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Warner Music unveils 3EE
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 23 June 2022
Warner Music has announced the launch of a new division called 300 Elektra Entertainment, formally bringing together its 300 Entertainment and Elektra Music Group units under one brand. You can call it 3EE if you like. For the record, I don’t like, but might still use that name in the rest of this article, but only for convenience purposes.
When Warner acquired 300 Entertainment late last year, its co-founder and CEO Kevin Liles took on the additional job of CEO of the major’s Elektra Music Group, so the creation of a joined-up brand for the two divisions seemed likely.
300 and Elektra will still have their own teams and operations, the former headed up by recently promoted Co-Presidents Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab, the latter by Mike Easterlin and Gregg Nadel. And the other distinct label brands that previously sat within either 300 or Elektra will also continue to operate as part of 3EE, including Elektra Records, Fueled By Ramen, Roadrunner, Low Country Sound, DTA Records, Public Consumption, Young Stoner Life Records and Sparta.
There will now also be a “central hub of expertise” that will “bring together the deep knowledge and wide experience spanning the 300 and Elektra teams”. But it seems that the main development here is the creation of this big old 3EE brand.
And with a new brand created, you can be sure this announcement came with some customary branding bullshit. Would you like to hear it? Of course you would! “As part of the launch, a new logo and mission statement have been unveiled, drawing on 3EE labels’ distinctive DNA and the new company’s unique indie-major philosophy”, says the announcement.
“The logo combines elements of both brands”, it goes on, “including 300’s signature red ‘3’ and the stacked Elektra Entertainment logo. The mission statement makes clear 3EE’s creative identity, heralding the company as a family of labels driven by ‘the power of people, the power of service, and the power of action’, with the ‘mindset of an independent and the muscle of a major'”.
Champion. Hope you enjoyed all the branding bullshit. Though there’s some more corporate speak nonsense to enjoy coming up in this quote from the aforementioned Kevin Liles. And partly in the form of a hashtag no less. Brace yourselves!
“Every single brand within 3EE was born as an independent, entrepreneurial label made up of music-lovers who take risks, break rules, and disrupt culture”, reckons Liles. “The mission of 3EE is to reimagine our value proposition to artists and creative partners globally”.
“We fuel the spirit of our labels’ identities through the creation of powerhouse brand management teams that span genres and cultures”, he goes on. “Our people are handpicked because they all live what they work and love what they do. Every label within the 3EE family is driven by a unique point of view and purpose, and, at the same time, they all benefit from our years of collective expertise, wisdom, and influence. We call this #BiggerFamilyBusiness”.
Thanks Kev! That was lovely. Bit of a weird hashtag thing though.
