A trio of music industry veterans has announced the launch of Verswire, a new venture capital music startup.
Veps Founder & COO Sherry Saeedi, blink-182 lead vocalist Mark Hoppus, and veteran music manager Nick Lippman have come together to create Verswire. Fall Out Boy founding member & bassist Pete Wentz is on board as a strategic advisor. Verswire aims to be a game-changing startup focused on serving as a development incubator for emerging and established artists alike.
“The countless tech solutions that allow artists to make extra money have merely been a bandaid, while no one has fixed the root of the problem: that unfavorable deals do not allow artists to make money or their own music,” says Verswire CEO & Founder Sherry Saeedi. “In witnessing my closest friends put on the back-burner or trapped within the deals they signed while going bankrupt, I didn’t feel like anyone out there was providing the right solution to artists.”
“Rather [it felt like] an iteration of the same archaic business model we’ve seen fail artists time and time again,” Saeedi continues. “I decided to build Verswire with an incredible team to re-envision the industry and provide musicians with an alternative that’s truly created with their well-being and careers as the priority.”
Verswire will use the shark tank ideology as a venture capital fund that views artists as entrepreneurs. The firm plans to tailor its investment in each artist with funding, resources, tools, A-list mentoring, and support from prominent music executives. Verswire says it will provide an ecosystem for artists to own and operate their businesses within while allowing them to keep majority ownership of their masters.
“Seeing documentary after documentary about multi-platinum arena-selling artists coming forward with their experiences of unfavorable label deals,” Saeedi adds. “I was tired of hearing the same horror story over and over again – that musicians are struggling to make a dime off their work, while their label partners rake in millions.”
Verswire’s debut signing Beauty School Dropout has released their new single, “Assassin.” The group has been championed by both Hoppus and Wentz. “I am very excited to help build a new way for bands and artists to create music for communities, while retaining ownership of their work,” adds Mark Hoppus.
“I’ve been a fan of Sherry and the work she’s done for years, and look forward to being part of Verswire’s journey,” adds Pete Wentz.
Verswire is comprised of CEO and Founder Sherry Saeedi, partner Nick Lippman, Partner of A&R Mark Hoppus, Director of A&R and Branding Myia Ingoldsby, and Pete Wentz serving as a strategic advisor. The founding team also welcomes numerous music veterans as advisors and investors, including Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour Founder) and Gus Brandt (Mark Hoppus, Foo Fighters).