Today, brands have access to more music than ever before. Streaming catalogs boast hundreds of millions of tracks, and algorithms can surface many options in seconds. Despite this abundance, the work, the advertising, branded content, and digital campaigns meant to resonate with audiences increasingly sound like they were scored by the same invisible hand, pulled from the same subscription library, or using the same reference tracks.  Topshelf, announced by music executives Michael Frick and Elad Marish, is a direct response to that problem. Not just another licensing catalog. Not another discovery platform. Topshelf is a curated, rights-centered, creative infrastructure built from genuine artist relationships. The kind that took twenty years to build and cannot be replicated with a better interface. The roster reflects that premise. Topshelf’s catalog draws from artists and composers including Groove Armada, Donavon Frankenreiter, and Ubiquity Records, as well as work from Italian label Blind Faith Records and stalwart indie dance label Dirtybird. Not simply catalog acquisitions, they are relationships with artists, managers, and labels who trust where their music ends up and collaborators who have worked with Frick and Marish directly over the course of their careers. “The music and ad industry runs on relationships, but the bridge between those two sides has never really been efficient. Consolidation is creating a quiet brain drain across both industries. Topshelf is built to improve that, helping the right artists,... Read More