Stationhead and Mellomanic announced they have merged, effective immediately, to form a combined company under the Stationhead name, creating a category-defining direct-to-fan platform for live, interactive listening experiences and scalable online music events.
The combined business brings together Stationhead’s real-time listening and community engagement product with Mellomanic’s infrastructure for large-scale listening parties, video streaming events, and data-driven fan engagement for artists and labels. The companies said the unified platform is designed to deepen artist-fan connections and create new monetization and commerce opportunities across the music ecosystem.
The new Stationhead is receiving investment from Sterling Partners and Universal Music Group, among others. Universal Music Group is also entering into a commercial agreement to use Stationhead’s technology and to support the platform as an independent, industry-wide service intended to benefit artists, fans, and music stakeholders broadly.
Leadership changes accompany the transaction. David Rappaport, formerly head of Mellomanic and previously Chief Operating Officer of Global Touring at AEG Presents, will serve as Stationhead’s Chief Executive Officer. Stationhead co-founder and recording artist Ryan Star will become Chief Creative Officer. Steven Taslitz, Chairman and Co-Founder of Sterling Partners, will serve as Stationhead’s Chairman. Rappaport and Star will also join the board.
The companies positioned the merger as a response to fans engaging earlier in the release cycle, with greater emphasis on pre-release discovery, real-time participation, and direct artist interaction. They said the platform spans live listening parties, “first listen” pre-release events, community-driven commerce, and fan intelligence, and that it already integrates with Spotify and Apple Music, with plans to add additional major streaming services.
Support: Goldman Sachs advised Stationhead on the merger.
KEY QUOTES
“This merger creates the ultimate direct-to-fan platform the industry needs. Even as far back as when I was an artist attorney, I felt that copyrights and artist businesses were substantially under-monetized and that an all-encompassing solution could be created for the industry that allowed all industry stakeholders to win. By bringing Stationhead and Mellomanic together, we’re building an additive, ecosystem-wide solution that drives real business and data for artists, record labels, music publishers, and streaming services. As pre-release engagement and fan participation become increasingly central to the fan experience and the music economy, we’re creating destinations where creativity and commerce work in tandem—and where our unique position allows us not just to capture value, but to expand the overall opportunity for everyone.”
David Rappaport, Chief Executive Officer, Stationhead
“Stationhead was built from the ground up to bring artists and fans together in real time, around the music itself. By merging with Mellomanic, we’re scaling that vision into the definitive home for fan communities, where listening becomes participation, fans organize with purpose, and artists know exactly where to reach their most engaged audiences. Through live listening parties that have already driven billions of streams on premium streaming services, we’ve demonstrated the commercial power of fandom at scale. This is the next evolution of music fandom, and it’s the future we’ve been building toward from the very beginning.”
Ryan Star, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Stationhead
“We’re excited to take the lead in building what we believe is a truly transformational company. Sterling has a four-decade track record of scaling community-driven businesses across technology and music, including software platforms designed to foster engagement and participation at scale. Stationhead represents one of the most compelling opportunities of my career, an independent, industry-wide platform with the potential to drive meaningful incremental value for record labels, music publishers, artists, and fans by bringing artists and their communities closer together in powerful, new ways.”
Steven Taslitz, Chairman, Stationhead; Co-Founder and Chairman, Sterling Partners
“At Universal Music Group, we see tremendous potential in technology innovation that brings artists and their biggest fans more closely together, and Stationhead’s independent platform exemplifies that opportunity. We’re pleased to enter into a commercial agreement and make a strategic investment alongside Sterling Partners as these talented entrepreneurs build a platform that fosters creative new ways for artists to connect with audiences and activate social engagement. Collaborative, artist-centric, super fan-focused innovation like this is essential to the future of our industry.”
Michael Nash, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, Universal Music Group
