KOCH Expands Roster with New Music & Video Deals
New distribution deals include Legit Ballin Records, Real Talk Entertainment
and Blank Stare Films
(Port Washington, New York) November 10, 2005 - KOCH Entertainment Distribution is pleased to announce that it has expanded its audio & video label roster with three new and exclusive distribution deals. Under this agreement, KOCH will exclusively distribute the following labels in North America: Legit Ballin Records, Real Talk Entertainment and Blank Stare Films.
“We’re very pleased to welcome these new labels to the KOCH distribution family as we continue to expand our audio & video lines,” says Michael Rosenberg, President of KOCH Entertainment Distribution.
Legit Ballin Records is the Number 1 independent Midwest label whose claim to fame includes close to 700k records sold with 3 titles (Legit Ballin Vol. 1, 2, & 3) including the upcoming Legit Ballin Vol. 4 “Tha Truth” which is scheduled for release January 2006. Under the Leadership of “White Boy” James Frazier, the label was recognized by Billboard Magazine as #9 out of the top ten Independent Labels in the Nation. The Label’s Executive Team has a history of creating a music movement with street anthems that generate corporate-like statistics. They are in the forefront of delivering Chicago culture to mainstream America.
CEO James Frasier states, “This was an opportunity for two strong independent entities to come together and create a major force in the industry. Our partnership with KOCH is just the beginning of great things to come. “LB” has come to prime time with a prime situation and we will present ourselves as the prime independent rap label to contend with.”
Established in 2003, Real Talk Entertainment is one of Northern California’s leading independent record labels and is primarily focused on releasing former gold & platinum selling hip hop artists. Forthcoming titles for the first quarter of 2006 include titles by Brotha Lynch Hung & Mc Eiht “The New Season” and Layzie Bone & Young Noble “Thug Brothers”.
“I am very pleased to be on board with KOCH,” comments Derrick Johnson, CEO of Real Talk Entertainment. “They are a great home for our future product and I look forward to a mutually beneficial and prosperous relationship.”
Based in Bloomington, Indiana, Blank Stare Films was founded in 2005 by the owners of Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar Records as an extension of years of sheer love for film. The label is an independent, owner –operated company devoted to supporting and releasing projects from the burgeoning micro-indie world of filmmaking. Key-DVD catalog releases include The Graffiti Artist (Mettray Reformatory Pictures, distributed by Blank Stare), the second film by James Bolton (Eban and Charlie) is a minimal meditation on the northwest world of skating, tagging and wanderers that inhabit it. Forthcoming DVD releases for 2006 include “Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?” and “The Shield Around the K: The Story of K Records” slated for release in January.
“Our deal with KOCH comes at a perfect turning point with Blank Stare,” states Ben Swanson, Co-Founder of Blank Stare Films. “Starting as a pure distribution company, Blank Stare will be releasing its first two DVD projects through its new home video division in January as its maiden voyage with KOCH’s infrastructure and experience. All of us here are super excited about it.”
KOCH Entertainment is the leading and fastest-growing independent music and video company in the U.S. and its operations encompass record and video labels and distribution companies in the U.S. and Canada. KOCH Entertainment is the market leader among independents in both the U.S. and Canada and its record labels had the largest number of Billboard charting albums among independents in 2003/2004.
For more information, please contact James Scileppi at (516) 484-1000 Ext. 243 or email james.scileppi@kochent.com.
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