creates the need for optimization. Moreover, experts say, there is a shortage of qualified specialists in the industry who are able to "build the artist's strategy from scratch to a full-fledged product." And therefore, "in a year or two [in 2025-2026], a massive wave of reductions in new structures can be expected."^[1]

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