Warner Music Partners with leading Czech Republic hip-hop label Mike Roft

23 March 2023 - Press release

 

Warner Music Czech Republic has renewed its partnership and invested in leading local hip-hop label, Mike Roft. The new deal will see Warner Music become the sole distributor for all of Mike Roft’s roster, which includes Calin – one of the biggest artists in the Czech market.  

Founded in 2018, Mike Roft has developed a core roster of six culturally important and commercially successful artists. It has also built a strong merch operation and has a growing presence in live event promotion. Local music icons Calin and D-Kop, and renowned video director and graphic designer Radim Zboril, are shareholders in the company and will continue to lead Mike Roft as an independent label. 

Calin is currently riding high in the Czech and Slovak charts thanks to a surprise collaboration album with the markets’ Number One artist Viktor Sheen (whose last three albums were also distributed by Warner Music). The album topped both territories’ charts and became the most streamed week one album ever in the Czech Republic, while the single ‘Safir’ became the most streamed song in a single day on Spotify in the Czech Republic. The album tracks are still dominating the  Top 10 singles charts on Apple Music and Spotify. Calin previously broke Czech IFPI chart records when his single ‘Hannah Montana’ spent 31 weeks at Number One, as well as spending 20 weeks at Number One in Slovakia. His album Popstar also spent 16 weeks at the top of the Czech charts.  

Mike Roft is also home to artists including Conspira, KOJO, Indigo, Metyou, Lajfr as well as STEIN27, who spent five weeks at Number One in the Czech Republic with his album Teorie padu, and three weeks at Number One with his single ‘Habibi’.  

D-Kop, Mike Roft says: “I’m glad that we formed this partnership and now we can take our collaboration to a whole other level.”

Vladimir Kočandrle, Managing Director of Warner Music Czech Republic, adds: “Mike Roft has built a culturally significant and respected brand, with a roster of artists who are leading the way in hip-hop in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. By partnering with them, we’re tapping into their expertise, while giving their artists the opportunity to reach an audience on a global scale. We’ve already enjoyed huge recent success with Calin and Viktor Sheen’s ground-breaking album and I’m looking forward to replicating such results as we move forward.” 

Alfonso Perez-Soto, President, Emerging Markets, Recorded Music, WMG, concludes: “The Eastern European market continues to be a priority for us and by partnering with Mike Roft we are putting ourselves in pole position across the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Not only are we partnering with incredible artists, but we’ll also be able to benefit from Mike Roft’s strong merch infrastructure and live events operations.”  

This partnership is Warner Music’s latest move in Eastern Europe, which has grown its presence with the appointment of Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska as General Manager of Warner Music South East Europe, the investment in Serbian record label Mascom Records and Polish promoter Big Idea, the partnership with Poland’s Step Records, the acquisition of Polskie Nagrania and Solvakia’s Opus Records, and the hire of Bartosz Szwoch as CFO of Warner Music Eastern Europe.