Genius Brands Inks ‘SpacePOP’ Deals in China, UK
Genius Brands Interanational has secureed new content license agreements for its YouTube-driven series SpacePOP with WeKids Asia in China, and for the animated music videos with U Music TV in the UK. With nearly 15 million channels views and 45,000 subscribers since its summer 2016 launch, SpacePOP has also been greenlit for a second season, slated to debut this fall.
These deals follow a recent agreement with Luk Internacional to handle content distribution, licensing and merchandising for SpacePOP in Spain, Portugal and Italy.
“SpacePOP demonstrates that music, fashion, fun and adventure are universally appealing to girls, bonding them to a shared experience regardless of where they live or what language they speak,” explained Stone Newman, President of Worldwide Content Sales, Global Consumer Products & Marketing at Genius Brands. “Expanding brand awareness and building the SpacePOP franchise through media partnerships in China, the UK and Southern Europe – we’re successfully building the brand in some of the largest and most influential markets in the world just three months after SpacePop’s initial release in the U.S. The response from licensing partners, retailers and viewers has been incredible, which is why we’re eager to get moving on season two of SpacePOP.”
WeKids Asia has licensed content distribution, licensing and merchandising rights to the property, and will launch a brand program across China this summer. WeKids Founder & CEO Sean Chu says the company plans to replicate Genius Brands’ rollout with “simultaneous launches of music videos, merchandising and the animated SpacePOP series through online streaming video, IPTV, OTT TV, iOS and Android based Apps for mobile and tablet devices throughout China.”
And in the UK, U Music TV has picked up the rights to the original SpacePOP music videos for its popular app platform and, subsequently, its content block airing on Sky TV, FreeSat and FreeView. “Today’s young consumers want to be part of a property’s development, they want to claim responsibility for the popularity of songs, content and consumer products and SpacePOP clearly puts them in the driver’s seat,” said Claire Palmer, CMO, U Music TV. “It may be a unique growth strategy today, but other content developers will be emulating it for years to come.”