EVEN Announces Agreement with Universal Music Group to Provide Direct-to-Fan Platform for Artists Worldwide

This multi-year agreement makes EVEN a direct-to-fan resource for UMG, enabling turnkey superfan experiences ahead of streaming.

EVEN Team

Buy the Art From the Artist

New York, NY — February 18, 2026 — EVEN, the direct-to-fan platform providing infrastructure for the growing superfan economy across the global music industry, has announced a new agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment.

This multi-year agreement establishes EVEN as a direct-to-fan resource for UMG, providing UMG’s labels and artists with a turnkey solution for engaging their most dedicated fans through early access to music, exclusive content, community features, and artist-led experiences ahead of streaming release, integrating into UMG’s overarching D2C strategy and complementing its fan engagement portfolio.

EVEN powers direct-to-fan engagement, offering both EVEN Marketplace, its consumer-facing discovery platform, and EVEN Studio, a white-label solution that can help transform an artist’s website into a dedicated superfan destination. Designed to also live natively within social platforms, EVEN helps artists and labels convert fans on social into superfan communities, by blending commerce, content, and community in a single, secure environment. EVEN introduces a new digital album sale, giving fans early access to music while counting toward Billboard® charts, with digital sales reporting certified by Luminate.

In addition to digital experiences, UMG artists will be able to offer physical music and merchandise through EVEN using UMG’s global D2C, vinyl, and merch infrastructure.

“Superfans are the foundation of sustainable artist careers. EVEN exists to support artists and labels at every stage by giving them the infrastructure to own their fan relationships,” said Mag Rodriguez, Founder/CEO, EVEN. “This collaboration reflects what we’ve always believed: that direct-to-fan engagement is now an essential layer of the music ecosystem, working alongside streaming.”

Jonathan Dworkin, Executive Vice President, Digital Business Development & Strategy said, “As we continue to build strong, diverse superfan capabilities, EVEN provides a unified, scalable solution for artists and labels to produce creatively and commercially meaningful moments around release campaigns. The platform fosters safe, engaged, and loyal fan communities, all while fitting seamlessly within the broader social and entertainment ecosystem.”

J. Cole’s team and Interscope Records have used EVEN as the infrastructure behind multiple direct-to-fan campaigns, including the tenth anniversary of 2014 Forest Hills Drive and the pre-release strategy for The Fall-Off. Both projects leveraged EVEN’s white-label solution to power exclusive music and content, paid and free community experiences, and direct-to-fan commerce within a dedicated fan destination. The 2014 Forest Hills Drive campaign helped return the album to the Billboard Top 15 a decade after its original release, demonstrating how sustained fan engagement can extend the lifecycle of a project. Building on that foundation, the rollout for The Fall-Off used similar tools to deepen fan relationships and drive early participation ahead of the album’s official release, reinforcing the value of owning the fan connection alongside streaming. The Fall-Off debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week.

Pilot campaigns with UMG artists including Wale (Def Jam Recordings) and Virgin Music Group-distributed Mt. Joy (Futures ✦ / Bloomfield Records) have demonstrated how superfan-focused experiences can work alongside streaming to create momentum, conversation, and lasting engagement around releases. Wale’s recent project reached the Top 20 on the Billboard charts, with direct-to-fan album sales through EVEN playing a meaningful role in its performance, while also driving significant growth in his owned fan audience around release. Wale’s owned fan audience grew by over 300% in a single week around release.

About Universal Music Group

At Universal Music Group, we exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. UMG is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation, and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms, and business models to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for its artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information, visit www.universalmusic.com.

About EVEN

EVEN is the infrastructure platform powering direct-to-fan music sales before streaming release. Launched in April 2024, EVEN has onboarded over 500,000 artists through direct signups and distribution partnerships across 3,000+ labels and distributors in 110+ countries. The platform supports 30+ global payment methods across 140 currencies and reports album sales to Luminate for Billboard® chart eligibility. From developing artists earning their first meaningful revenue to established acts generating 2–3× their streaming income per release, EVEN serves the complete spectrum of musical talent. To learn more, visit even.biz.