It was announced this week that Sean “Puff Daddy-Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment has formed a joint partnership with Epic Records. Parent label Sony Music announced that the partnership includes distribution of two forthcoming albums from Puff Daddy himself and several of Bad Boy’s acts will be covered by Epic’s marketing, distribution and promotional services. In its 22-year history, Bad Boy has had similar deals with WMG, Interscope and Arista Records. But Combs teaming with Epic CEO Antonio “L.A.” Reid is being hyped as a major power move.
“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, aka Puff Daddy, and I have been musical collaborators since the 1990s, when we both ran independent record labels,” Reid said via statement. “Over the years, we not only enjoyed incredible success together, but we also became lifelong friends. Today, of course, Puffy is truly in a league all his own, continuing to influence culture and ignite musical revolutions time and time again. He’s a true innovator and I could not be more excited to join forces once again.”
For his part, Combs sounded equally as enthusiastic.
“I have known L.A. Reid since the very beginning and together we have enjoyed countless successes over our long friendship,” stated Combs. “To now work with L.A. in this capacity feels more like a homecoming than a new beginning. Not only is he a fearless and smart businessman, he believes in artists and understands music better than anyone. He embodies hard work and true success, evident in all of his endeavors. To collaborate with L.A. Reid is to collaborate with the very best.”
The agreement includes a new label deal with Bad Boy Entertainment and Epic Records which will bring Bad Boy artists to Epic in an exclusive label partnership that will include new music projects, new artist signings and upcoming releases. “It’s a pleasure being in business with three major music labels as we approach our third decade of making music for our peers and fans,” states longtime Bad Boy president, Harve Pierre.
So why doesn’t this feel like a bigger deal?
Diddy has always been best at marketing Diddy. He’s performing new music at the BET Hip Hop Awards this week in Atlanta in celebration of this new deal; echoing the “Bad Boy Reunion” performance at the 2015 BET Awards this summer. Bad Boy’s brand visibility isn’t exactly what it was in the 1990s, despite the success of affiliated artists like Janelle Monae and Machine Gun Kelly. At its peak, Bad Boy was one of the most influential record labels in urban music; making stars of hip-hop artists like the late Notorious B.I.G. and Ma$e, as well as R&B singers like Faith Evans and 112. Diddy hasn’t actually done much star-making since the mid-2000s when acts like Danity Kane kept the impresario on Millennial’s musical radar; Bad Boy still functions as a successful label, but without the notoriety that often accompanies high profile hip-hop brands. It’s become a tentpole held aloft mostly by Diddy’s ego. It’s telling that this Epic deal is leading with “new Puff Daddy music” as a major hype point — seeing as how there doesn’t seem to be much fervor from the general public for new Diddy tunes.
As for Reid, his reputation is well-deserved. The man behind the success of TLC, Usher and Pink has earned his spot as one of the industry’s most respected minds. And Epic Records is finally beginning to see success born of his vision. This year, Meghan Trainor became the first artist on the Epic roster to give Reid a number one hit for the label (“All About That Bass”) ending a long relatively dry spell for the mogul that began when he was named CEO.
He famously moonlighted as a judge on NBC’s X-Factor during that stretch, and it seems as though he wasn’t focused on his new job at Epic. He announced that he was leaving the popular singing contestant show in 2013 after two seasons. “I’ve a company to run that I’ve kind of neglected,” Reid stated at the time, and he admitted this summer that his tenure on “X-Factor” was a misstep and even added that it “affected my taste.”
“It really affected my taste — it almost destroyed it,” Reid told The Hollywood Reporter. “It completely threw me off … what works for television isn’t necessarily the thing that works in the traditional journey of music, so I adjusted my taste for television. But the truth is, I lowered my bar — my bar was quite high, if I’m being honest, and as a result I didn’t have the same level of success. The bar is quite high again now, but it was damaging.
“I worked with Simon Cowell, who I love and have great respect for and he has great taste, but being around him for that long, I started to take on his taste, and I’m an amateur at having his taste — I’m good at my kind of taste.”
There was speculation back then that Reid was spending too much of Sony’s money with too short a return, a reputation that he hasn’t exactly disproved. But Reid is focused and he’s loyal. The other big news for Epic this year was the signing of veteran pop superstar Mariah Carey to a multi-album deal; Carey who is coming off the worst-selling album of her career, Me. I Am Mariah … The Elusive Chanteuse. But with things on the uptick, who knows what Reid could have in store for Epic in 2016.
Bad Boy Entertainment is still a hot commodity and the deal with Epic makes a lot of sense. It doesn’t feel like a world-changing, seismic shift in music because its not 1998 anymore and because the news is being meted out with heavy emphasis on Diddy. But this will be a positive for all involved. Just don’t expect the public to be too enthused about it.
