PRAGUE, CZECHIA (CelebrityAccess) – Warner Music Czech Republic has renewed its partnership and invested in leading local hip-hop label Mike Roft. The new deal will see Warner Music become the sole distributor for all of Mike Roft’s roster, which includes Calin – one of the most prominent artists in the Czech market.
Founded in 2018, Mike Roft has developed a core roster of six culturally essential and commercially successful artists. It has also built a strong merch operation and a growing live event promotion presence. Local music icons Calin and D-Kop, and renowned video director and graphic designer Radim Zboril, are shareholders in the company and will continue to lead Mike Roft as an independent label.
Calin is riding high in the Czech and Slovak charts thanks to a surprise collaboration album with the market’s number one artist Viktor Sheen whose last three albums were also distributed by Warner Music. The album topped both territories’ charts and became the most streamed week one album ever in the Czech Republic, while the single “Safir” became the most streamed song in a single day on Spotify in the Czech Republic. In addition, the album tracks still dominate the Top 10 singles charts on Apple Music and Spotify.
Calin previously broke Czech International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) chart records when his single “Hannah Montana” spent 31 weeks at No.1 and 20 weeks at No.1 in Slovakia. His album Popstar also spent 16 weeks at the top of the Czech charts.
Mike Roft is also home to artists including Conspira, KOJO, Indigo, Metyou, Lajfr, and STEIN27, who spent five weeks at No.1 in the Czech Republic with his album Teorie padu, and three weeks at No.1 with his single “Habibi.”
This partnership is Warner Music’s latest move in Eastern Europe, which has grown its presence with the appointment of Izabela Ciszek-Podziemska as General Manager of Warner Music South East Europe, the investment in Serbian record label Mascom Records and Polish promoter Big Idea, the partnership with Poland’s Step Records, the acquisition of Polskie Nagrania and Solvakia’s Opus Records, and the hire of Bartosz Szwoch as CFO of Warner Music Eastern Europe.
