beatBread closes a seven-figure deal with singer Elley Duhe, the first beatBread funded artist with a global Top 10 hit with “Middle of the Night.”
beatBread is the music funding platform enabling artists to access their growth capital while still maintaining ownership and controlling the direction of their careers. With more than 500 million streams and multiple weeks on charts around the world, Elley Duhe’s hit “Middle of the Night” has reached the top 10 in Spotify’s Global Top 50 list. beatBread’s funding allows Duhe’s management company and independent label, Not Fit For Society, to continue to work with her to advance her career.
“Our mission is to empower artists, independent labels and other music projects, as they continue to grow,” says Peter Sinclair, CEO of beatBread. “This latest deal with Elley and Not Fit For Society demonstrates that beatBread is a powerful financial tool for artists with global chart success.”
“Artist choice is our North Star — we give artists and labels full control of their marketing, distribution and management decisions without having to sacrifice ownership. We are excited that Elley and her talented team chose us to fund her ongoing career development, and look forward to watching her continued growth.”
“Although we’re not against major labels, independence just felt like the way to go,” explains CEO of Not Fit For Society, J. Hill. “After multiple major label negotiations, we felt like they didn’t fully align with our ideas and vision for Elley. beatBread is the most transparent and flexible team we’ve worked with. We had one quick conversation with them, and constructed a deal that kept open all her options for the future.”
Not Fit For Society co-founder Tabari Francis adds, “Our DNA as managers and executives is rooted in an independent mindset. With the current climate in the industry, you have to know when it’s time for a major label deal and when it’s best to stay independent. For Elley, we all wanted to stay indie but still be able to make major moves. beatBread understood our overall vision and didn’t hesitate to make this a reality with us.”
Since its launch in November 2020, beatBread has provided nearly 400 artists with financial advances, including Yung Bleu, DistroKid, The Orchard, and Ingrooves. Advances range from $1,000 to as much as $2 million per artist, with the artist repaying over a period of their choosing from a share of their airplay and streaming revenues — publishing, touring, and merchandising revenues are left untouched. Advance agreements place no restrictions on fund allocation and leave marketing and distribution partners in the artist’s hands.