The Deals
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Exceleration Music formed a strategic partnership with Azadi Records, an India-based independent label co-founded in 2017 by Mo Joshi and Uday Kapur. Under the deal, which marks Exceleration’s first in Asia, Exceleration has made a financial investment in the label to help fuel its growth. Azadi will also benefit from access to Exceleration’s worldwide team and infrastructure, with Exceleration partner Charles Caldas joining Azadi’s board to help guide the label’s strategy, performance and development. Azadi Records artists include Indian hip-hop duo Seedhe Maut, producer Sez on the Beat and rapper Prabh Deep, who won a Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) award — a major independent music prize in India. Forthcoming releases on the label include Seedhe Maut’s mixtape Lunch Break, an EP from Ranj & Clifr and a collaborative album from United Kingdom-based rappers Sonnyjim and PAVAN.
Encore Luxury Coach Leasing acquired Nitetrain Coach Company in Whites Creek, Tenn., making it the largest entertainer coach leasing company in North America. The acquisition brings Encore Luxury’s fleet to more than 145 coaches. Under the deal, Encore’s leasing operations will have offices in Phoenix and Nashville, with over 25 maintenance technicians. Touring clients of the combined companies include Nickelback, Thomas Rhett, Bailey Zimmerman, Lauren Daigle, Ben Harper, Barry Manilow, Beck, Phish and Blink-182.
Virgin Hotels partnered with Sofar Sounds for Hear This!, a new monthly concert series that will showcase emerging Sofar artists. The series will be open to the public, with Virgin Hotels’ Know members receiving premier access to reserve tickets ahead of the public onsale. Attendees of the concerts will also have access to exclusive Spotify and Apple Music playlists featuring highlights and recommendations from Hear This! artists. Members of Virgin’s rewards program, Virgin Red, will also be able to redeem Virgin Points to join Sofar Sounds events at Virgin Hotels, including Hear This! Virgin Hotels will also offer preferred room rates to all Sofar Sounds artists to help alleviate the impact of the pandemic on touring artists. Hear This! kicks off on Sunday (Sept. 10) at Virgin Hotel Dallas, with future iterations in Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, New York City, Edinburgh and the recently opened Glasgow location. Get more details here.
One Media iP acquired the licensor’s income share — or the income that is generated from digital exploitation — of the “Entertain Me” catalog of rights, which includes more than 15,000 tracks performed by artists including Dean Martin, Gloria Gaynor, Judy Garland, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong. The acquisition was undertaken by One Media’s Harmony IP asset release program, “which allows music rights holders advanced access to the future earnings of their intellectual property by purchasing a portion of their rights up front,” according to a press release.
Also at One Media iP, the company renewed its partnership with music distributor The Orchard; the deal includes a $1 million recoupable advance to One Media “to be used to enhance catalogue enrichment,” according to a press release. The advance is recoupable against future sales by One Media.
The Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority (PCCA) board of directors approved a five-year contract renewal for ASM Global as its venue management company. The new agreement commences on Dec. 1, 2023, and runs through Nov. 30, 2028. ASM Global is “planning to bring many of its most innovative designs to a leading group of convention centers beginning with PCCA,” according to a press release.
Allseated, which offers virtual tour technology and floorplan design tools for venues, raised $20 million in funding, including capital from Level Structured Capital (an affiliate of Level Equity) and existing investors Magma Ventures, Vestech Partners, NYFF and WGG. The money will be used to further scale Allseated’s space visualization and collaboration platform and fuel its global expansion. Along with the new funding, the company is spinning out its Meetaverse division; according to a press release, “this includes a brand-new entity with a dedicated mission: to pioneer immersive experiences, such as virtual events and corporate environments, within an emerging market landscape.”
Full-service artist management company and record label Red Music Rising, which is managed entirely by Indigenous individuals, struck an exclusive global distribution deal with Warner Music Canada/ADA Canada. The Red Music Rising roster includes Wolf Saga, Boogey The Beat, Logan Staats and Nimkish.
Grant Avenue Studio, a legendary recording studio based in Hamilton, Ont., that has hosted artists including Gordon Lightfoot, Johnny Cash, U2 and Sarah McLachlan, was sold to music and film industry executives Mike Bruce and Marco Mondano. Bruce is a musician who owns and operates film studios, including Aeon Bayfront Studios in Hamilton, while Mondano owns D.C. Music, a rehearsal, recording and live production studio in Toronto. Grant Avenue Studio was established in 1976 by Daniel Lanois and his brother Bob, who later teamed up with engineer Amy King to helm the studio until the spring of 2023. Under its new ownership, new offerings at the studio will include an artist lounge, a writers’ studio, film and photography location opportunities and artist development programs.
Deezer expanded its partnership with leading Latin e-commerce platform Mercado Libre, becoming the official music streaming partner for the company’s new retail and entertainment subscription program, Meli+, which has been introduced in Mercado Libre’s main markets, Brazil and Mexico. The program includes a full year of music streaming from Deezer, among other elements. Brazilian artist Ana Castela has been appointed as the official Deezer ambassador on Meli+ and will star in joint campaigns and promotion.
Symphony, an artificial intelligence-powered marketing operating system for artists, creators, managers and independent labels, closed a $1 million pre-seed fundraising round from investors including Spice Capital, GoldHouse Ventures, LVRN Records, Guin Records, former Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtermariam and artists including 21 Savage and 24kGoldn. The SymphonyOS platform uses artificial intelligence to analyze millions of data points in order to create music marketing strategies for artists and labels. Since its beta launch in April 2022, SymphonyOS has processed over $750,000 worth of advertising budgets.
Kids’ audio platform Yoto, which is behind the screen-free Yoto Player and Yoto Mini, signed an industry-first agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG) to bring music titles and artists from its labels and catalogs to the platform for the first time. Founded by Ben Drury and Filip Denker, Yoto allows children to access music without being exposed to advertising or unsuitable content. The UMG partnership kicked off this month with the launch of Queen’s Greatest Hits: Volume 1 as a “Yoto Card.” That will be followed in the coming months by releases from artists like Bob Marley & the Wailers and labels including Motown Records and Disney Music Group. The Queen cards will be available on Yoto webstores in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union; Yoto Amazon stores in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada; and the Queen online store.
Round Hill Music acquired Linus Entertainment, the Canadian independent music company that includes the recording and publishing catalogs of Borealis Records, Mummy Dust Music, Solid Gold Records, Stony Plain Records, The Children’s Group and True North Records, as well as the distribution company Independent Digital Licensing Agency Inc (IDLA). The acquisition encompasses over 3,000 songs and more than 20,000 master recordings. It includes recordings from Buffy Sainte-Marie, Gordon Lightfoot and Taj Mahal, among many others.
Reservoir Media and PopArabia jointly acquired the catalog of Cairo-based content production and distribution company RE Media, encompassing sub-labels Moseeqa and Moseeqa TV and several of RE Media’s owned and operated YouTube channels. The acquisition includes more than 6,000 recordings and compositions from artists such as Amr Diab, George Wassouf, Dalida and Mohamed Mounir. Reservoir and PopArabia additionally acquired the master and publishing rights for the catalog of Egyptian rap duo El Sawareekh.
Timbaland acquired a stake in lifestyle and vinyl brand 12on12, where he will serve as a strategic partner and curator. According to a press release, 12on12 allows “cultural icons” to curate soundtracks of 12 songs “that have inspired, affected and influenced them,” which are then pressed on 12″ vinyl. Timbaland is currently working on his own 12on12 release that will drop at the beginning of next year. His Verzuz partner Swizz Beatz previously acquired a stake in the company in February 2022; since then, 12on12 has expanded into releasing limited edition fine art prints and lifestyle pieces featuring co-curators’ artwork. The company has already collaborated with Run DMC, Swizz Beatz and Travis Scott x Saint Laurent, among others.
Apple Podcasts added several new hosting providers that will support Delegated Delivery, which allows creators to publish subscriber episodes directly from their participating hosting provider dashboard. The new partners are Audiomeans, Captivate, Podbean, Podspace and Transistor, all of which will support Delegated Delivery by the end of 2023. Elsewhere, the company revealed an exclusive integration with Linkfire, which is expanding into podcasting this fall with a toolkit built specifically for podcasters. Using that toolkit, podcasters on Apple Podcasts will have the ability to generate an unlimited number of smart links with landing pages for their podcasts and measure how listeners engage with them using the Linkfire Insights dashboard.
The Salzburg Festival is making its operas, orchestral concerts, lieder recitals and chamber music exclusively available on the recently launched Apple Music Classical streaming platform. More than 100 such recordings are already available at launch.
Matthew Berry‘s fantasy sports and sports betting media company FantasyLife closed a $2 million dollar friends and family round from investors including John Legend, YouTube co-founder/former CEO Chad Hurley and Wasserman Media Group chairman/CEO Casey Wasserman, among many others. Hurley, Wasserman and The SpringHill Company co-founder/CEO Maverick Carter (also an investor, with LeBron James’ LRMR Ventures) will also join the FantasyLife advisory board. Fantasy Life additionally announced new partnerships with brands including Epic Seats, Webex by Cisco and Buffalo Wild Wings.
Believe‘s global dance and electronic imprint b:electronic signed Berlin-based house and techno label mobilee records and Feathers & Bones, the new label from electronic artist Rodriguez Jr.
The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University and E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt’s TeachRock education program announced they would team up to help teachers bring American popular music into the curriculums of classrooms across the United States. Future collaborations will include teacher workshops, student internships, seminars and conferences, curriculum development and joint research activities. The efforts between the two organizations will begin at Asbury Park Middle School and High Schools in New Jersey with the Harmony Student Wellness Program, which uses “popular music as a springboard” for lessons around self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, responsible decision-making and social awareness, according to the TeachRock website.
Absolute Label Services partnered with Prestige Management for the release of Busted’s forthcoming Greatest Hits 2.0 compilation. Absolute will provide a range of services for the release, including distribution, marketing and project management. The album compiles newly-recorded versions of all of Busted’s biggest hits, fan favorites and live staples, with deluxe formats featuring a number of previously unreleased collaborations with artists including McFly, James Arthur, You Me At Six, The Vamps, Bowling For Soup, Dashboard Confessional, Deaf Havana, Wheatus and Charlotte Sands.
Amazon Music reached a new merchandise integration with concert-discovery platform Bandsintown that will allow fans across the globe to shop merch items from artists while browsing their artist profile pages on the Bandsintown website and app. Under the integration, more than 590,000 registered artists on Bandsintown for Artists will be able to promote their merch and physical music releases to their Bandsintown followers and the followers of similar artists through in-app notifications, email and social channels. The merch available on Bandsintown will be drawn from the Amazon Music Artist Merch Shop on Amazon.com, developed and curated by the Amazon Music team.
Oliver Chastan‘s artist and brand development company Iconoclast acquired the producer royalties of composer, songwriter and producer Giorgio Moroder. The company will additionally work with Moroder on the development of his name, image and likeness rights. Over the course of his career, Moroder has collaborated with artists including Berlin (“Take My Breath Away”), Donna Summer (“I Feel Love”, and Blondie (“Call Me”). His work as a film composer includes scores and songs for Midnight Express, Top Gun, Scarface and Flashdance.
CTS Eventim increased its stake in France Billet from 48% to 65%, making it the majority owner of the French ticketing company. CTS Eventim acquired the 48% stake in France Billet back in 2019 — a deal that included an option to acquire a majority stake in the company this year.
Reactional Music, the maker of an interactive music engine for video games, reached a global partnership with Southeast Asian games publisher Amanotes, whose games attract more than 100 million monthly active users, according to a press release. The deal will allow Amanotes gamers to personalize their personas and gameplay with their favorite music while also allowing Amanote to tap into a faster and more efficient method to create and prototype music in its games.
Toyota is now the name-in-title sponsor of the Concord Pavilion in Concord, Calif., which will now be known as Toyota Pavilion at Concord. The move is sponsored by the Northern California Toyota Dealers Association, which is composed of 58 local Toyota dealers operating in the region. Upcoming shows at the venue in 2023 include Sting, Snoop Dogg, Jelly Roll, Culture Club and Beck.
PRS for Music and PPL announced a new partnership with music technology company Audoo. Under the deal, Audoo’s Audoo Audio Meters — which aim to ensure “accurate and transparent” royalty distribution to music creators by identifying background music being played in businesses, according to a press release — will be installed in businesses including cafes, bars, hair salons, restaurants and retail establishments across the United Kingdom, with usage data reported back to PRS and PPL.
Live Nation signed a multi-year partnership with Montana-based promoter Logjam Presents. Under the agreement, Live Nation will invest in Logjam, of which the Checota family will retain ownership and continue to manage day-to-day operations for. “Out of state national and regional promoters are already actively promoting in venues around the state. This new partnership will allow Logjam to remain competitive as a Montana-based promoter and will retain our event booking, marketing, management and, most importantly, 100 percent of our staff locally,” said Logjam president Nick Checota in a statement. “Our new partnership will also provide Logjam access to an incredible artist network and will provide additional capital to improve existing venues and explore opportunities in other Montana regions.”
Desertscene and Old Empire, both independent heavy music promoters, announced a partnership “merging our distinct styles and unyielding passion for live music,” according to a statement by Old Empire founder Josh Retallick. Based in the United Kingdom, Old Empire promotes artists including Heilung, Chelsea Wolf, SUNN O))) and Electric Wizard. Desertscene books and promotes Desertfest festivals in London, New York and Berlin as well as in Antwerp, Belgium and Oslo, Norway.
Universal Music Group’s music merchandise and brand management company Bravado partnered with brand licensing and extension agency Redibra as its official licensing agent in Brazil. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to create incredible products and experiences for the dedicated music fan community in Brazil,” said Redibra CEO David Diesendruck in a statement.
Under a new partnership, Primary Wave Music, Sun Records and TC Restaurant Group will expand Nashville’s music-themed eatery Sun Diner — inspired by Sun Records artists like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash — to additional locations across the United States; a second location opened Aug. 3 in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Primary Wave acquired the rights to Sun Records in 2021.
Beats marketplace BeatStars signed a partnership deal with AI music startup Lemonaide that will make “ethically-sourced AI” available to music creators to help them write and produce new works. Lemonaide’s AI technology “purposefully generates short musical ideas to spark inspiration, push creative boundaries, and pull artists out of their creative slump,” according to a press release. The companies claim the AI is “trained exclusively on voluntarily contributed data from producers” to ensure proper compensation for and active participation by those whose musical works are used.
Music festival and live events promoter Insomniac and music and lifestyle brand Emo Nite announced a partnership that will encompass projects ranging from events to music to apparel. First up is the launch of Grave Rave, a new event series coming to Los Angeles in December that will feature “both legendary and emerging bands and DJs…fusing the sounds of electronic music with the melodies of the emo, pop-punk, and rock genres,” according to a press release. A preview party for the series will be held on August 26 at Insomniac’s Academy LA venue with a surprise lineup of DJs who “built their careers on pop-punk/alternative/emo influences,” the press release adds. The two companies have also teamed for the launch of a new record label, Graveboy Records, with forthcoming single releases by We The Kings, Say Anything and Noelle Sucks. The first collection of Insomniac x Emo Nite merch will also debut at HARD Summer 2023.
Atlanta-based record label and management company Love Renaissance (LVRN) will utilize music streaming and discovery platform Audiomack‘s proprietary ArtistRank system to discover and develop emerging musicians under a new partnership. According to a press release, ArtistRank “allows partners to identify better when an artist is building a lasting fanbase, differentiating itself from other analytical tools by emphasizing engagement metrics rather than solely through play growth.” It provides detailed analytics on fan demographics as well as predictive data that analyzes an artist’s potential growth trajectory.
NetEase Cloud Music formed a partnership with leading Chinese music and entertainment company RYCE Entertainment that will see the companies extend their previous agreement while also giving NetEase access to an expanded portfolio of RYCE’s music catalog in China, with 30-day initial launch rights to distribute new additions to the catalog. The companies will additionally team up to promote RYCE artists and music in China. RYCE’s catalog includes works by Jackson Wang, Amber Liu and Tablo, among many others.
NLess Entertainment co-founders Zach “Z-Bo” Randolph (a former NBA star) and Marcus “Head” Howell are leading a funding found for Connect Music Group, a Black-owned Memphis music company that offers tools and resources to help independent musicians build successful careers while retaining ownership of their masters. Along with fellow investor Richard W. Smith, CEO of airline and international at FedEx, Howell recently hosted an investor event to raise capital for Connect. The amount of the funding round is unknown.
MNRK partnered with New York industry workshop Steel Sessions — based in downtown recording studio The Engine Room — along with its producers Francis “Buda Da Future” Ubiera, Dan “Grandz Muzik” Garcia and Michael “Mike Kuz” Kuzoian. Under the deal, Ubiera, Garcia and Kuzoian will develop artists in the studio to eventually sign them to MNRK while also providing production services for MNRK Urban’s frontline releases, lo-fi instrumental albums, brand partnerships, soundtracks and artist synchs.
Deezer renewed its partnership with French telecoms provider Orange which was first struck in 2010. Under the deal, Orange customers will continue to have access to the Deezer streaming service. In celebration of the renewal, Deezer and Orange will offer six months of Deezer Premium for free to new customers who subscribe to a “Plus que forfait” plan.
Don McLennon, formerly of Brockhampton, has partnered with Nashville-based music tech company Artiphon to release his new track, “Halcyon,” exclusively via the company’s handheld smart instruments, Orba 2 and Chorda. Utilizing stems, Artiphon and McLennon will offer fans the ability to remix the track without any prior musical skill.
Downtown Music‘s neighboring rights division struck deals with the Meat Loaf and Miles Davis estates. The division will represent the entire catalog for both artists. Concurrent with that announcement, Downtown Music unveiled a new royalties and rights management platform powered by FUGA technology. “We strive to give clients the best of our in-house knowledge and arm them with resources to make them aware of how they’re able to maximize collection of these rights,” said Downtown Neighbouring Rights GM Dean Francis in a statement. “The launch of our new platform will bolster this further by providing more insight as we look to continue to improve efficiencies in the administration of our clients’ exceptional catalogs.”
Create Music Group acquired Music For Pets, which creates music and entertainment for dogs and cats. Founded by Amman Ahmed and Ricardo Henriquez, Music For Pets boasts franchises including “Relax My Dog” and “Relax My Cat.” Create will invest an additional $10 million to expand Music For Pets’ reach over the next 36 months. According to a press release, Music For Pets currently serves over 20 million pets, with users listening to more than 12 million hours of music every month.
Protect the Culture, a new label founded by music industry veteran Marc Byers, signed a global joint venture with Warner Records that will focus on the African music scene. Byers will work closely with Warner Records president of A&R Steve Carless and executive vp/head of A&R Karen Kwak. The label’s first signing is Lord Afrixana, a Ghana-born, Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter who has a solo project slated to drop later this year, preceded by the single “No Dey Tire.” Byers was most recently GM at Motown Records prior to launching the new venture.
Canva, an online visual communications and collaboration platform, announced partnerships with Warner Music Group (including Warner Recorded Music and Warner Chappell Music) and Merlin that will allow Canva users in many countries to use music clips in their designs, which can be shared across multiple social platforms and also utilized for internal uses like work presentations. Canva customers will be able to access music clips starting this fall in the United States, Europe, Brazil, Canada and Australia; artists will earn royalties when clips of their songs are featured in published Canva designs. At launch, the Warner Music and Merlin libraries will be available for Canva Pro, Canva for Education and Canva for Nonprofit customers, with Canva for Teams users to follow. According to a press release, Canva boasts 135 million users worldwide.
Rapper EST Gee launched a new record label, Young Shiners, in partnership with the Sony Music and Alamo Records-powered label services company Santa Anna. The label is part of EST Gee’s mission to put rappers from his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, on the map. The label will be home to emerging artists including EST Lil Zoski, EST Marti, EST DonWon, and Santa Anna’s EST SkiMike and EST Lu Mike — all of whom are local to Louisville. The launch coincides with the imminent release of Young Shiners’ debut mixtape, Shiners Are Forever, which drops on Friday (July 14).
Universal Music Group (UMG) acquired the music catalog of RS Group, which is the second-largest music catalog in Thailand, according to a press release. The catalog includes over 10,000 master recordings as well as 6,000 copyright ownerships, publishing rights and licenses dating from 1981-2022 and represents the work of more than 960 artists including Dan-Beam, James Ruangsak Loychusak and Parn Thanaporn Wagprayoon. The acquisition will underpin a new strategic partnership between the two companies — one that will be 70% owned by UMG and 30% owned by RS Group — designed to allow UMG to scale in the Thailand music market. Under the deal, UMG will become RS Group’s exclusive music service partner for new releases and new music repertoire globally while receiving exclusive rights of first refusal and matching rights to acquire new releases and repertoire. According to the press release, UMG will become the second-largest player in the Thai market following the deal.
Raedio, the “audio everywhere” company founded by Issa Rae, signed a multi-year partnership with Def Jam Recordings. Under the deal, Raedio will be able to sign, market and distribute its artists through the Def Jam network.
Tuned Global partnered with Greenland-based telco Tusass to launch the first Greenlandic music streaming service. According to a press release, the partnership is designed to “promote and champion underserved local homegrown musicians and their fans by gathering them into a single service” as opposed to relying on “unofficial uploads on user-generated content sites, with varying quality and unclear connections to the artists who made the music.” The app will be available in Greenland, Denmark, Canada and the Faroe Islands, as well as in the Kalaallisut (Greenlandic), Danish and English languages. “A number of smaller and more specialized markets need ‘glocalized’ apps that offer local music lovers a catalog that’s culturally relevant and timely,” said Tuned Global senior vp/head of EMEA Rick Gleave in a statement. “Therefore, telcos are often the perfect players to launch these types of music apps, as they add significant value to their customers, as well as supporting local culture in general.”
SoundCloud partnered with EDM events company Brownies & Lemonade to highlight emerging electronic artists. The partnership includes the relaunch of Brownies & Lemonade’s Twitch livestream, Open Aux Arcade, on which submitted demos and new music will receive live feedback from Brownie & Lemonade creative director Chad Kenney and musician RamonPang. SoundCloud will serve as a presenting partner, with submissions “flowing directly” from the SoundCloud platform. The partnership will also encompass an artist spotlight series and editorial playlist consideration on SoundCloud.
Reactional Music, the maker of an interactive music engine for video games, struck an agreement with production music leader APM Music. The deal, which marks Reactional’s first move into production music, will allow developers to search for and access the APM catalog through the Reactional platform — which will become available for commercial use later this year — as they build their games.
Janelle Genzink‘s Volara Management signed a strategic partnership with Red Light Management. The deal will provide Volara with additional resources and support to benefit her roster, which includes Sabrina Carpenter, Carmen DeLeon, Mosaic MSC and Riah.
ASM Global partnered with multidisciplinary venue strategist Forward Associates, which specializes in everything from architecture to interior design to premium seat sales and marketing. Current projects under the deal include Everton FC’s new stadium, Stockholm Live’s portfolio of venues including the Avicii Arena, the AO Arena in Manchester, England and the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Sony Music Latin formed a strategic partnership with Nexoom AG, a Swiss-based interactive entertainment company. The collaboration is aimed at “tapping into Nexoom’s innovative digital ecosystem to offer unique experiences” for Sony Latin artists and their fans.
Karta, a metaverse studio that deals with in-game experiential marketing and has delivered projects on Roblox, Fortnite and Decentraland for clients including Amazon Music, Unilever’s Sunsilk and K-pop group TWICE, secured an investment round led by GameTech Ventures and including former Hipgnosis chief catalog officer Amy Thomson, entertainment company Tokido, Sports Loft CEO Charlie Greenwood, UK Finance chairman Robert Wigley, Powster founder/CEO Ste Tompson and venture studio Big Ideas Group. The company declined to reveal the amount of the funding round.
SoundExchange added PayPal and Venmo as royalty distribution payment options for registered creators after adding CashApp and Zelle last year. The addition of these options allows creators in countries that can’t be serviced through direct deposits to receive their SoundExchange royalties without requiring a bank account. Payment via PayPal and Venmo will be immediately available to domestic and international registrants, whether they are paid as individuals and companies. To sign up for either Paypal or Venmo, creators are encouraged to use SXDirect, which provides self-service opt-ins for all payment methods.
The city of Busan, South Korea enlisted AI-assisted business-to-business marketplace SURF Music to find “thematic, Olympic-style music” to accompany their bid for the World Expo 2023. SURF’s subscription-based marketplace allows artists and music creators to manage their song catalogs via AI song tagging; organize playlists; and submit songs to fit a particular brief. After SURF submitted a playlist of unreleased music to Busan, the city chose “Welcome to World Expo” by Lee Muina. The partnership will continue through the Expo’s “judgment day” in November 2023.
BMG acquired the recording catalog of British band (and Rock & Roll Hall of Famers) The Hollies. The deal includes over 20 studio, compilation, live and tribute album titles and rarities that are wholly owned by the group, including Evolution and Butterfly (1967), Hollies Sing Dylan and Hollies Sing Hollies (1969), Confessions of the Mind (1970); Distant Light (1971), Romany (1972), Out on the Road (1973); Hollies (1974), Another Night (1975), Write On and Russian Roulette (1976), Hollies Live Hits (1977), A Crazy Steal (1978), Five Three One – Double Seven O Four (1979), Buddy Holly (1980), and Then, Now, Always (2009). The agreement encompasses eight of The Hollies’ most-streamed tracks, including “Carrie Anne,” “King Midas In Reverse,” “Jennifer Eccles,” “On A Carousel,” “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” “Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress)” and “The Air That I Breathe,” as well as the group’s cover versions of “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” (Bruce Springsteen), “Boulder to Birmingham” (Emmylou Harris) and “Say It Ain’t So, Jo” (Head).
Soundtrack Your Brand, a global music streaming service for businesses, announced a $15 million pre-growth round led by Matt Pincus‘ MUSIC in partnership with Liontree, JS Capital Management and Schusterman Family Investments. The round also included funding from music investors Dundee Partners and was supported by all major existing Soundtrack Your Brand investors including Balderton Capital, Fuel Venture Capital, Industrifonden, Telia and DIG. The investment will allow Soundtrack Your Brand to “double down” on its go-to-market strategy, according to a press release. Along with MUSIC’s investment, Pincus will join Soundtrack Your Brand’s board. In 2024, the company plans to raise an additional growth round.
ADA Worldwide partnered with Rostrum Records to distribute the indie label’s entire catalog and new releases. Recent Rostrum releases include Fat Nick’s “Songs on the Radio” and DC The Don’s “Funeral” as well as new music from Alé Araya and Brevin Kim. Forthcoming releases include music from Fat Nick, Lou Phelps and My Favorite Color.
Yoto, an audio platform for kids that’s behind screen-free portable audio players the Yoto Player and Yoto Mini, signed a deal with Warner Music Group that will make music from some of WMG’s artists available on the players. The partnership kicks off in June with music from Super Simple Songs, a popular YouTube channel boasting original children’s songs and traditional nursery rhymes that’s been distributed by WMG’s arts music division since 2020. Next year, Yoto will create “cards” featuring music from a curated group of WMG’s pop, rock and soul artists.
Believe signed a marketing and distribution deal with Global Records Germany, the new Berlin branch of independent label Global Records. The first release under the agreement is “Party Songs” by Gamuel Sori & INNA, which dropped June 9.
Artist management company In De Goot Entertainment and independent record label So Recordings (part of the U.K.-based Silva Screen Music Group) have partnered to form the label imprint SO In De Goot, Billboard can reveal.
The first U.S. signing to the imprint is Princess Goes, the band fronted by actor and musician Michael C. Hall alongside keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen and drummer Peter Yanowitz; the group will release its sophomore album later this year.
Bill McGathy
Jennie McGathy
“We have developed a great relationship with Adam Greenup and So Recordings and have major respect for the work they do and their meaningful roster,” said In De Goot Entertainment president/owner Bill McGathy in a statement. “Thanks to So Recordings’ success in the UK and Europe, this new partnership allows In De Goot to strengthen our global footprint and offer new opportunities to our roster and So’s roster in the U.S.”
Adam Greenup
Courtesy of Adam Greenup
So Recordings MD Adam Greenup added, “Bill and his whole team at In De Goot have been our close friends and allies for nearly a decade. We have seen how the team commits and delivers in all areas of North American promotion and beyond. Bill and I had a joint lightbulb moment one morning in his New York office — our roster (old and new) aligned with In De Goot’s weight and influence in the U.S. rock and indie lanes — the fit was just obvious. We would sign, record and promote artists together.”
In De Goot’s current roster includes Biffy Clyro, GWAR, Halestorm and Shinedown, while the So Recordings roster boasts Placebo, Enter Shikari, Band of Skulls and Dinosaur Pile-Up.
Ariana Grande‘s r.e.m. beauty drew a strategic investment led by private investment firm Sandbridge Capital with participation from Strand Equity, HYBE America, Live Nation Entertainment and Universal Music Group. The funds will be used for product innovation, talent acquisition and geographic expansion.
Sony Music Masterworks made a majority investment in Barcelona-based live music and experiential events producer Proactiv Entertainment. Under the deal, Proactiv managing director Nicolas Renna will continue leading the company’s day-to-day operations while working closely with Sony Masterworks president Mark Cavell and Sony Music Spain & Portugal president Jose-Maria Barbat to grow the business.
Music collaboration platform boombox.io, a new company from entrepreneur Tom Chavez, closed $7 million in seed capital. The round was led by Forerunner with participation from Chavez’s super{set} startup studio as well as Ulu Ventures. The funds will allow the generative AI-assisted platform to build out its team, accelerate product development and strike new partnerships. Launched in November, boombox.io allows music producers to store, version and track their music files; collect time-stamped feedback on audio files; communicate via iOS and Android apps; manage splits; and create legally-binding contracts.
Glendale, Ariz.-based VAI Resort announced the VAI Amphitheater, a new 8,000-capacity venue slated to open in 2024. Set against the backdrop of the resort, the venue will offer multiple viewing options, including hotel room balconies, as well as a $40 million stage and state-of-the-art technology. To bring the amphitheater to life, the resort has partnered with live event solutions company TAIT Group and audiovisual company Solotech.
88rising has partnered with Steve Aoki on FLUXGEN, a new creative hub for Asian talent globally. The first release under the new venture is “The Show,” a collaboration between Aoki and Mandopop star JJ Lin.
Music composition system DAACI, which is driven by a suite of AI tools, acquired fellow AI music technology companies MXX and WiSL. Founded by Dr. Joe Lyske, DAACI uses dynamic music AI that allows artists and composers to tailor compositions for specific uses in gaming, digital worlds, XR or VR experiences.
Amplifyd, an auction platform and marketplace for the music industry, launched out of beta and announced a partnership with Insomniac Events, with which it hosted a series of charity auctions at Insomniac’s 2023 EDC festival in Las Vegas that featured participating artists Marshmello, Armin Van Buuren, Yellow Claw and Deorro.
Tokyo-based virtual live music event platform Vark raised 1 billion yen ($7.2 million) in Series C funding through a third-party allotment of new shares to SBI Investments and NetEase Games, in addition to existing investors JAFCO Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital and ANRI. The funds will be used to strengthen the company’s product development system, develop new businesses and more.
Myxt, a collaborative workspace for audio creators, partnered with AI stem separation platform AudioShake under a deal that will allow Myxt users to utilize AudioShake’s source separation tool, create stems, and export them for opportunities in content creation, synch licensing, mixing and more.
AI music analysis and recommendation platform Cyanite acquired aptone, an AI-based service that allows music producers to classify and search samples. Aptone founder Johannes Giani will join the Cyanite board as director of information technology, helping Cyanite develop its technology and continue enhancing and expanding the offering for Cyanite’s international customers including BMG, Pond5, APM Music and RTL. The acquisition allows Cyanite to increase the accuracy with which it analyzes and tags samples. Both Cyanite and aptone are based in Germany.
In order to meet the growing demand for physical music and video in the United Kingdom, Utopia Music has entered a long-term contract with DP World for a £100 million ($124.8 million), 25,000-square meter warehouse in Bicester, United Kingdom. The new warehouse will feature technologically advanced solutions, including high-density storage and robotic transfer of product, to enable the efficient distribution of over 30 million units a year across the United Kingdom and export markets. Stock will be moving from Utopia Distribution Services’ current warehouse in Aylesbury, United Kingdom (inherited from physical distributor Cinram, whose assets were acquired by Utopia in 2022) to the new facility over the summer.
Swedish Web3 music company anotherblock has raised €4 million ($4.34 million) in an investment round led by Stride.VC and joined by Swedish House Mafia member Axwell (whose Swedish House Mafia partner, Steve Angello, previously invested in the company). The money will be used to help anotherblock scale globally and make its product available to a wider range of artists, producers and record companies.
Seeker Music has acquired the masters and publishing catalog of Charlotte Caffey — lead guitarist, keyboardist and primary songwriter for The Go-Go’s. Caffey wrote some of the group’s biggest hits, including their breakthrough song, “We Got the Beat,” as well as “Head Over Heels,” “Vacation,” “How Much More” and “Turn To You.” Caffey has also written songs for artists including Keith Urban (“But for the Grace of God”) and her Go-Go’s bandmate Belinda Carlisle, as well as songs for film and TV including the theme song for the Clueless TV series. The deal was brokered by veteran record executives Michael Rosenblatt and David Simone.
300 Entertainment has partnered with Florida-based imprint Remain Solid, founded by manager and executive 100k Track, for a label joint venture. The first artist signed under the deal is Brooklyn-based rapper BreezyLYN, who released the remix to her single, “Bad Bitches” featuring Lola Brooke and Kali, earlier this month.
Songtradr announced a partnership with TikTok around the video-sharing platform’s Commercial Music Library. Under the deal, Songtradr is now a certified “Subscription Sound Partner,” supplying music for the Commercial Music Library, which gives businesses, organizations and creators access to pre-licensed, rights-safe music for organic content and paid advertising.
Music technology companies Tuned Global and Revelator struck a partnership that will allow digital service providers and other Tuned Global customers to enable artists to mint and distribute music releases as NFTs directly on Web2 streaming platforms using Revelator’s Web3 tech. “These NFTs will coexist with traditional streamed music, enabling fans to enjoy digital collectibles and actively engage with token gated content, while providing artists with blockchain-based payment opportunities through smart contracts,” according to a press release announcing the deal. Added Revelator CEO/founder Bruno Guez: “This partnership lets music lovers collect NFTs in fan-friendly ways where they are already experiencing music. Fans won’t need to mess with wallets or special Web3 players, or even leave their favorite music platform. They’ll pay with a credit card. This access and ease will open up new revenue streams for artists, as more fans jump in.”
AI music startup AudioShake announced a $2.7 million seed funding round led by Indicator Ventures, with participation from Precursor Ventures and Side Door Ventures. Also taking part in the round are Metallica-backed Black Squirrel Partners, AJR, Google’s Black Angel Group, peermusic, Audius CEO Roneil Rumburg, S-Curve Records CEO Steve Greenberg and Crush Ventures, the venture arm of Crush Music, among others. Audioshake’s B2B deep learning technology deconstructs audio into stems so that they can be made available for new uses across music, film, dubbing, transcription, synthetic voice and more. The company has worked with departments from all three major labels as well as publishers including Primary Wave, Hipgnosis, Spirit, peermusic, Concord, Downtown and Reservoir.
Unitea, a Miami-based engage-to-earn music platform, has raised a seed round of $7 million led by 1st Class Guernsey, Chaos Capital and Fuel Venture Capital. The funds will be used to further expand the platform’s capabilities within the music industry and beyond. The platform allows users to share music and create content to earn digital tokens, called Karma, that can be redeemed for exclusive rewards including custom digital assets, concert tickets and artist meet-and-greets. The company’s board of directors includes Pitbull and Claude VonStroke.
Freshsound, a self-serve licensing platform for commercially released music, closed a €2 million ($2.17 million) seed funding round that will support the company as it seeks to expand internationally while continuing to grow in the Nordic market. The new investment comes less than a year after the company’s pre-seed funding round worth €1.3 million ($1.41 million). The latest investment round was led by Zenith Venture Capital and Aligned. Founded in 2021 by Stevie Gyasi and Sara Larsson, Freshsound boasts a dynamic pricing model that gives clients instant quotes for any use and the ability to license their music for commercial purposes.
CD Baby and creator copyright protection platform Cosynd have expanded their existing partnership with the integration of Cosynd’s Copyright Registration API into the CD Baby platform, which allows artists to register copyrights and establish legal ownership over their work.
Music, entertainment and technology platform LiveOne struck an exclusive content distribution deal with OTT Studio, a streaming technology platform and connected TV (CTV) app publisher. Under the deal, LiveOne will serve as OTT Studio’s exclusive music streaming provider, delivering LiveOne’s 600 radio stations via OTT’s Music Plus application. The agreement will expand the distribution of LiveOne’s audio and entertainment content to an additional 47 million CTVs in North America via LG’s webOS and Vizio’s SmartCast platforms.
SiriusXM announced a multi-year extension and expansion of their services agreement with Mercedes-Benz, under which the automaker is expected to make the installation of SiriusXM a standard feature on Mercedes-Benz models available in the United States, starting with model year 2024 vehicles. SiriusXM’s “most advanced audio entertainment experience,” SiriusXM with 360L, is also expected to be included in future Mercedes-Benz models, according to a press release.
Lyric licensing and data solutions company LyricFind signed an agreement with GEMA, Germany’s mechanical and performance rights society, in a further expansion of LyricFind’s international footprint.
Grammy-winning singer and actress Toni Braxton inked a new, all-encompassing production deal with Lifetime and A+E. Under the agreement, Braxton’s Braxtoni Production will oversee and executive produce multiple projects for the network. The production company will be based at Lifetime’s Los Angeles offices. Braxton has starred in and executive produced multiple movies for Lifetime over the last decade; in 2016, the network premiered Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart, a biopic about Braxton starring Lex Scott Davis as the singer.
Primary Wave Music partnered with Indian record label and music publisher Times Music. Under the deal, Primary Wave will invest “significant capital” in the company while providing resources for additional Indian catalog investments and helping accelerate the growth of its existing regional, film and non-film music catalogs by assisting the Times Music team in uncovering opportunities in the United States, Europe and other markets in A&R, branding, synch, film/TV and digital marketing, according to a press release. Times Music is looking to make further investments in Bollywood and South Indian cinema music as well as “iconic Indian catalogs,” the release states. Times Music is a subsidiary of The Times of India Group.
Warner Music Singapore and Cross Ratio Entertainment, a leading Singaporean independent record label, signed an exclusive global distribution agreement. Under the deal, Warner Music Singapore will work closely with Cross Ratio on new releases, catalogs, brand partnerships, synchronization deals and marketing events as well as on identifying and upstreaming artists. The Cross Ratio roster includes Akeem Jahat, Alfred Sim, Belinda Lee, and Derrick Hoh; the label also distributes over 200 additional artists.
Academy Award-winning composer Justin Hurwitz (Whiplash, La La Land) partnered with music-for-advertising and sonic branding company Score a Score to expand Hurwitz’s “creative energy to the world of advertising — applying his unique ability to create ‘earworm’ melodies on the big screen to short-form campaigns,” according to a press release. Hurwitz has previously worked with brands including De’Loghi, Heineken and Louis Vuitton.
Will Ward — head of the talent, music, production and incubator company, Fourward — launched Fourward Ventures, a $50 million, early-stage growth fund actively investing in sectors including health and wellness, sustainability and consumer packaged goods. The company has successfully closed half the fund and is on track to close the rest by September 15. “The company seeks brands that disrupt traditional consumer categories through innovation and aims to drive change in society through products or services,” according to a press release, and will help “to quickly scale cutting edge early-stage brands into world-class businesses.” The fund has already invested in nine companies: Audio Up, Goodles, Lomi by Pela, Mad Rabbit, Patrake, Samsara, Starface, Julie and Bryn Pharma. Ten percent of carry profits will be set aside for three different charities not named in the release.
Advertising, communications, technology and commerce holding company WPP has acquired sonic branding agency amp sound branding. Under the deal, amp will join WPP’s brand and design consultancy, Landor & Fitch, adding to the agency’s expertise in delivering immersive brand identities for companies. Amp has created sonic identities for brands including Mastercard, Mercedes-Benz, Kraft Heinz, Deloitte, Shell and General Motors.
The U.K. office of French music company Believe formed a partnership with underground dance music company Rinse to handle distribution and label services for its Rinse Recordings and Bad Music imprints. Under its new b:electronic global imprint, Believe will handle the global distribution for all Rinse and Bad Music frontline and catalog releases. Rinse will continue to handle day-to-day marketing for both imprints while benefitting from Believe’s audience development team across 50 countries, with a focus on audio and video plus editorial and marketing partnerships with digital service providers.
Warner Music UK and independent record label Brownswood Recordings formed a joint venture that will see WMUK “share its expertise in distribution, marketing, and promotion and give Brownswood Recordings access to a global network and a wealth of resources,” according to a press release. The first release under the deal will be Black Classical Music, the debut solo album from drummer/producer/artist Yussef Dayes, which is slated for release on September 8. Brownswood will continue to operate as an independent label, with its leadership team retaining creative control.
Credit Union 1 is the new name-in-title sponsor of the outdoor, 28,000-capacity venue formerly known as Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre at Tinley Park located in southwest Chicago. Now known as Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre, the Live Nation venue is described as the latest addition to Credit Union 1’s entertainment naming rights portfolio in the greater Chicago area.
Insomniac Music Group partnered with free creator-safe music platform Slip.stream to make its music catalog — which includes songs from over 120 artists — to be made available and claim-free via Slip.stream’s online subscription license. Through its integration with FUGA and its Licensease API technology, Slip.stream will protect Insomniac’s copyrights on YouTube while allowing creators to use the music and monetize their videos on all platforms. The Insomniac catalog is now available to Slip.stream’s Pro and Commercial subscribers, though creators can sign up free with access to the rest of the Slip.stream catalog.
ASM Global formed a partnership with London Stadium in the United Kingdom to create additional event content for the venue’s upcoming calendar while also developing new commercial opportunities. Originally built to host the London 2012 Olympic Games, London Stadium is home to the Premier League football club in West Ham United as well as U.K. Athletics. It’s the second-largest concert capacity stadium in London.
FIVE Hotels and Resorts has struck a joint venture with Warner Music Group for the Dubai-based luxury brand’s record label, FIVE Music. To kick off the partnership, FIVE Music — alongside Warner Music Central Europe, Dabruck Creative and FIVE Music’s exclusive music publishing partner, Warner Chappell Music — is in the midst of hosting a music writing camp from April 28 to May 14 at FIVE Palm Jumeirah in Dubai with artists including Robin Schulz, Space Motion, Franky Wah and Alle Farben and songwriters including KIDDO, Bully Songs and Gez O’Connell. Through the deal, FIVE Music has also committed to establishing a state-of-the-art music studio — dubbed FIVE Music Studio — at the FIVE Palm Jumeirah.
Dequency — described as “a web3-powered, decentralised marketplace for on-chain sync licensing” — partnered with artificial intelligence music tagging and recommendation engine Cyanite, which develops AI algorithms for music analysis, tagging, search and discovery to help clients including BMG, Nettwerk, UMPG Music Solutions and more unlock the full value of their repertoire. The new agreement with Cyanite “will make discovering new, original works on the Dequency platform for use in content easier than ever,” according to a press release.
LL Cool J‘s Rock the Bells hip-hop platform announced a $15 million Series B raise led by Raine Ventures, Irving Azoff of Iconic Artists Group and Paramount Global, with participation from Amex Ventures, Wildcat Capital Management and Capstar Ventures. Additional investment came from ASK Capital, North Island, AME Cloud Ventures and XO Capital. The funds will be used to scale the business, including by creating more long-form content projects, launching new retail projects, expanding to the European Union, growing the annual Rock the Bells Festival and launching new experiential events. Under the deal, Rock the Bells and Paramount Global have signed a multi-year first-look deal covering feature films and scripted and unscripted content as well as the opportunity to live-stream the 2023 Rock the Bells Festival. Additionally, they will partner on developing co-branded merchandise opportunities. Paramount Global will also provide marketing support for Rock The Bells content, experiences and activations.
ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund acquired the master royalty income of a catalog of songs owned by High Society Management, including several by Latin star Anuel AA such as “Sola (Remix)”, “Soldado Y Profeta (Remix)” and “Nacimos Pa Morir” featuring Jory Boy.
Snapchat struck new music licensing deals with UnitedMasters, BUMA/STEMRA, SUISA Digital Licensing AG — which includes the repertoire of SUISA (Switzerland), AKKA/LAA (Latvia), Albautor (Albania), Armauthor (Armenia), Autodia (Greece), COMP (Pakistan), EAÜ (Estonia), GCA (Georgia), LATGA (Lithuania), SOZA (Slovakia), Abramus Digital (Brazil), Soundreef (Italy) — and multiple direct-licensing publishers for its Snapchat Sounds library.
Independent Latin music label The Wave Music Group — founded in 2021 by Angelo Torres and Caleb Calloway — signed a long-term distribution agreement with Capitol Music Group (CMG). The first music to be released under the deal comes from Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter Young Miko, who dropped the first single under the agreement, “Lisa,” in March. CMG will provide The Wave Music Group with a number of services in support of its releases, supplementing the label’s in-house functions.
Reactional Music — which has developed a rules-based music engine that allows any music to be brought into a video game and interact in real time with the game’s visuals, sound and more — closed a pre-Series A funding round led by mobile music games publisher Amanotes and early-stage VC fund Butterfly Ventures. The round was also supported by several angel investors, including former Mediatonic chairman, Red Octane CEO and Take 2 Interactive CEO Kelly Sumner. The funds will be used to deliver the Reactional beta platform and SDK for developers, continue its music licensing operations and scale the Reactional team. Reactional is currently at work on several pilot projects, while the Reactional engine is now being used in a commercially-available game for the Playstation 5 and Playstation VR2; it has also struck multiple music rights agreements, including with Hipgnosis Song Management. The platform is expected to go live this year.
PRS for Music announced a partnership with music rights and metadata management software platform Orfium to expand PRS’s licensing coverage to music users in Africa. Under the deal, Orfium will license the PRS repertoire and provide the underlying technology infrastructure to serve African markets. Coverage provided by Orfium will extend to public performances, radio, cable TV and local and select multi-national online services. The deal will also expand the global reach of PRS’s Major Live Concert Service, a leading royalty collection service for large concerts, making it available for events held throughout Africa. The Orfium partnership will function alongside PRS’s existing agreement with South Africa collecting society SAMRO for its home territories.
SoundExchange announced a new data partnership with music metadata provider Music Story to improve SoundExchange’s creator metadata. The deal is designed to minimize the need for manual claiming and help ensure accuracy in monthly royalty payments. Music Story partner Muso.AI, a verified music credit platform, captures credits, correctly links music creators to their work and spots inconsistencies that impact their rights.
Live events company LiveCo struck a partnership with Park City, Utah-based boutique producing and presenting firm MagicSpace Entertainment to bring the company under the LiveCo umbrella. MagicSpace has launched tours including Simone Biles in the Gold Over America Tour, Rain – A Tribute to the Beatles, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas, A Magical Cirque Christmas and Alton Brown Live. LiveCo, which launched at the top of 2023, also boasts partnerships with Icon Concerts, Premier Productions, BASE Entertainment, Rush Concerts, Peachtree Entertainment and Transparent Productions; it also represents talent and productions including Jimmy O. Yang, Criss Angel, Cocomelon Live, Cody Johnson, Jo Koy, Dude Perfect, Zach Bryan, MercyMe, Elevation Worship and Gabriel Iglesias.
Enote, an app that provides a library of interactive sheet music to classical musicians, closed a 10 million euro ($10.97 million) pre-Series A funding round led by Dieter von Holzbrink Ventures (DvH Ventures), the EU’s European Innovation Council (EIC Fund) and the Rudolf Fuchs Family Office. The funds will go toward initiatives that introduce innovations to the app, empower educators and provide more musicians with the opportunity to access the Enote library. There remains an opportunity for angel investors, venture capital funds and family offices to participate in a second closing of the round, which the EIC fund has committed to matching euro for euro.
Web3 company OneOf acquired enterprise rewards and loyalty software company TAP Network, which has developed customized rewards and loyalty solutions for clients including Warner Music Group, Brave and Uber. The acquisition allows for the integration of TAP Network’s loyalty software IP with OneOf’s mass-consumer Web3 technology framework. The resulting Web3-powered tech stack, dubbed OnePlatform, will provide white-labeled turnkey loyalty, commerce and data solutions for enterprise clients in entertainment, media, finance, retail, travel, consumer packaged goods, telecom and more.
SoundCloud and Feature.fm formed a strategic partnership to provide exclusive resources and benefits related to Feature.fm’s marketing tools — including smartlinks and pre-saves — for SoundCloud artists. The benefits, which will become available next month, will include perks and discounts from Feature.fm and provide SoundCloud’s “Next Pro” tier of artists with a free plan and free ad credits, while providing artists in its “Next” tier with discounted pricing. As part of the deal, Feature.fm will introduce a new entry-level pricing plan that will be made available to all SoundCloud artists for the first 90 days.
Turntable LIVE acquired fellow music-centered social platform JQBX. The JQBX brand, domain and community will continue with special features at www.JQBX.fm. The acquisition follows the announcement of Turntable LIVE’s $7 million seed round.
Revelator, which provides digital IP infrastructure to music companies including royalty accounting, distribution and analysis, announced an expansion to Japan under a new partnership with Japanese music tech agency PRTL. Under the deal, Revelator will leverage PRTL head Taishi Fukuyama‘s “expertise to bring its innovative Web2 and Web3 solutions to a market that is experiencing rapid streaming growth and is wildly enthusiastic about NFTs,” according to a press release.
EVEN, a blockchain-enabled platform that allows artists to sell their music directly to fans in exchange for exclusive perks before uploading the music to streaming platforms, announced a $2.2 million funding round led by CSA Partners with participation from gener8tor, VC414, gAngels, Daniel Rotman, Adie Akuffo-Afful, Donte Murry and Ogo.