Zedge's Tapedeck Adds Betty Wright's Catalog in Agreement With the Late Soul Legend's Estate
Rhea-AI Summary
Zedge (NYSE American: ZDGE) announced that its Tapedeck music platform has added the catalog of late soul artist Betty Wright under an agreement with her estate. The catalog is available now, timed to Juneteenth, and aligns with Tapedeck’s artist‑friendly revenue model.
Tapedeck pays at least one cent per stream, with fans able to pay more, and 80% of all revenue going to rights holders, meaning 80 cents of every dollar from Wright’s catalog goes to her estate. The deal follows recent Tapedeck licensing agreements and supports its ongoing expansion.
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News Market Reaction – ZDGE
In the Jun 18 session, ZDGE declined 1.32%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | 24h Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11 | Earnings release | Positive | +25.7% | Q3 FY26 results with revenue growth, profitability, and stronger cash flow. |
| Jun 08 | Capital return update | Positive | -1.1% | Increased buyback authorization and new $0.02 quarterly dividend. |
| Jun 01 | Earnings date notice | Neutral | +9.1% | Announcement of timing for Q3 FY26 financial results and call. |
| May 28 | Conference appearance | Neutral | +4.9% | Participation in Planet MicroCap Las Vegas 2026 investor conference. |
| Mar 25 | Dividend increase | Positive | -2.3% | 25% dividend raise to $0.02 per share supported by free cash flow. |
24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.
Recent Zedge headlines have mostly produced moves aligned with the underlying news tone, with one notable divergence on capital return news.
Over the last few months, Zedge has highlighted improving fundamentals and shareholder returns. Q3 FY26 results on June 11, 2026 showed $8.0M revenue and $0.9M GAAP net income, prompting a 25.68% gain. Capital return updates on June 8, 2026 added a new $2.0M buyback layer and a $0.02 quarterly dividend but saw a modest -1.1% move. Earlier, an earnings-date notice, a conference appearance, and a March dividend increase drew generally positive, though varied, reactions.
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
The first Black woman to go gold on her own label joins a service built on the principle she lived by: artists should own their work and get paid fairly. Timed to Juneteenth.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / June 17, 2026 / Zedge, Inc. (NYSE American:ZDGE), $ZDGE, a company that builds and operates creator communities serving 20 million monthly active users, today announced an agreement with the estate of Betty Wright to bring the late soul legend's catalog to the platform, available now and timed to Juneteenth.
Wright, who died in 2020 at 66, was a six-time Grammy nominee best known for her 1971 hit "Clean Up Woman" - a record sampled by Mary J. Blige, SWV, Afrika Bambaataa, and Chance the Rapper, among others. She won a Grammy in 1975 for "Where Is the Love" and produced Joss Stone's Grammy-nominated Mind, Body & Soul. But one credential made her the right fit for Tapedeck: in 1988, on her own imprint Ms. B Records, she became the first Black woman to earn a gold record on a label she owned.
That history maps directly onto Tapedeck's model. Every stream pays a minimum of a penny - the floor, not the ceiling - and fans can choose to pay more. Rights holders receive
"Betty Wright was running the Tapedeck thesis forty years before Tapedeck existed - she just had to do it the hard way," said Tim Quirk, SVP of Product at Zedge, who launched Tapedeck after earlier stints helping build Rhapsody and Google Play Music. "The worst thing a service can do with a legacy artist is treat the catalog like inventory."
Betty's eldest daughter, Namphuyo Aisha McCray, explained how Tapedeck's model feels like an extension of her mother's vision: "My mother believed that artists should own their art, protect their creative vision, and connect directly with their fans without barriers. She spent years sharing that message and helping independent artists reclaim their power. We are honored to carry that mission forward - ensuring that the next generation of artists has the freedom, ownership, and connection to thrive on their own terms."
The agreement extends a run of recent Tapedeck licensing deals including Cinq Music, Tuff Gong Distribution, and BWL Entertainment. Tapedeck launched on iOS in the U.S. in fall 2025, with Android, web, and international expansion underway in 2026.
Tapedeck and the estate will mark the launch with a private, invitation-only gathering for the music and licensing community in Wright's hometown of Miami on June 17, 2026. Wright's children - singers in their own right - will perform and share remembrances alongside remarks from the Tapedeck team and a video tribute. Celebrating Wright on a weekend about freedom and self-determination, in the city where she built her own house in an industry that wasn't designed to accommodate her, is the point.
About Tapedeck Tapedeck is a pay-as-you-go music streaming and download service from Zedge that lets artists and rights holders set their own prices, with a penny-per-play floor and no ceiling. There are no subscription fees; fans pay only for what they play and can always choose to pay artists more. Tapedeck pays licensors
About Zedge Zedge builds and operates creator communities that serve 20 million monthly active users across its platforms. Zedge Marketplace, our flagship platform, is a leading marketplace for mobile personalization content that powers a vibrant creator ecosystem including a full generative AI creation suite. DataSeeds.AI is our B2B business, delivering managed, multimodal datasets that are ethically sourced, rights-cleared, built to spec and delivered at scale to frontier AI developers. The content foundation for DataSeeds.AI is supplied by Zedge's proprietary creator communities, including Zedge Marketplace contributors and photo competition community GuruShots, the world's most popular photo competition game, which is supplemented by crowdsourced content. For more information please visit: investor.zedge.net
Media Contact
Brian Siegel, IRC, MBA,
Senior Managing Director,
Hayden IR
(346) 396-8696
brian@haydenir.com
ir@zedge.net
SOURCE: Zedge, Inc.
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire