Drake will stream rap battles exclusively on Caffeine, a platform run by ex-Apple employees
Drake has signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Caffeine, a budding broadcasting company that hopes to rival Amazon’s Twitch and Google’s YouTube.
Caffeine, whose name is inspired by the idea of people connecting over a cup of coffee, officially launched last November. It was founded by former Apple designer and serial entrepreneur Ben Keighran, who worked with a handful of other Apple alumni to develop a platform that competes with live TV.
In collaboration with a New York-based battle rap league called the Ultimate Rap League, Drake is going to stream rap battles on Caffeine, a big move for the platform. Keighran said that Drake wants to focus on bringing battle rap to a wider audience. Currently, battle rap is mostly a pay-per-view experience, but on Caffeine it will be livestreamed for free.
“Drake, if you look at his career in the last ten years, is defined as the biggest artist in the world,” Keighran told CNN Business. “This is a guy that can catch the attention of not just the entertainment world, but the gaming world as well.”
Drake made headlines with he streamed with “Fortnite” star Ninja in March 2018 and set a new record at the time for most views on a single Twitch stream at over 600,000 views.
“The first thing we’re bringing out with him is not actually a video gaming thing,” said Keighran, adding that, “He’s free to do whatever he wants.”
Caffeine has raised $146 million since its founding in 2016, including a $100 million investment from 21st Century Fox in early 2018.
Keighran declined to share how much Drake was paid to stream on Caffeine. “We can’t pay the kind of money that Microsoft or Amazon can pay, so we have to differentiate on [that] we offer a better product,” he said. “I think if Drake were looking for straight up money, there’s definitely YouTube, Facebook and Twitch that I’m sure will give him a lot more money than we could ever do.”
Mixer and Twitch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Facebook Gaming responded in a statement: “We’ve never made Drake an official offer to stream exclusively on Facebook Gaming. As much as we love Drake, it was not God’s Plan.”
Drake was not available for comment.
In recent months, Caffeine’s content strategy appears to be putting together a line-up of artists and athletes. The platform already has rapper Offset hosting variety shows and playing “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” and artist Doja Cat playing “The Sims 4.” But Drake might be the headlining act.
“Based on their roster of high profile music talent, Caffeine aims to be the Coachella of live streaming,” said Doron Nir, CEO of StreamElements, a company that publishes quarterly industry reports. “Music is the largest video category on YouTube followed by gaming, so if Caffeine finds a way to create a compelling offering with music creators in livestreams, then it has huge potential.”
But stars like Offset and Doja don’t stream as frequently as livestreaming creators who must maintain an audience by putting on a show every day. On Saturday, Offset’s page on Caffeine said his next stream is on Tuesday. Doja’s page doesn’t list when her next show might be. “Caffeine is the home for all creators, regardless of how much time they spend on the platform. Many creators stream as a fulltime job, whereas some creators such as entertainers like Doja Cat and Offset, stream to connect with their fans in a new way,” Keighran explained.
“Long-term success is not going to hinge solely on securing a couple of big names,” said Nir. “A streaming platform’s success comes from a community that’s cultivated from many creators creating a lot of content over a lot of time.”
