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Empire Distribution
Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, Empire has offices in New York, London, Lagos, and Johannesburg in addition to recording studios in San Francisco and New York.
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Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, Empire has offices in New York, London, Lagos, and Johannesburg in addition to recording studios in San Francisco and New York.
Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (stylized as EMPIRE) is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, Empire has offices in New York, London, Lagos, and Johannesburg in addition to recording studios in San Francisco and New York.
Shami, a San Francisco native with a background in music and tech, founded Empire as a digital distribution company focused on hip-hop and rap. Developing proprietary software that allowed managers and artists to easily track airplay and sales, Empire paid monthly royalties to artists, many of whom had not previously earned digital revenue, and gained early support from the Bay Area's artist community.
In 2014, Shami, known as Ghazi, launched the Empire label. Empire Africa, Empire Latino, and Empire Nashville divisions were later established. Since its founding—in partnership with artists and artist labels—Empire has released music by artists including Kendrick Lamar, Bebe Rexha, Anderson .Paak, Shaboozey, Fat Joe, Tyga, Olamide, Asake, Fireboy DML, XXXTentacion, G-Dragon, Philthy Rich, Young Dolph, Key Glock, King Von, Tink, Black Sherif, Yung Bleu, D Smoke, T-Pain, Snoop Dogg, DRAM, Cardi B and Emtee, among others. Empire Publishing was founded in 2020.
Empire was founded by Ghazi Shami. Raised in San Francisco, he grew up listening to Bay Area artists such as Too Short, Spice 1, RBL Posse, Souls of Mischief, Luniz, JT the Bigga Figga, and Rappin' 4-Tay. Equally interested in music and technology, in college he worked at the tech companies Sun Microsystems, Eloquent Technologies and Audio Highway; he later worked at Hyde Street Studios, where he engineered and mixed music by artists including Messy Marv, Planet Asia and Too Short.
In 2006, he was hired at INgrooves Music Group, an independent distribution and marketing company. While he had written code and built out streaming media sites since he was a teenager, at INgrooves, he learned about the intricacies of digital distribution, artist contracts, and royalties. Helping to build the company's rap division, he signed DIY artists representative of the Bay Area sound and culture, often introducing them to online revenue streams.
With its digital distribution platform successful, Empire established Empire Records. Among others, the label released Anderson .Paak's album Malibu, which earned .Paak a Grammy nomination in the Best New Artist category, as well as Fat Joe's "All The Way Up" and DRAM's "Broccoli." Young Dolph turned down a $22 million major label deal to sign with Empire and remain independent. In an interview with Variety, Dolph said: "Empire is on deck with people who love to do this shit just as much as I do...whether you got money to deal with it or no money to deal with it, the best relationships are going to be the ones where you understand each other."
In 2017, XXXTentacion's debut album, 17, was released on Empire. It charted at number two on the Billboard 200. His sophomore album was released on Capitol. He returned to re-sign with Empire a month before his death; The New York Times reported that the deal was worth $10 million. XXXTentacion's posthumous album, Skins, debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart.
In 2020, after developing proprietary software specific to music publishing that provided transparency similar to Empire's royalty software, Empire established a publishing division. Initial signings included Illmind, Nebu Kiniza, Dr Zeus and Empire artists Young Dolph, Key Glock, Mozzy, Fireboy DML, Yung Bleu and RJMrLA.
In partnership with Olamide and his label, YBNL Nation, Empire Africa's first signing was Nigerian Afrobeats artist Fireboy DML. His 2021 single "Peru", remixed by Ed Sheeran, was a global hit. With subsequent signings including Asake, Burna Boy, BNXN and Kizz Daniel, Empire Africa became a preeminent Afrobeats label; on Nigeria's year-end TurnTable Charts, Empire had the top three artists, the top two songs, and the top album. Empire releases held the #1 position on the Nigerian charts for 35 weeks over the course of the year.
Empire began investing in the
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Ghazi founded Empire from his home in the Potrero neighborhood of San Francisco in 2010. In a 2019 interview, he said: "This company wouldn't exist if I wasn't born and bred in the Bay; in SF and Silicon Valley. This company is as much a software company as it is a music company. It’d be a disservice to the roots, to the origin, to everything that I stand for, if this company wasn't firmly planted or rooted here."
Initially focused on rap, Empire's backend technology bypassed the existing digital distribution system and delivered music directly to streaming and retail platforms quickly to capitalize on the viral momentum of the genre's traditional rapid-fire releases. Contracts were non-exclusive and proprietary software allowed managers and artists to easily track royalties, which were paid monthly. The company's core practices, in addition to Ghazi's relationships, attracted artists, and as Empire gained traction, Ghazi hired Nima Etminan as his second-in-command. Etminan later became the company's COO.
In 2018, Tina Davis, previously an artist manager and a head of A&R at Def Jam, was named SVP of A&R, and a partnership with L.A. Reid's Hitco was announced. King Von's Empire-distributed song "Crazy Story" was a 3× platinum viral hit. He subsequently signed with Empire, releasing the mixtape, Grandson, which became one of the label's most successful releases. Empire also worked with Tyga in 2018; the track "Taste", was 9× platinum as of 2023.
Empire began working with Latino artists including Tego Calderón and Luis Enrique in 2012, and in 2018 established Empire Latino. In 2019, Empire Latino had its first hit with Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Jay Wheeler; as of 2023, his song La Curiosidad was 8× platinum.
Empire Nashville, a country music division, was founded in 2019, "blazing a trail for Black country artists."
