On Songistry’s website, the company describes itself as “a frictionless discovery and licensing engine that democratizes access to tv/ film, advertising and gaming licensing opportunities for music creators.” It adds that its “workflows allow licensee’s to identify music with precision and accuracy using proprietary AI.”
Source: AI-based music licensing startup Songistry raises $5m
In a clear reference to Netflix’s disappointing Q1 performance – and forecast that it will lose 2 million more net subscribers in Q2 – Ek said: “I personally look at what’s happened in the video streaming business and I wonder to myself if that industry didn’t get ahead of itself. Because frankly, yes, it did increase prices, but it’s also now finding itself in a position where it’s harder and harder to find future growth.”
Source: Music’s biggest companies are waiting for a Spotify price rise. For now, Spotify isn’t budging.
Since launching in November 2020, beatBread claims to have made advances to almost 400 artists and labels “across multiple genres, six continents, and a broad range of career stages”. The company says it is working with artists across more than 30 different distributors including Ingrooves, The Orchard, DistroKid, United Masters, Symphonic, Horus Music and Too Lost.
In 2021, Spotify’s podcast business generated nearly €200 million in revenue, according to CFO Paul Vogel — up 300% year over year. About 30% of Spotify’s user base, or more than 125 million monthly users, listened to podcasts in the first quarter of 2022, representing 7% of total listening hours on the platform in the period.
anotherblock, a web3 platform that lets fans invest in music by buying NFTs, has raised $2.5m in a new round of funding. The round was led by Inventure, a Nordic Venture Capital firm, and was joined by Centrifuge.io founder Maex Ament, Dune.xyz’s Fredrik Haga and Blockchain research and investment company StableNode. anotherblock joins other startups operating in the fractional music investment space like, Royal.
Source: Web3 music investment startup anotherblock raises $2.5m
US-based music tech startup IndieFlow, described as an “Operating System for independent music creators”, has raised $4 million in new funding. The round was led by State of Mind Ventures, with participation from Oryzn Capital, Or Perry (Co-Founder of StreamElements), 5 Eyes Venture, TechStars, and Moshe Gaon.
B2B music company Songtradr has acquired Musicube, an AI metadata and music search company that helps match music to content and a brand’s target audience. Using neural networks and proprietary AI, Musicube’s software is delivered via web widgets and an API that offers metadata at scale for labels, publishers, music supervisors and more.
Source: Songtradr Acquires AI Metadata & Music Search Company Musicube
There are more than 19,000 cryptocurrencies in existence and dozens of blockchain platforms that exist. The recent collapse of so-called algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD and its associated digital token luna, which sent shockwaves through the market, has thrust a spotlight on the thousands of cryptocurrencies in existence and whether they will all survive.
Source: Crypto firms say thousands of digital currencies will collapse, compare market to early dotcom days
S&P notes that UMG “enjoys stable and predictable revenue, earnings, and cash flow thanks to a high proportion of subscription revenue through streaming,” and that the company’s “unique music library will continue to generate largely predictable and solid revenue, earnings, and cash flow”.
Source: Universal Music Group assigned Baa1 and BBB long-term credit ratings by Moody’s and S&P
Vibenomics, a retail-focused advertising company that boasts a “licensed background music library,” has raised $12.3 million in a Series B. Vibenomics bills itself as a “complete audio experience solution” for retailers, “grocery stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores” among them. Clients can customize the audio that plays in their brick-and-mortar establishments, Vibenomic’s website elaborates, including both adverts and music.
Source: Retail Audio-Advertising Company Vibenomics Raises $12.3 Million