Russell Simmons’ ‘All Def Music’ Pioneers a New Way to Discover Talent via Youtube Ms. Bels Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Power Moves, The Studio Entertainment mogul and activist, Russell Simmons, has partnered up with industry veterans Steve Rifkind and Brian Robbins to launch All Def Music. Under the Universal Music Group’s umbrella, the new record label will pioneer how up-and-coming artists are discovered, developed, and promoted. With the increasing online community relying on the internet for music, news, etc, All Def Music plan to expand how labels can operate in this technological and media induced world. “The exponential growth of Internet-based video has created a powerful new outlet for music and music-based content, and the launch of All Def Music is a part of our broader strategy to partner with some of the most experienced entrepreneurs in media and technology to identify future stars and develop powerful content on the world’s fastest growing media platform,” wrote UMG chairman Lucian Grainge about the new business and its attendant model. Simmons echoed sentiments expressed in the initial launch of the ADD YouTube network, saying in a statement that “this is the most exciting new terrain for me, to move talent across all media platforms and I couldn’t have better partners in Brian and Steve, and the most innovative of music executives, Lucian Grainge.” (via Billboard) The first artists to be signed to ADM are Asher Roth and John A. Baker Jr. aka Spoken Reasons. Roth, who is still on a mission to solidify his image/identity in rap, will be apart of a newly unscripted music-themed show called “Lemonade.” Although Spoken Reasons has one of the top most subscribed pages on Youtube (with 1.7 million subscribers), no word has been made as to in what capacity his talent will be used on the ADM label.
