Drake signs multi-year deal with Caffeine streaming platform

Music sensation and rap star Drake has signed a multi-year deal with Caffeine to bring live-streamed music to his fans. This collaboration will see the New York-based Ultimate Rap League hosted exclusively on Caffeine.

The live streaming platform has recently risen against its competitors such as Twitch and Mixer. Last December, the site announced the signing of NBA and NFL athletes. They have also teamed up with Riot Games, rapper Offset, and popular game streamers like Ohmwrecker and Cartoonz. It is a no-brainer to collaborate with Drake, as the platform is taking off with plenty of high-profile names behind them.

With Ultimate Rap League, the widely known artist Drake will be hosting streamed rap battles for fans to tune into on Caffeine. He will also stream additional content, but more details are not yet known. He shared the news with his Twitter fans, stating the objective is to make the rap battle easier to access at home or via mobile devices.

URL x CAFFEINE
Excited to announce this major step forward!! I managed to get @urltv and @caffeine linked up with the objective of making battle rap easier to access in you home or on your mobile device and it’s FREE to watch battles once you sign up. Greatness Simplified. pic.twitter.com/0XqosqiN1Q

— Drizzy (@Drake) February 11, 2020

Normally, these rap battles are pay-per-view, but on Caffeine it will be available to all audiences for free. The channel will stream its first battle on Feb. 29.

Caffeine and celebrities

Overall, Caffeine bringing celebrities on board to their channel gives it major visibility in all areas. They are planning to expand their streams past video games and into music and entertainment. 

CNN Business talked to Caffeine founder Ben Keighran regarding the Drake decision, who said Drake is “free to do whatever he wants” on the platform. Keighran also shared the decision to partner with Drake is based on different factors, such as popularity and his wide-range audience. “Drake, if you look at his career in the last ten years, is defined as the biggest artist in the world,” he said. “This is a guy that can catch the attention of not just the entertainment world, but the gaming world as well.”

welcome to caffeine @Drake https://t.co/TIYGe8fQsq

— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) February 11, 2020

Competing for popularity

This business deal is another move to compete with the likes of Amazon and Twitch. Other companies such as Facebook Gaming and Mixer have also competed for popularity in the past year, bringing on celebrities and running promotions. Considering Drake has a large following of 38.8 million Twitter users alone, Caffeine may soon see a big bump in viewership.