Wolverhampton Wanderers have become the first football club in the UK to launch their own in-house record label. Yes, you read that correctly. The club have announced that they have partnered with Warner Music UK to create Wolves Records.
They also revealed that acts signed to the label will have their songs played at Molineux on match days, as well as having their work featured across the club's digital and social media output.
Wolves Records are already inviting track submissions from local, national and international solo artists, bands and producers via their new website. And the venture has been established with the initial aim being to support burgeoning creative musical talent from the West Midlands area.
Russell Jones, general manager of marketing and commercial growth at Wolves, said he hopes the label will help provide musicians with "life-changing opportunities."
"Wolves Records is an ambitious and progressive project that we have been working on for some time, and we are delighted to finally be able to announce it publicly," he said. "As many of our supporters will be aware, one of our goals at Wolves is to grow the club in innovative and entrepreneurial ways. Of course, this is just the beginning of the journey for Wolves Records, and the hard work now intensifies as we begin the search for our first acts to sign."
Wolves Records have also managed to install lifelong Wolves fan and club ambassador S-X as a figurehead, with the Grammy-nominated producer brought on board as a talent scout and mentor.
S-X already has an impressive list of collaborations in his portfolio having previously worked with the likes of Lil Wayne, Childish Gambino, Skepta, Nicki Minaj and Chance the Rapper.
"I am very excited to be involved and support Wolves Records from the beginning and am looking forward to helping identify the best local talent and working with the label's first artists," the 29-year-old said. "Wolves and the city of Wolverhampton are both very close to my heart, and I am deeply passionate about giving talented young people from this area the best opportunities."
While it may represent a Premier League first, Wolves are following in the footsteps of Ligue 1 giants Olympique de Marseille, who joined forces with the BMG music company in 2015 to launch OM Records -- a label for French hip-hop, rap and R&B artists.
🔙 𝟮𝟰/𝟬𝟵/𝟮𝟬 #OMRecords pic.twitter.com/XwsBJa6bbQ
— 𝗢𝗠 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 🎧 (@OM_Records) September 25, 2020
As for Wolves Records, we can only speculate as to the songs that might be included on that eagerly awaited debut release.
Club pre-game anthem "Hi-Ho Silver Lining" is almost certain to kick things off, while a cover of Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" should also be a nailed-on staple.
Elsewhere, it would be nice to see reworked covers of the Backstreet Boys' "[Bruno] Lage Than Life" as an ode to the current head coach, along with Beatles' classic "Dear [Daniel] Podence".
And for the big emotional finish, how about a 1980s power ballad for fans of both INXS and midfield maestros in "Ruben Neves Tear Us Apart"?