Kesha, the singer known for her catchy hits and bold personality, is stepping into a new role — that of a startup founder. But this time, it’s not about her music career alone; it’s about creating a platform to support other artists.
Her new venture, Smash, is described by Kesha on Instagram as a “community-based platform to connect and protect music creators.” This aligns closely with the mission behind her record label, Kesha Records, which she launched last year.
While many know Kesha for her glitter and party anthems, her journey has also been marked by struggles with the music industry. She’s been very open about the difficult legal battles she faced against a predatory record deal she signed as a teenager — battles that took a toll on her creative freedom and personal power.
Now, as a “free woman,” Kesha is focused on helping others avoid those pitfalls. Smash aims to create a space where musicians and creators can collaborate, find work, and most importantly, keep full control over their rights and creations.
“I want a place where artists and music makers of any kind can have community, they can collaborate, they can hire each other and retain all the rights to everything they create,” Kesha told WIRED. “There’s no gatekeeping of contacts.”
She describes Smash as something like “LinkedIn for music creators” or a “Fiverr-style marketplace,” but with a firm commitment to protecting artists’ rights at every step.
Kesha’s technical partner on the project is Alan Cannistraro, a seasoned developer who spent over a decade at Apple and Facebook before launching his own social video platform.
With Smash, Kesha is turning her hard-earned lessons into a tool to empower the next generation of music creators — making sure they have the freedom she fought so hard to reclaim.
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