Vydia is making it easier for label owners to empower their artists.

The end-to-end music technology platform launched the Vydia+ Partner Directory in February 2022 to meet the needs of industry owners. The directory provides Vydia’s 1,100-plus labels and artists along with industry professionals with reputable third-party vendors and service providers in various industries.

Vydia’s recent integration is timely as 80 percent of its label owners cited difficulties hiring credible third-party service providers due to a lack of trust. This unsettling reality also prevents label owners from scaling their businesses and artists. Vydia’s Head of Creative Marketing Erica Johnson and Head of Label Services Liz Eason have combined the talents of its label owners to develop a credible ecosystem available to hire.

“There was not a real centralized resource in the music industry that is vetted and trusted. So, we saw there was a gap through surveying our clients,” Eason told AfroTech. “We wanted a scalable way to bring vendors I recommend and my network recommends that our clients would have access to.”

All Vendors Vydia Certified

Vydia+ Partner Directory houses 40 vendors in digital marketing, publicity, booking/touring, recording equipment, merchandising, video/audio production, music management software, and more.

All vendors are extensively reviewed and must partake in Vydia’s certification program. Once complete, they will receive a badge signaling to companies that they have been thoroughly vetted.

“We make sure vendors are still meeting our qualifications throughout the years to ensure they are servicing those needs because this is about trust, which can be hard to find in this industry. We also want to make sure that the vendors are the best of the best,” Johnson said.

Directory To Become Marketplace

Hoping to foster community and culture, Vydia plans to scale the directory to a marketplace this year. The purpose of becoming an educational hub is for onlookers to attend different programmings, such as masterclasses and podcasts, and learn about various industries in partnership with Vydia’s vendors.

“The directory will become a big marketplace where we can also funnel conversations and have people connect within the industry. I would love to set up a masterclass where one of the digital advertising companies listed in this directory is presenting on best practices and a walk-through of how they could do it,” Johnson said.