Nuclear Blast, a metal label owned by music company Believe, has partnered with metalcore merchandise and music provider Impericon to offer a direct-to-fan platform.
The collaboration will see Impericon overseeing and enhancing Nuclear Blast’s European e-commerce activities, according to a press release on Wednesday (November 22).
The partnership comes as Nuclear Blast’s e-commerce shop has evolved from a mail-order business to become a direct-to-fan platform in the metal music landscape. The label’s internal efforts have driven this development, even as the company continued to focus on its core label business.
The label says it has decided to further “professionalize” and specialize in the direct-to-fan arena after recognizing its importance to artists and fans alike. Starting in Q1 2024, the Impericon team will assume responsibility for all of Nuclear Blast’s e-commerce operations in Europe.
“The newly formed partnership with Impericon enables us to further focus the expertise of our teams on providing the best possible support and development opportunities for metal artists worldwide.”
Marcus Hammer, Nuclear Blast
“At Nuclear Blast, we firmly believe that we are the best partner for metal artists in the industry. The newly formed partnership with Impericon enables us to further focus the expertise of our teams on providing the best possible support and development opportunities for metal artists worldwide,” said Marcus Hammer, CEO at Nuclear Blast.
“As a globally leading metal label, our aim is to expand our offering of best-in-class services to artists and fans. We firmly believe that we have found an excellent partner in Impericon, who possesses extensive expertise in the genre and highest level knowledge in e-commerce.”
“For Nuclear Blast artists, we expect this new partnership to bring further improvements in the services provided. Furthermore, our discussions have shown that the companies align well culturally,” Hammer continued.
Founded in Donzdorf, Germany in 1987, Nuclear Blast boasts a roster of over 150 bands across 18 countries, including Nightwish, Sepultura, Slayer, Sabaton, Blind Guardian, Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia, In Flames, Lamb of God and Dimmu Borgir. The label operates satellite offices in Los Angeles, London, Hamburg and Paris, and has additional representatives in Australia, Brazil, Finland, Italy and Sweden, among others.
Believe acquired a majority stake in Nuclear Blast in 2018 for what MBW understands is an eight-figure deal. Following the acquisition, Believe and Nuclear Blast teamed up on projects including a distribution service called Blood Blast Distribution.
Commenting on the deal with Nuclear Blast, Impericon founder and CEO Martin Böttcher said: ”For nearly 20 years, we have been committed to providing high-quality service in merchandising as well as in the professional direct to fan distribution of physical goods within the music industry.
“Having the opportunity to curate, manage and develop one of the most powerful e-commerce platforms in the heavy music landscape is thrilling for our passionate team of metal lovers at Impericon.”
Impericon is a unit of German e-commerce company IC Music and Apparel GmbH, which offers a product range of around 25,000 main items in the music, fashion and lifestyle sector.
Impericon says that it dispatches around 350,000 consignments per year throughout Germany and Europe.
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