SFX Entertainment continues to conquer the live-event and dance music scene by storm. The conglomerate behind concerts like TomorrowLand, TomorrowWorld, Life In Color, and Electric Zoo as well as the online electronic dance music store Beatport has recently acquired three new assets to their FX-1 division in charge of in-house marketing solutions for musicians and brand names in cohorts with them. They will be in the same section as Pay Logic, Flavorous, Arc90, and Fame House. The three companies are TMWRK, Learned Evolutions, and The Meta Agency.
TMWRK resulted from the merging of two companies in 2011 each led by Andrew McInnes and Kevin Kusatsu, who met while working in Sony Music years prior. It is one of the commanding companies in the management and representation business for a variety of musicians. This includes moombahton master Dillon Francis, trap sensations Flosstradamus, Grammy nominated Producer of the Year Ariel Rechtshaid, and techno veteran Claude VonStroke. This is the company that made the the marketing partnerships possible between musicians A-Trak and Diplo to brands Adidas and Blackberry respectively. 
Learned Evolutions was founded in 2006 and deals in digital branding and marketing. However, the agency maintains a focus on multidisciplinary design, social media marketing, and technology-lead experiences. Since their foundation, Learned Evolutions has been responsible for the development of the communications platform for the Brooklyn Bowl and ownership over the #FEED Franchise that kickstarted at SXSW 2012. This company will be instrumental in expanding the SFX’s reach into the ever increasing tech-desire for future events and media outlets.
The Meta Agency came about in 2010 and manages visual, experiential, and interactive artists who design for events, brand activations and permanent installations. With up to sixteen other companies specializing in visual arts, interactive design, motion graphics, and video under their control, SFX will be able to harmonize innovative advancements in technology with a rapidly evolving global community.
Both Learned Evolutions and The Meta Agency were founded by Justin Bolognino. He serves as the creative director and top brand strategist for both agencies and is quite excited to have his two companies under the wings of SFX saying,
“The opportunity to partner with SFX allows us an unprecedented opportunity to give our artists the broadest exposure to the fastest growing creative, technological and experiential platform of electronic music. We see the opportunities to bring leading experiential solutions to life with SFXs deep bench of marketing partners and we hope to make our artists as famous as the DJ/ Producers that grace the SFX stages around the globe.”
Andrew McInnes of TMWRK also shared his thoughts of the future of TMWRK with SFX. He stated,
“Partnering with SFX gives us more opportunities to help our artists grow in multiple ways. Kevin and I put our artists first. Our focus will continue to be on the music they make and provide an environment for their careers to grow in whichever creative path they choose to endeavor into. With this partnership and the universal commitment of everyone at SFX to maintain our artist-first commitment, this is a major opportunity for TMWRK and our artists.”
However, the comment that sheds the most light on this situation comes from the head of SFX Entertainment Robert F. X. Sillerman. He explains the future of these companies and their place in SFX explaining,
“FX-1 represents our vision to bring a full-service solution to our creative partners and our fans. EMC is the highly personal language of the millennial generation. By bringing together these talented people and their capabilities, SFX can now help artists, producers, labels and companies connect in the most authentic and helpful way. TMWRK adds career development expertise for those desiring that assistance. The Meta Agency and Learned Evolution give us an extraordinary level of creative design talent to support any development effort imaginable.”
With such a massive growth for SFX, what will the company do next? They seem to have their hand far down the dance music culture cookie-jar and desire more from it. Leave some comments on what you think these recent acquisitions will bring SFX and the edm scene in the near future.
Source: Seeking Alpha
(Photo Courtesy of IntoTheAM.com)
