Riot Games Expands Music and Gaming Partnership with BMG

Riot Games has extended its global publishing administration deal and embarked on a new strategic partnership with BMG. The collaborative new venture between Riot and BMG will focus on signing and servicing songwriters to frontline publishing deals with BMG. Additionally, the partnership will leverage the wide scope of creative opportunities across Riot’s products and music initiatives.

Maria Egan, global head of music and events for Riot Games, said, "We are thrilled to extend this partnership with BMG. They saw the potential of the Riot ecosystem many years ago and deeply understand our culture. Their creative partnership and best in class global team will be a superpower for us as we take Riot's music initiatives, across games, esports, and entertainment to the next level."

Henry Bishop, BMG Director, A&R, Los Angeles, said, "Riot Games sets the standard for integrating music with gaming, sports, and visual media. We look forward to growing the dynamic creative partnership that has flourished between Riot Games and BMG over the past years.” 

Thomas Scherer, BMG president, repertoire and marketing, Los Angeles and New York, said, "Riot stands alone in the gaming industry, with a growing entertainment ecosystem around their world class games, powered by hundreds of millions of music-loving gamers all around the world – BMG is proud to be their chosen partner!"

Since joining BMG in 2020, Riot Games has collaborated with BMG on a number of successful projects including BMG songwriter SAINt JHN’s co-write of ‘PARANOIA’ and the October 2023 debut single from Riot’s League of Legends-themed virtual band HEARTSTEEL.

Earlier this year, Riot Games and BMG co-hosted their first BMG SoundLab with more than 30 songwriters focused on creating music around Riot's pipeline of upcoming projects.

BMG serves as Riot’s music publisher for a catalog of close to 1000 custom music titles created for products in and around their games League of Legends, TFT and VALORANT - most notably the OST for Arcane, Esports anthems and virtual artists including HEARTSTEEL, K/DA, Pentakill, and True Damage, among others.  Riot’s owned music catalog recently surpassed 10 billion streams and received RIAA Gold-certification for both League of Legends, The Glitch Mob and Mako ‘Rise (feat. The Word Alive)’ and League Of Legends & Against The Current ‘Legends Never Die’; and Platinum-certification for K/DA’s hit single ‘POP/STARS (feat. Jaira Burns)’. ‘GODS’ by NewJeans and HEARTSTEEL’s debut single ‘PARANOIA’ recently cracked Spotify’s Global Top 50, becoming Riot’s most successful music launches to date.