NEW YORK, NY — May 18, 2026 — Paradigm Music, the label and artist development division of independent integrated IP company We Are Paradigm, LLC, today announced an exclusive content partnership with Highnote, the interactive audio platform redefining how listeners experience music and storytelling.

The collaboration marks a historic first for the music industry: Paradigm Music is the first record label of any kind to partner with Highnote and leverage the platform as a label-scale brand and storytelling engine. While Highnote has built a thriving home for individual creators and artists, no record label — major or independent — has stepped onto the platform until now.

Paradigm Music’s entry signals a new model for how labels can use interactive audio: not as a marketing afterthought, but as a core pillar of artist development, brand building, and audience engagement.

“Record labels have spent the last decade chasing platforms instead of building on them,” said Andre Mullen, Founder & CEO of We Are Paradigm, LLC. “We saw something different in Highnote. This isn’t just a place to drop content — it’s a canvas where a label can tell its full story, develop its artists in public, and build deeper relationships with fans than any streaming service allows. Paradigm is the first label to step onto this platform, and we’re doing it with intention. We’re going first for our artists, and we’re holding the door wide open for every artist in the faith-based community to follow.”

THE OPPORTUNITY

The partnership lands at the intersection of two underserved opportunities — one cultural, one commercial.

Culturally, the faith community represents one of the largest and most engaged audiences in America. 62% of U.S. adults identify as Christian (Pew Research, February 2025), and religion contributes an estimated $1.2 trillion annually to the U.S. economy (Michigan Journal of Economics, May 2025) — a footprint the music industry has yet to serve at scale.

Commercially, gospel music is a billion-dollar genre in its own right, Christian and Gospel consistently rank as a top-five genre by engagement rate on streaming platforms, and faith-driven listeners over-index on loyalty, community participation, and word-of-mouth sharing.

Until now, this engaged audience has not had a dedicated interactive home. Paradigm Music is changing that.

“We’ve seen too many direct-to-fan platforms focus on ‘buy my track’ paywalls as if that’s what actually builds fandom. Selling MP3s doesn’t build fandom — community does,” said Jordan Bradley, Co-Founder of Highnote. “Paradigm immediately recognized that Highnote isn’t just a workflow tool for their label, but a community platform where their artists can drive real engagement. Andre and his team bring real vision, and we’re excited to build alongside them.”

THE FLAGSHIP SERIES

Through the partnership, Paradigm Music launches two flagship interactive audio series — built natively on Highnote and designed to showcase what label-led interactive audio can be:

● Behind the Song with Dre Mullen — Premieres Tuesday, May 19, 2026. A weekly series where faith-based artists tell the stories behind their music through voice-note annotations, embedded scripture, and community engagement — turning each track into an interactive experience not replicable on any traditional platform.

● The Shift with Dre & Rebe — Premieres Thursday, May 21, 2026. A 12-episode artist-development curriculum co-hosted by Andre Mullen and Rx Ownly founder Rebekah “Rebe” Espinosa, giving faith-based independent artists — regardless of label affiliation — the full blueprint for building a music career, paired with downloadable worksheets and frameworks on Highnote.

Standard audio versions of both series will distribute across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, with every external touchpoint driving listeners to Highnote for the full interactive experience.

A DOOR FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY

While Paradigm Music anchors the launch, the partnership is explicitly designed with scale in mind — creating a replicable model for any faith-based artist, label, or creator looking to

leverage Highnote, and a proof point for the broader industry watching what label-led interactive audio can become.

“We’re not building a walled garden,” said Mullen. “We’re building a bridge. Every framework we create, every audience pathway we establish, every proof point we deliver — it all makes it easier for the next faith-based artist or label to walk onto this platform and be taken seriously. And it shows the rest of the industry what’s possible when a label commits to interactive audio, not as a side bet, but as a core pillar. That’s the real shift.”

We Are Paradigm envisions the long-term partnership expanding to include featured artists from across the faith-based music industry, live events, masterclasses, and a growing faith-based presence on Highnote.

About We Are Paradigm, LLC

Founded in 2024 and headquartered in New York, We Are Paradigm, LLC is an independent, faith-based integrated IP business and parent company of Paradigm Music — its label, artist development, marketing, and talent management division — and We Are Paradigm Publishing. Built by founder and CEO Andre Mullen on three decades of independent artist development and cross-industry collaboration, We Are Paradigm develops faith-based artists with the depth of an independent label and the rigor of a major-label operation. Independent in structure. Major-label in standard. Learn more at weareparadigm.co.

About Highnote

Highnote is an interactive audio platform that helps artists deepen fandom through community. Highnote hosts audio in an active discussion experience where tracks are annotated with voice notes, chat, reactions, and polls layered directly over the sound in private Spaces where artists own their distribution and monetization with predictable, algorithm-free engagement. Already deeply embedded in the creative workflows of teams at The New York Times on shows like The Daily, Modern Love, and Serial, Highnote unifies workflow and community into a single ecosystem redefining how audio is shared in the age of AI.

About Rx Ownly

Prescription Ownly (Rx Ownly) is a home for creative strategy, branding, and cultural development that helps artists, founders, and visionary brands build meaningful identities, partnerships, and audience connection through human-centered strategy

Courtesy of Paradigm Music