Ciara is launching her own company and music label. The singer announced her plans to start Beauty Marks Entertainment (BME) at the 2019 MAKERS Women’s Conference on Feb. 8.
According to Ciara’s post on Instagram, BME is “where music intersects with Film, Fashion, Technology & Philanthropy.” In other words, the company will function as both an indie record label as well as provide an outlet for Ciara to live out her other passions in the realms of fashion, tech, and philanthropy work.
“This journey has been amazing & I’ve had the time of my life releasing my music under my own label imprint. #LevelUp,” she wrote on social media.
To kickstart her new project, Russell Wilson reportedly gifted Cici with her original masters from her past and present record labels, Karen Civil reports. The “Level Up” singer also confirmed that she owns the rights to her own musical catalogue during the MAKERS conference.
“The idea of ownership is really important to me and that’s what this phase is about. It’s truly about, let’s really build things to where it can last for a really long time and I can really reap the full benefits of my labor,” she stated. “I’ve been in systems and the way the deals are typically structured for us artists, we don’t really get to reap the full financial benefits of our labor. I love what I do. I wake up every day excited to do what I do, even during the toughest times. But at the same time, it’s like, let’s make economic sense of it all as well.”
Of the her goals for the label, Ciara told Billboard that she hopes to eventually sign artists one day. “My ultimate goal is to perfect my journey first, and then at some point in time down the line, it would be fun to actually have other artists come along and the idea would be to empower them,” she noted. “The idea of ownership is really important to me and that’s what this phase is about.”