Rubber Road scores new heavy metal music licences

Rubber Road is heading down a new musical path with some new licences that will see the company introducing official merchandise for three of the world’s biggest heavy metal artists.

The company works with some of the leading names in TV shows, movies, gaming and comic books and can now officially add music to the list thanks to a new deal with Global Merchandising Services.

Liam Taylor, Commercial Director at Rubber Road says: “Fans of Ozzy Osbourne, Motorhead and Iron Maiden are going to love this quirky range that pays homage to these rock idols, we guarantee that they won’t have anything like it so far!

“We are delighted to be getting our air guitars out and heading into the world of music, and what a fantastic way to kick off with these three rock icons. When it comes to heavy metal memorabilia, we reckon this range aces it and we are counting down the days until we can reveal all.”

Rubber Road is known for producing merchandise – created by its design arm, Numskull – for some of the leading global brands in entertainment including Universal, Warner Bros, Netflix, Xbox, Sony Pictures, Sony PlayStation, SEGA and Hasbro. Franchises in the portfolio include Minions, Harry Potter, DC Comics, Sonic the Hedgehog, Back to the Future, Stranger Things, Jurassic Park, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Lord of the Rings, Friends, Jaws and Resident Evil.

Global Merchandising Services appoints Adam N. Sokoloff as its vice president of retail, North America

Global Merchandising Services, the award-winning music, artist, celebrity, and brand merchandise company, has appointed the licensing industry expert, Adam N. Sokoloff as its new vice president of retail, North America.

The licensing industry personality previously held the role of director of sales at Bioworld, a company with which Sokoloff spent 11 years in varying roles. As director of sales, Sokoloff worked to implement sales initiatives and programmes with key retailers to help build up the successful apparel business.

Sokoloff took up his role as vice president of retail for the firm on May 3rd this year. He will be based out of Athens, Georgia.

The move will expand Global Merchandising Services’ international reach, one that is operated out of the company’s headquarters in London and Los Angeles.

Global executes and delivers business through all channels of retail distribution, live events, web stores, pop-up stores, brand origination and development, sponsorship, endorsements, and third-party licensing. 

Cyclewear studio Milltag turns it up with Motorhead collaboration

The cyclewear studio, Milltag has partnered with Global Merchandising Services to launch a new range of cycle gear inspired by the heavy rock legends, Motorhead, tapping into the vibe of some of the band’s iconic song titles Iron Horse, White Line Fever and Keep Us On the Road.

Produced in partnership with GMS, the collection promises to be ‘more metal than most bikes’ as it arrives emblazoned with the band’s famous ‘War Pig’ logo and motto, Everything Louder Than Everything Else.

Milltag founder and creative director, Ed Cowburn, said: “It’s with great excitement that we start 2021 with a collaboration with Motorhead that should blow away the cobwebs.

“We hope the collection will reach a wider audience of music loving cyclists who want to wear cycling clothing that means something more to them than just another item of functional clothing.”

In developing the line, Milltag has opted for its club fit jersey which uses a roomier fit while not being too baggy. The collection is billed a ‘perfect when worn as a full set, but still easily identifiable as individual pieces.’ The cap and snoof feature large scale designs of the ‘War Pig’ logo.

Jens Drinkwater, Global Merchandising Services, added: “Milltag produces excellent, technical cycling apparel and we are incredibly excited to see fans take to the road in this unique collaboration.”

The range will be available for pre order via the Milltag website www.milltag.cc from Friday February 5th for a limited time (ending February 20th) for delivery in April.

DC to bring Ozzy Osbourne and Megadeth to Dark Nights: Death Metal comic universe

The comic book publisher, DC has detailed its plans to collaborate with seven of the most renowned metal music bands for its runaway hit limited comic book series Dark Nights: Death Metal – Band Edition.

In a partnership with Global Merchandising Services, DC has revealed it will be collaborating with the likes of Megadeth, Ghost, and Ozzy Osbourne, as well as Sepultura and Dream Theater.

Under the partnership, exclusive merchandise featuring the unique variant covers will be made available for fans from both universes. Information on the availability of this will be announced in conjunction with each release.

Representing a cross-section of metal music from across genres and generations, each special edition will feature a variant cover spotlighting a different metal band, an introduction from the band and exclusive interview.

The lineup will see Megadeth take issue one, Ghost in issue two, and Lacuna Coil in issue three. Issue four will feature Opeth, Sepultura will take the fifth issue, issue six will be Dream Theater, and issue seven will star Ozzy Osbourne.

The Dark Knights: Death Metal seven-issue series event will launch in 13 countries internationally in March and rollout throughout 2021.

Dark Nights: Death Metal, from the bestselling team of writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo, launched in the US in June 2020 and is the sequel to the smash-hit 2017-18 series, Dark Nights: Metal which brought widespread changes to the DC universe and introduced fans to the Dark Multiverse and a runaway hit villain the Batman Who Laughs.

When the Earth is enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, the Justice League is at the mercy of the Batman Who Laughs. Humanity struggles to survive in a hellish landscape twisted beyond recognition, while Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman, who have all been separated, fight to survive. 

The seven single issues with the Band edition variant covers will be published monthly in eight countries: France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Turkey.

For the Collectors’ Omnibus Edition featuring additional bonus content, these eight countries will be joined by Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Korea and Japan.

NetEnt brings Gordon Ramsey into its online entertainment portfolio

The digital entertainment company, NetEnt is bringing TV chef Gordon Ramsey to its popular online slot games, thanks to a new partnership brokered by Global Merchandising Services.

Notorious for colourful language and TV flair throughout his global television career, Ramsey will be incorporated into NetEnt’s growing library of branded content with his famous catchphrases and imagery.

The Hell’s Kitchen and 24 hours to Hell and Back presenter first graced TV screens in 1998 in the UK mini-series Boiling Point, and has since become a global personality famed for his fiery temper and razor-sharp wit.

Ramsay’s empire of eateries spreads from the UK and France to Singapore, Hong Kong and the US, with 16 Michelin stars under his toque.

“Gordon Ramsay is a true rock star of the restaurant world. His strong personality and use of colourful vocabulary as front-man of Hell’s Kitchen have earned him legend status as a multi-Michelin starred celebrity chef, with fans all over the world,” said Bryan Upton, NetEnt director of games.

“Just as importantly, this allows us to produce a true slot with a strong narrative and a lot of adult fun. We can’t wait to see what our players think of what we have in store for them.”

The deal was brokered by Gordon Ramsay’s licensing agent, Global Merchandising Services.

Licensing manager, Jens Drinkwater added: “NetEnt’s commitment to entertainment has made it a clear leader in the online casino industry and we’re thrilled to support the company with the addition of Gordon’s branded title.”