LiveOne Launches "Birthday Sex" Chardonnay Brand with R&B Superstar Jeremih and Acclaimed Winemaker Russell Bevan
Jeremih Unveils New Wine on Birthday; Makes Historic Product Launch Utilizing 50+ City Tour
Offers Limited Edition Collector Bottles to Jeremih’s 16+ Million Social Media Followers
Jeremih Commands 3 Billion Streams and 1.3 Billion YouTube Views
LiveOne Expands
LiveOne Enters Wine Market Valued at
LOS ANGELES, CA, July 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire – LiveOne (Nasdaq: LVO), an award-winning, creator-first music, entertainment, and technology platform, announced today the highly anticipated unveiling of its latest strategic initiative: the "Birthday Sex" Chardonnay brand. In collaboration with Grammy-nominated R&B artist Jeremih and renowned Napa Valley/Sonoma winemaker Russell Bevan, LiveOne has crafted a unique offering inspired by Jeremih's chart-topping debut hit single, "Birthday Sex." The brand's grand debut will take place on July 17th, coinciding with Jeremih's birthday prior to the kickoff of his 50+ city, intercontinental tour alongside 50 Cent.
Throughout the tour, Jeremih will personally introduce the wine on stage at select cities, creating an exceptional opportunity for fans to connect with the brand in a meaningful way.
Birthday Sex stands as a unique chardonnay varietal, designed to cater to a diverse audience while maintaining an accessible price point. Jeremih's love and respect for Chardonnay and winemaking came from spending time with renowned winemaker Russell Bevan of Napa Valley, CA. Bevan, known for his impressive collection of over fifteen 100-point wines, consulted Jeremih on building a well-rounded taste profile for the launch of Birthday Sex wine and educated him on the process of winemaking.
Pre-orders of Birthday Sex are available starting today at BirthdaySexWine.com. Any consumer who orders 6 or more bottles will receive a limited edition signed bottle from Jeremih.
Birthday Sex is one of the new brands that LiveOne is launching under LiveOne Brands, a new division featuring celebrity-backed and branded products. The venture will further diversify LiveOne’s business model and expand into the burgeoning multi-billion dollar celebrity wine and spirits category, which includes music icons Jay Z, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Adam Levine, Sting, Dave Matthews, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend and Drake among numerous others.
“Despite what a lot of people may think, I’ve always been a white wine kinda guy,” said Jeremih. “Seeing a lot of my friends launch their own liquor brands, I wanted to do something similar but in a more unique way. Wine, like music, is an art that connects people. My goal with this project was to bottle up the feeling of celebration and anticipation like in my song ‘Birthday Sex.’ Just as I make music that resonates with my audience, thanks to LiveOne and Russell Bevan, I now have the opportunity to share a different kind of experience through every bottle of Birthday Sex Wine."
“We are thrilled to partner with R&B sensation Jeremih and Napa Valley/Sonoma premiere vintner Russell Bevan to launch our newest venture, LiveOne Brands,” commented Robert Ellin, CEO and Chairman of LiveOne. “With celebrity spirits seeing exponential growth year-over-year, we see an opportunity to jointly disrupt the music and wine industry. Expanding our licensing division will also strengthen our artist and industry relationships with additional commerce and specialized consumer product revenues.”
More About Jeremih
Jeremy P. Felton, known professionally as Jeremih, is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. In 2009, Jeremih stepped onto the scene with his debut single “Birthday Sex”, which topped the charts on US Billboard Hot 100. Jeremih’s career is marked by 21 Billboard Hot 100 hits, four Billboard Top 10 hits, and multiple number one runs on the Rhythmic and Urban charts.
Throughout his career, Jeremih has accumulated dozens of award nominations and wins, including a 2016 Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance, and the winning title for iHeartRadio’s 2015 Hip Hop/R&B Song of the Year. He is planning to release new music by the end of July 2023.
About Bevan Cellars
In 2005, Russell Bevan founded Bevan Cellars with Victoria De Crescenzo. Throughout his career, Russell has achieved an impressive feat of producing over 15 wines that earned a perfect 100-point rating, including the world's sole 100-point wine in 2011. He was also named "Winemaker of the Year" by The Wine Advocate in 2015.
About LiveOne, Inc.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, LiveOne, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVO) (the "Company") is an award-winning, creator-first, music, entertainment and technology platform focused on delivering premium experiences and content worldwide through memberships and live and virtual events. The Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries include Slacker Radio, a membership music streaming service, and PodcastOne, which generates more than 2.3 billion downloads per year, 350+ hours distributed weekly, and 14M+ monthly unique listeners. Nearly all new Tesla EVs sold in the U.S. come with a paid membership to LiveOne’s Slacker Radio (that now includes PodcastOne) which is paid by Tesla. As of June 26, 2023, the Company has accrued a paid and free ad-supported membership base of approximately 3.1 million, including over 2.2 million paid members*. The Company was awarded Best Live Moment by Digiday for its “Social Gloves” PPV Event, and has been a finalist for 8 more awards, including Best Live Event, Best Virtual Event, Best Overall Social Media Excellence, and Best Original Programming from Cynopsis and Digiday. As of February 9, 2023, the Company has streamed over 2,900 artists, has a library of 30 million songs, 600 curated radio stations, over 300 podcasts/vodcasts, hundreds of pay-per-views, personalized merchandise, released music-related NFTs, and created a valuable connection between fans, brands, and bands. The Company's other wholly-owned subsidiaries include PPVOne, Gramophone Media, Palm Beach Records, Custom Personalization Solutions, and LiveXLive, and the Company’s other majority-owned subsidiaries are Drumify and Splitmind. LiveOne is available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and through OTT, STIRR, and XUMO. For more information, visit liveone.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter at @liveone.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are “forward-looking statements,” which may often, but not always, be identified by the use of such words as “may,” “might,” “will,” “will likely result,” “would,” “should,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “continue,” “target” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including: the Company’s reliance on one key customer for a substantial percentage of its revenue; the Company’s ability to consummate any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, special dividend, merger, distribution or transaction, including the proposed special dividend and spin-out of PodcastOne (the “Spin-Out”) and the Company’s pay-per-view business and the proposed merger of Slacker with Roth CH Acquisition V Co. (the “Proposed Business Combination”), the timing of the consummation of any such proposed event, including the risks that a condition to the consummation of any such event would not be satisfied within the expected timeframe or at all, or that the consummation of any proposed financing, acquisition, spin-out, merger, special dividend, distribution or transaction will not occur or whether any such event will enhance shareholder value; PodcastOne’s or Slacker’s ability to list on a national exchange; the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; the Company’s ability to attract, maintain and increase the number of its users and paid members; the Company identifying, acquiring, securing and developing content; the Company’s intent to repurchase shares of its common stock from time to time under its announced stock repurchase program and the timing, price, and quantity of repurchases, if any, under the program; the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with certain financial and other covenants; the Company successfully implementing its growth strategy, including relating to its technology platforms and applications; management’s relationships with industry stakeholders; the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic; uncertain and unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings; changes in economic conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties applicable to the businesses of the Company’s subsidiaries; and other risks, uncertainties and factors including, but not limited to, those described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on June 29, 2023, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 14, 2023, and in the Company’s other filings and submissions with the SEC. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any obligation to update these statements, except as may be required by law. The Company intends that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
* Included in the total number of paid members for the reported periods are certain members which are the subject of a contractual dispute. LiveOne is currently not recognizing revenue related to these members.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication does not constitute a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent, vote or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the Spin-Out or the Proposed Business Combination and shall not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange any securities, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom.
LiveOne IR Contact:
Kirin Smith
PCG Advisory
(646) 823-8656
ksmith@pcgadvisory.com
LiveOne Press Contact:
LiveOne
press@liveone.com
