Vydia, the music distribution company founded by Mr Eazi, has been acquired by Gamma for a whopping $1…
Vydia, the music distribution company founded by Mr Eazi, has been acquired by Gamma for a whopping $1 billion. Vydia is a part of Zagadat Capital, the venture capital fund of the pop star and has previously worked with artists like Akon, Kanye West, and Anuel,
Gamma is a music company founded by Larry Jackson, a former creative director at Apple Music. Regarding the acquisition, Jackson stated, “Gamma is built with the flexibility and aptitude that creators need to connect with fans on all formats and across all channels- with transparency and no restriction.”
We are a progressive media company powered by the best-in-class content distribution and analytics software through our Vydia acquisition, and central to its core, Gamma is an ideas company.”
Jackson acquired the distribution platform Vydia in December, subsuming its 76 mostly New Jersey-based employees, and has struck deals with about a dozen of the world’s most influential creators, from Usher to Rick Ross to Naomi Campbell to Angelica Nwandu, founder of The Shade Room, one of Instagram’s most popular news channels.”
Billboard also reports that Jackson hopes that his leadership will drive more diversity, inclusion, and equity at the top of the music business. as a Black founder and CEO, He wants to run gamma with a closer focus on — and more sensitivity to — Black culture than the major labels, while structuring deals that help artists retain ownership of their work and build generational wealth.”
About Vydia
Vydia, the amazing digital audio and video distribution infrastructure company, is a product of Mr. Eazi’s impressive knack for business.
Since he introduced Zagadat Capital in 2021 to the mainstream, the company has invested heavily in tech companies such as remittance-based lending company Piasa, Eden Life, African FinTech Pawapay, and most recently, the South African basketball team CapaTown Tigers.
On December 13th, 2022, NJBIZ named seven companies and one individual as the winners in the 2022 Business of the Year awards during a ceremony at The Palace at Somerset Park. The program, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions to help the state’s business community grow and prosper, awarded Vydia as the best business in the category Business of the Year (51–100 employees).
That same year, Vydia got recognized by NJBIZ as the best place to work after the program confidently collected data allowing workers to share feedback about their employers.
The deal with Gamma is alleged to be the biggest deal in the history of Afrobeats. This is for sure good news for the industry, which in the past few years has garnered the world’s attention through the dynamic and lush sounds unfurling from the continent.
Mr Eazi, aside from being the founder of Vydia, is also the owner of the music distribution platform emPawa, which is the brain behind the emergence of pop stars like Fave and Joeboy, who have become household names in the industry.
Spotify listed Vydia as one of its preferred artist distributors early this year. These achievements clearly show that Vydia, since its introduction, has grown to be a notable member of the music industry globally. Its recent acquisition by Gamma clearly indicates that Vydia is one of the best ideas to have been floated by an Afrobeats artist.
Mr Eazi gets the credit for his amazing contribution to the music business. When he launched Zagadat Capital, some of the first investments of the venture capital fund were targeted at music technology companies like creative finance and IP company emPawa and ticketing platform SHOOBs.