Reactional Music partners with Hopeless Records and Cherry Red, opens opportunities for independent rightsholders in gaming

05 March 2024 - Press release

Cherry Red licenses master and song rights to tracks from catalogue spanning Dead Kennedys, Everything But The Girl and more for use via Reactional’s music personalisation engine and delivery platform

Hopeless Records licenses master rights to tracks from likes of Sum 41 and Avenged Sevenfold
Reactional to discuss creative convergence of music and gaming with SXSW panels next week

Reactional Music, the company pioneering the convergence of games and music, has agreed two new partnerships with Cherry Red Records and Hopeless Records.

Reactional is driving next-generation musical experiences in games and creator worlds, connecting the two sectors creatively, commercially and technically. By licensing tracks for use via Reactional’s music personalisation engine and delivery platform, Cherry Red Records and Hopeless Records are the latest in a growing network of rightsholder partners who will gain access to a global games market worth over $200 billion a year.

Founded in 1978 and home to iconic acts Dead Kennedys, The Fall and Kim Wilde, UK label group Cherry Red Records includes over fifteen active labels spanning a diverse range of genres. Its agreement with Reactional covers the master rights to the group’s full catalogue, including tracks by Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, The Residents and Felt, as well as a selection of song rights owned by its publishing division Cherry Red Songs.

Hopeless Records has meanwhile licensed the master rights to its full catalogue, including releases from world-leading alternative acts All Time Low, Avenged Sevenfold, Neck Deep and Sum 41. Based in Los Angeles, Hopeless Records and its charitable arm Sub City have released over 300 albums.

Reactional has signed multiple rightsholder agreements, including with fellow independent Defected Records, as well as Hipgnosis Song Management and production music house APM Music.

Cherry Red Records Director of Business Affairs and Licensing, Matt Bristow, said: "Innovation is so important to independent music; the opportunities to open up new platforms and new audiences through Reactional is a very exciting step for Cherry Red. The Reactional Platform solves the technical and commercial difficulties of connecting music and games, giving us an opportunity to bring Cherry Red’s catalogue to a whole new audience. The possibilities this opens up for all artists and creators is immensely exciting.”

Hopeless Records General Manager, Ian Harrison, said: “Hopeless is proud to partner with Reactional as it pioneers groundbreaking ways for fans to experience music. We are big believers in Reactional’s vision and thanks to their team, there is an exciting new future where music and gaming come together in a much more interesting and natural way than ever before.”

David Knox, Reactional Music President, said: “The independent music sector has been instrumental in developing and nurturing so many new amazing artists. We believe that independent music and emerging artists will be an essential part of the Reactional Platform, for developers and for gamers. Cherry Red and Hopeless share this belief and have been vocal supporters of what we are building at Reactional. Both have really engaged and understood what we are building, as well as where new personalisation and creation technology can increase music’s reach and power. The ability for consumers to now be able to personalise their experience in gaming and interactive worlds is incredibly exciting and a natural step in technology and consumption.”

Reactional’s technology changes the way people experience, interact with and enjoy music in games, by allowing developers to bring any commercial or production music into a game and for the entire game’s visuals, music and sound to react to an individual’s gameplay in real time.

With nearly 200 games developers already working with its Beta programme, Reactional’s technology will also soon enable music as an in-game purchase. This will allow people to pay to personalise their personas and gameplay with their favourite music – in the same way they do with skins and other purchases.

Reactional also has a number of global games partnerships, including Southeast Asia’s leading mobile games publisher, Amanotes.

Reactional’s co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Jesper Nordin will dive into the creative applications of Reactional’s technology as part of the “New Scores: Merging Music & Gaming” panel on 12 March at this year’s SXSW Conference. He will also join the BPI’s Insight and Innovation panel sessions at SXSW’s UK House on 11 March.