From Left to Right: Michael Cantor, Senior Vice President Business Affairs and Development; Brooke Rascoff, Head of Music Marketing, Riot Games; Cindy James, General Manager, Virgin Music Group North America; Maria Egan, Global Head of Music & Events, Riot Games; Jacqueline Saturn, President Virgin Music Group North American and EVP of Global Artist Relations; Danny Silverman, Head of Music Legal Affairs, Riot Games; Gene Whitney, Global Head of Music Business Affairs and Operations, Riot Games. Photo by Rich Polk.
(LOS ANGELES, CA August 22, 2024) Virgin Music Group, the world’s leading partner to independent artists, labels and entrepreneurs, announced today that it will release the next soundtrack album for season 2 of the highly anticipated Riot Games series Arcane on Netflix.
Arcane, Riot Games’ first animated series, tells the origin story of two iconic champions from the company’s massively popular League of Legends game. The show debuted on Netflix in November of 2021 and was a huge hit for the platform, holding the #1 global spot for three consecutive weeks and reaching the Top 10 in over 87 countries around the world. The show was nominated for five Emmy Awards, taking home four, including Best Animated Program. Arcane made history as the first video game adaptation and the first streaming series to win the Best Animated Program award.
The power of Arcane and League of Legends’ massive global fandoms was evident after season one launched Imagine Dragons’ global #1 hit “Enemy,” which served as the show’s theme song, and has since racked up more than 3 billion streams around the world. The full soundtrack and score resonated strongly with fans, amassing over 5.6 billion global streams since their release in November 2021. Arcane’s artist profile currently has more than 12.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. The second season will debut on Netflix in November 2024, and the accompanying soundtrack album is expected this fall.
“At Riot we deeply believe in the world building power of music and with Arcane that vision is fully realized through the show’s completely original soundtrack. Every song is a true collaboration between the show creators, our in-house music team and some of the world’s greatest artists – many of whom play our games and love the League of Legends IP,” said Maria Egan, Global Head of Music at Riot. “After the record-breaking success of season one’s music, we are even more ambitious for the second season OST and needed a global team behind us. Jacqueline Saturn and everyone at Virgin Music Group are the best in class. We’re excited to partner on this groundbreaking project.”
“Riot Games are experts in creating enormously powerful moments around global fandom – first in gaming and now in entertainment and music,” said Jacqueline Saturn, President, Virgin Music Group North America, and EVP of Global Artist Relations. “With local experts in more than 30 countries around the world, Virgin Music Group is uniquely suited to partner with Maria and the music team at Riot to fuel global fandom around this hugely exciting soundtrack album.”
Virgin Music Group will distribute the album everywhere in the world, with the exception of China, where it will be distributed by Riot Games’ parent company Tencent.
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About Virgin Music Group
Virgin Music Group is the world’s leading partner to independent music companies and artists who require a standalone team with global infrastructure and local expertise in every major music market around the world. Virgin Music Group offers compelling, efficient, and highly flexible global solutions with the most advanced marketing technology available for independent record labels, artists and entrepreneurs who want to succeed. www.virginmusic.com
About Riot Games Music:
Riot Games Music builds on Riot’s fandom at the intersection of gaming and music — fostering partnerships with artists who can take the global player experience to the next level through music, live events, and IP expansion. RGM has amassed a catalog of nearly 1,000 songs including 10 original Esports Anthems for the annual League of Legends World Championships, which have collectively amassed over 10 billion streams across DSPs. These anthems have been performed by superstars including Lil Nas X, Imagine Dragons, Zedd, NewJeans and many more.
Riot Games Music is also known for being a leader in virtual artistry including artists like K/DA, a record breaking K-Pop inspired girl-group based on some of the most popular female champions in League of Legends, whose music has received over 1.2 billion streams. Their single “POP/STARS” was certified platinum by the RIAA, and they have amassed over 3 million followers on Spotify. Other Riot virtual artists include Riot’s newest band HEARTSTEEL, heavy metal band Pentakill, hip-hop band True Damage, DJ Sona and Seraphine.
About Riot Games:
Riot Games was founded in 2006 to develop, publish, and support the most player-focused games in the world. In 2009, Riot released its debut title, League of Legends, which has gone on to be one of the most-played PC games in the world. In the years that followed, Riot released VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics,Legends of Runeterra, and League of Legends: Wild Rift. Riot’s titles have led to the creation of some of the most-watched and widely recognized esports in the world, culminating in events like the League of Legends World Championship and VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT), which are watched by millions of fans each year. Riot has also expanded its IP through multimedia projects across music, comic books, board games, and Arcane, its Emmy-winning animated series.