Issa Rae’s Raedio Signs Multi-Year Deal With MTV Entertainment Group

Words by: Sentwali Holder

As reported exclusively by Shadow and Act, Insecure Creator Issa Rae’s audio banner, Raedio, has just signed a multi-year partnership deal to provide exclusive “library access and original music” with mega-media hub, ViacomCBS’ MTV Entertainment Group.

The impressive deal from Issa, who is best known as a television powerhouse, will start MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, and CMT, essentially MTV Entertainment Group, and then will expand to additional ViacomCBS brands that include Showtime, BET, Nick, and other networks/streamers.

“We are thrilled about this unique collaboration with Raedio that not only will connect our audiences to fresh new music and voices but also create opportunities for up and coming artists,” said Bruce Gillmer, ViacomCBS President of Music, Music Talent, Programming & Events.

“At its core, Raedio is an audio-everywhere company that prides itself on not only reaching audiences across multiple mediums including film, television and podcasts, but also providing emerging artists with an opportunity to have their voices heard” said Benoni Tagoe, President of Raedio. “We’re excited to launch this partnership, which will give untapped talent an opportunity to have their work featured across the ViacomCBS portfolio. This relationship has been a natural progression as Raedio continues to cement itself as a dynamic leader in the music industry.”

As noted within the deal, ViacomCBS will have direct access to Raedio’s bespoke library, which is operated by Vice President of Music Supervision & Library, Phillippe Pierre. The robust and diverse library “features an array of musical genres from hip-hop to classical, pop to hybrid score, nostalgic R&B, Latin trap — and everything in-between.” Raedio will also music supervise several installments of VH1’s Love & Hip Hop franchise. 

Lastly, ViacomCBS will also work with Raedio to music industry style writing camps to create original music for their programming lineup.

Raedio, originally launched in 2019, provides top tier music supervision services across several television projects at Starz, HBO, Netflix, Hulu and others.