SoundOn’s biggest artist deal yet shows a superstar choosing a platform’s distribution arm over a traditional label.
Daddy Yankee once had a label giant behind him. For his new album, he picked TikTok. The reggaeton star’s La Postal was released in partnership with SoundOn, TikTok’s distribution and promotion platform, Music Business Worldwide reported Wednesday.
TikTok is not underselling it. Gabo Llano, SoundOn’s head of A&R for the Americas, called it “SoundOn’s biggest artist partnership to date” and said the company wants to work with the artist for the long term. The deal covers global distribution, artist services and promotion, including a Times Square billboard and in-app features. Financial terms and master ownership were not disclosed in the announcement, and the album carries his own DY Records name.
The 15-track album came out Oct. 30 with features from Cardi B, Myke Towers, Danny Ocean and Diljit Dosanjh, and Complex described it as a concept record built around different kinds of love.
The path here runs through some big checks. In 2020 he struck a global partnership with Universal Music Group, with releases distributed through its Ingrooves arm, as HITS reported at the time. In 2024, MBW identified him as the seller behind a $217.3 million catalog deal with Concord covering hits such as “Gasolina” and his part of “Despacito.” He retired in 2023, came back with Christian-themed music, and signed with HYBE Latin America for management in 2025.
For TikTok, the prize is credibility. SoundOn launched in 2022 as a do-it-yourself tool and had more than 1.1 million registered artists as of last year. Landing a star whose catalog has billions of streams makes it look more like a label.
Watch the timing, too. The Latin Recording Academy honors him as its 2026 Person of the Year on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, a spotlight TikTok did not have to pay for.
Sources
- Music Business Worldwide – TikTok’s SoundOn strikes landmark deal to distribute Daddy Yankee’s La Postal album – https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/tiktoks-soundon-strikes-landmark-deal-to-distribute-daddy-yankees-la-postal-album-in-what-it-calls-its-biggest-artist-partnership-to-dat/
- Complex – Daddy Yankee Announces ‘LA POSTAL’ Concept Album – https://www.complex.com/music/a/tracewilliamcowen/daddy-yankee-la-postal-concept-album
- HITS Daily Double – Daddy Yankee Sets Up Shop at UMG – https://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=323088&title=DADDY-YANKEE-SETS-UP-SHOP-AT-UMG
- Music Business Worldwide – Over 1 million artists have registered with TikTok’s SoundOn. Now it’s expanding into Germany. – https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/over-1-million-artists-have-registered-with-tiktoks-soundon-now-its-expanding-into-germany/
Featured photo: Apoxyomenus, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons (license). Album embedded from Spotify’s official player.
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