Brat Studios Launching Record Label (EXCLUSIVE)

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – On the heels of $30 million in new financing, Brat Studios , the company behind teen shows like “Chicken Girls” and “Total Eclipse,” is launching a record label, it announced today.

The company has already released several digital singles related to its shows — “Photograph,” an original song by “Chicken Girls” star Annie LeBlanc (pictured above) —  has garnered 14 million views on YouTube, and Brat songs have already earned 12 million streams on Spotify and substantial sales on iTunes. LeBlanc’s cover of Lisa Loeb’s 1994 hit “Stay” even garnered a thumbs-up from the songwriter herself .

“We’re eager to make our mark on the music industry,” said Brat co-founder Rob Fishman, who notes that the company will not initially be releasing physical product but has secured digital distribution through Tunecore as well as Spotify, iTunes and Amazon.

Likewise, Brat Records’ deals initially will be for one-off singles (under a variety of different terms), rather than long-term contracts. “We’re starting out by releasing a suite of singles and compilations in partnership with artists,” he says, “not signing them to anything exclusive.”

He also notes that whereas the company’s earlier music efforts were largely intended to promote its shows, “Here, there’s a music-first approach. We’ll be looking for talent both inside and outside of our universal of characters.”
Brat’s new music efforts will be led by new hire Lucas Thomashow, a former Google employee who started the DJ duo Cherry Beach. 

The new division will team up talent with emerging songwriters and producers to create releases under the Brat Records banner. In addition, the company is building a presence on music services like Spotify, where recent playlists including Brat Radio and the Chicken Girls Playlist recently went live.

“There are a lot of emerging artists with huge fanbases who are being ignored by mainstream,” Fishman says, “and we’re here for them.”