Blink-182‘s Mark Hoppus and Fall Out Boy‘s Pete Wentz are part of a team launching a new “venture capital music startup” called Verswire.
Founded by Sherry Saeedi, who previously co-founded the streaming platform Veeps, Verswire was conceived as a “development incubator” rather than a traditional record label.
“Using the ‘Shark Tank’ ideology, Verswire acts as a venture capital fund that views artists as entrepreneurs, tailoring each with a custom investment that includes funding, resources, tools, A-list mentoring, support from prominent music executives, and an ecosystem to own and operate their businesses within while allowing them to keep majority ownership of their masters,” a press release reads.
Hoppus is Verswire’s partner of A&R and is also among the mentors who will be partnered with each Verswire signee. Wentz, meanwhile, is a “strategic advisor.”
“I am very excited to help build a new way for bands and artists to create music for communities, while retaining ownership of their work,” Hoppus says.
Wentz adds, “I’ve been a fan of Sherry and the work she’s done for years, and look forward to being part of Verswire’s journey.”
Verswire’s first signing is a band called Beauty School Dropout, who just released a new song called “Assassin.” Hoppus, who mentored the group, appears in the track’s accompanying video, along with Wentz and Paris Jackson.
(Video contains uncensored profanity.)
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