investor relations

WARNER MUSIC GROUP TO HONOR 50th ANNIVERSARY OF HIP-HOP WITH YEARLONG CELEBRATION

02/15/23

Celebration Launched At Grammy® House In Los Angeles

Partnerships Announced With Dolby, LGND Music, New York Red Bulls, Peloton, And Vinyl Me, Please, With More To Be Introduced In Coming Weeks

Watch The Trailer For Hip-Hop Fifty Now

Keep Up To Date At Newly Launched HipHopFifty.com

Listen To Official Hip-Hop Fifty Playlist Now

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Warner Music Group (Nasdaq: WMG) is excited to announce the launch of Hip-Hop Fifty, a yearlong, global celebration of the groundbreaking genre that turned the world on its head during the last half century. The far-reaching Hip-Hop Fifty campaign will bring together the worlds of art, fashion, sports, and more to honor every facet of America's most popular musical genre.

Watch the official trailer for Hip-Hop Fifty, produced by award-winning creative team The Tangent Agency, here.

Listen to the official Hip-Hop Fifty playlist, spotlighting the most iconic hip-hop tracks from the Warner Music catalog, here.

The festivities kicked off at the Official 2023 Grammy® House in Los Angeles during Grammy week. Presented by The Recording Academy and CBS and produced by ANTHEMIC Agency, who collaborated with Warner Music's Global Catalog Division on the build-out, Grammy® House was an immersive event space designed to spotlight five decades of hip-hop music and culture. Legendary hip-hop records from Warner Music's catalog were featured prominently throughout the exhibition. Check out highlights here.

Warner Music will be joining forces with several iconic partners for initiatives around the Hip-Hop Fifty celebration, including Dolby, LGND Music, New York Red Bulls, Peloton, and Vinyl Me, Please. Additional partnerships will be announced in the coming weeks.

To add to the excitement, Warner Music will celebrate the anniversary through Dolby Atmos® re-releases featuring artists from its iconic hip-hop catalog. Fans will be able to enjoy these beloved albums like never before with unparalleled clarity and depth through their favorite Dolby Atmos-enabled streaming service. Warner Music and Dolby will also host listening events throughout the year to showcase these new immersive Dolby Atmos® mixes in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London. Each listening party will include Q&As with people involved in the featured album. More details about all upcoming Dolby Atmos® releases and listening parties will be announced soon.

The celebration's official Web3 partner, LGND Music, is set to create bespoke Hip-Hop Fifty digital collectibles known as "Virtual Vinyl" for some of Warner Music's pioneering hip-hop artists. Available through tiered passes or as standalone collectibles, the innovative music and collectibles platform will provide fans an opportunity to enjoy FLAC quality audio both in-app and on their desktop platform, while also granting access to exclusive Hip-Hop Fifty content, merchandise, physical vinyl, NFT's, and upcoming events. The full LGND x HIP-HOP FIFTY drop schedule is coming soon.

The New York Red Bulls, one of the ten charter clubs of Major League Soccer, have partnered with Warner Music to honor a proud NY Metro area anniversary with Hip-Hop Fifty. The first of many collaborations throughout the year was the 2023 season jersey launch last week at the Hard Rock Hotel New York featuring Brooklyn-based female rap duo and 300 Entertainment artist, Girll Codee. There, the NY soccer club unveiled the Adidas jersey kit that was designed in collaboration with luxury streetwear designer, Daniel Patrick.

Peloton will celebrate hip-hop's 50th anniversary throughout the year, starting on February 23rd with a second iteration of its wildly popular Bad Boy Artist Series ride, first introduced in 2021. The 2.0 version will include a first of its kind 2 For 1 Run with instructors Alex Toussaint and Marcel Dinkins, as well as the first ever Live Member Bad Boy classes with Members in-studio across several different modalities. More details about Peloton's Hip-Hop Fifty partnership will be announced soon.

Vinyl Me, Please will produce limited-edition, vinyl versions of select hip-hop albums from the Warner Music catalog, starting in March with Earl Sweatshirt's 2022 album Sick! The full schedule of vinyl releases will be unveiled soon.

News and updates about Hip-Hop Fifty will be announced throughout the year. The campaign will be spearheaded by Warner Music's Global Catalog Division, with collaboration across many other WMG entities including frontline labels, Warner Chappell Music (WCM), WMX, and ADA. Stay up to date with the latest information at www.HipHopFifty.com.

Access accompanying logo here.

About Warner Music Group

With a legacy extending back over 200 years, Warner Music Group (WMG) today brings together artists, songwriters, and entrepreneurs that are moving entertainment culture across the globe. Operating in more than 70 countries through a network of affiliates and licensees, WMG's Recorded Music division includes renowned labels such as 300 Entertainment, Asylum, Atlantic, Big Beat, Canvasback, Elektra, Erato, First Night, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin', Warner Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville. WMG's music publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, has a catalog of over one million copyrights spanning every musical genre, from the standards of the Great American Songbook to the biggest hits of the 21st century. Warner Music Group is also home to ADA, the independent artist and label services company – as well as next gen artist services division WMX, which includes consumer brands such as Songkick, the live music app; EMP, the merchandise e-tailer; UPROXX, the youth culture destination; and HipHopDX, the hip-hop music news site. In addition, WMG counts storytelling powerhouse Warner Music Entertainment and social media content creator IMGN among its many brands. Follow WMG on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.   

Media Contacts
Majeda Hussein
Majeda.Hussein@wmg.com

Jason Elzy
Jason.Elzy@rhino.com 

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SOURCE Warner Music Group Corp.