iTunes Chart-Toppers (a/o February 21st):
Here's every music-focused funding round we've been able to confirm (and report) for 2011. As you can see, some are colossally bigger than others. And the total so far? $398.5 million... and counting.
*Updated, 6/27, 7am PCT: We just got word of a $1.5 mm angel round for Hitlantis, added below.
*Update 2, 6/27 4:30 pm PCT: Added rounds from Earbits and ex.fm. New total is $398.5 million.
Comments Closed
@_willthompson Friday, June 24, 2011
Will Thompson
Interesting!
lifer Friday, June 24, 2011
No one said music business is dead. Only that the music industry as we know it is dying. Music was here long before capitalism existed and will be here long after a new system of trading musical goods and services is implemented.
Why don't we care that so little of that money goes into the accounts of people who actually make music, rather than those merchants who trade in it? The people who trade in its value are another step removed from the actual music and still make more than the artists.
lady miss kier Monday, June 27, 2011
I agree . The money put into start-ups is great. it's just a shame the individual artists withtheir own label don't receive startup money ( we're too busy to ask ) and most of these new "music industry models " like Pandora, Spotify, Last FM, etc.... are letting the major labels trump the indie pioneering artist.
example: all of the above have pages they created that play my music but they wont let me have any say in the playlist even though they use my name and then shove in a Lady gaga or Madonna song into the playlist implying that I would have chosen that song. it hurts my reputation as a songwriter, producer, and DJ.
At the same time I believe they will because of this attention to pushing mediocracy. I am excited about all the new startups and their backers because eventually someone will get IT and be a successs by not pandoring to the major labels ridiculous demands , take downs, idiotic control . - Lady Kier from Deee-lite
Visitor Monday, June 27, 2011
i forget the word FAIL .
I meant to say in the 3rd paragraph-
I believe those new music models that panderto the major labels before the actual pioneering artists will FAIL by promoting mediocracy and boring but hugely promoted music.
@hyojung Friday, June 24, 2011
Hyojung Sun
Who said music business is dead?!
@SH_Tucker Friday, June 24, 2011
Sean Harley [Tucker]
... nice list of music startup funding. $400 million so far this year and it's only June.
@SATL Friday, June 24, 2011
Southern Az Tech Lab
Music 2 R Ears
@ResolveMR Friday, June 24, 2011
Resolve MR
Who said the music industry is dying?
$400 million in start-up money says otherwise.
@avive Friday, June 24, 2011
Aviv Eyal
Interesting data
@colinmlee Friday, June 24, 2011
Colin Lee
~$400M invested in music startups this year so far.
2010 North American recorded music revenues: $12.6 billion.
@georgedearing Friday, June 24, 2011
this was a surprise
CNA Saturday, June 25, 2011
That is a huge amount, just imagine the profits if piracy is curbed. That would make a significance difference, directly or indirectly it will boost the economy.
Visitor Monday, June 27, 2011
It looks impressive, but are Spotyfi or Shazam or MOG, which capture a great chunk of the total, start-ups, really?
presnikoff Monday, June 27, 2011
Definitely stretching the definitions here, though these are not profitable, mature companies either. Funding is aggressive and early-stage, with projections of large multiples and growth ahead.
/pr
@AnnieCorriveau Monday, June 27, 2011
Why not invest in people making the music instead?
Worldslump - Dave Ball Monday, June 27, 2011
Absolutely right question Annie (and many others). All of this investment in the industry and NO investment in artists outside of the majors - who stifle them with punitive contracts, etc. I started in the business professionally in 1965, and we musicians have always been the last to get paid (if at all), and if you try to get even a moderate amount of financial backing (I tried with my Bank for 10K for instance - just to be able to complete some work that I could then sell) they give you nothing. If you are some IT consultancy with ANOTHER way of downloading tunes (how many DO we NEED!!!) you get millions.
So COME ON investors .... let's see some new artist encouragement. If the petrochemical companies ran out of oil they would collapse. It is no different for music - and much more likely!
Blah blah blah ...
Dave Ball
JRo Monday, June 27, 2011
Dave, it only makes sense to invest in an artist if you can get a return, which labels really cannot outside of superstars like Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas. Investors will put money into anything that they think they can get a multiple on.
Worldslump - Dave Ball Monday, June 27, 2011
Hello JRo. Yes I agree with your comment of course - and I am not actually as naive as my messages might suggest. Companies and Corporations are all out for profits using whatever means they can. Yes, I do not expect some philanthropic start-up to run a dole queue for penniless musicians either (that's what we have governments for!), but my real beef (apart from the greed generally) is that the raw materials that these parasitic companies feed on - i.e. the Talent, is going to remain unheard - and on that dole queue. They / we won't stop being artists of course. It is in ones nature or not, but the huge amount of potential will be waster.
The argument that we can all post to YouTube and Reverbnation, Numubu, and Facebook is ok, but that doesn't actually help feed your average artist.
Nice chatting. We could debate this for days, but let's not.
Best, Dave
WILL Monday, June 27, 2011
@Dave
In fact there are quite a few venture funds that back music artists and have done for a few years now. There's PowerAmpMusic, IceBreaker Fund, Edge Fund and a few others in the UK especially that have funded both established and non established artists. I really think it's down to the artists themselves to 'THINK BIG' and go seek funding from angel investors. They're not as difficult to find as one might imagine. Target entertainment investors especially. Artists will need to have a business plan anf wear two caps from these moments on if they want to get ahead - creative and business.
Beyond that there is a sleuth of fan-funded sites from Kickstarter, SliceThePie, Pledge, Bandstocks.
@LiorYe Monday, June 27, 2011
Impressive!
jp Monday, June 27, 2011
You missed exfm, the social music discovery platform. They just released thier iPhone app and recently closed their second round a few months ago. So that brings it to nearly $5 mill.
presnikoff Monday, June 27, 2011
@jp
Yes, there is a round we missed from April, but that was $750,000, not $5mm. Perhaps there's more money we're not aware of here, either way we'll update the spreadsheet to reflect.
/pr
jp Monday, June 27, 2011
there was a first round too but it still equals no where near $5mm even with the 2nd round. Coffee hadn't kicked in more like add $1mm. Sorry about that :)
@L4M Monday, June 27, 2011
Josh Kaplan
Have an idea for a new music based business? There is money still out there to be had.
Worldslump - Dave Ball Monday, June 27, 2011
Just look through these investment companies, the amounts of money involved and their operating profiles - for example (and I got bored after7 or so)
RootMusic - Music & Entertainment App for Facebook - 2.3M
Cloudpic - Cloud based software (virtual studios, etc) 6M
TrueAnthem - 'Social Media' company with Artist Promotion 2.9M
Rdio Music - Streaming for Internet and Phones, etc. 17.5M
TargetSpot - Internet/Radio advertising 8M
Songkick - Ticket Sales company 1.9M
Beyond Oblivion (Belief more likely!) - Online Music market place from News Corp (and THAT should worry you as the Dirty Digger get's his paws on music as well)
And the number of music/entertainment/artist/writers in the list (including all the others I couldn't stomach researching) ????
NONE
Speaks volumes doesn't it.
Grumpy Old Muso? Bet your a**se I am!
Dave Ball
@chase_farmer Monday, June 27, 2011
Emo labs? I thought this was going to be something completely different. Also they should invest some of that back into their site.
CTyankee Monday, June 27, 2011
Has anyone considered that Beyond Oblivion may be a money laundering front for Columbian drug dealers? You read it here first.
joanned Monday, June 27, 2011
damn...
@timheineke Monday, June 27, 2011
Tim Heineke
...and my other start-up IIP is on the list
Heather Gilchrist Monday, June 27, 2011
Calling the investments in Ticketfly, ScoreBig, Eventbrite, and Shazam investments in "music startups" is blatantly misleading.
Eventbrite and Ticketfly are strictly event ticketing and are content agnostic (in fact, one might argue that Eventbrite *avoided* music for much of its life; Ticketfly is more music-heavy, but is certainly not a "music startup"). ScoreBig is more of the same, but with a membership-based discount hook a la Gilt. Shazam's $32M raise was specifically for its expansion into television. Without those four heavy-hitters on the list, the total is down $108M--more than 1/4 of the total you're claiming.
I'm not implying that music startups aren't hot. They definitely are (turntable.fm is sure to join the list soon enough). But lumping in investments that are clearly *not* for music presents a distorted picture of the investing climate, encourages in startups in the space an inflated sense of value, and fuels the bubble phenomenon. And that's just not good for anyone.
@chriscollie Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Chris Collie
Amazing chart
@crsudano Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Christiana Sudano
Skype is worth more than the music industry?
@blurtofocus Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Anton Kozikowski
How the music business (as we know it) is changing...
disappointed Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Everyone seems to always forget the big picture. The music industry is an "Industry." It's not just Labels and Artists. There are countless numbers of people that rely on the record making process to survive. All these companies that spring up offering the 'next big thing' in music distro, which always seems more gimicky than anything, forget that the music can not be made without the professionals that know how to make it. Now, this of course can be argued with the fact that 'professional' recording systems can be bought cheaply and records can be recorded at home. Yes, that is true.. which may be the reason why there are so many bad sounding albums by artists that should not be recording.
Being a producer/mixer for over a decade and working on albums that have gone multi platinum, I am sickened by the fact that it seems most internet music business' don't give a sh*t about the artists, producers, engineers, mixers, studios, mastering engineers, assistants, runners, techs, gear companies, labels, publishing, and all the other people it takes to keep records being made by basically giving away the songs.
Does anyone ever really research how much it costs to make a record? Why it costs is much? How many people from start to finish are involved? How much time is spent finessing every aspect of a song, making it the best it can be? Do these companies even care?? I didn't think so. They just peddle the music for pennies and make a make a profit while cutting off the very life support that it takes to make the records.
I don't think that $10 for a record is asking too much, considering all the people involved in the process as a whole. These companies creating the 'online music business' trying make a quick buck, is only hurting the real people out there making the music.
Bubble Saturday, July 30, 2011
While the hot money rushes into the IT bubble trying to make a quick buck everyone else goes without. Then the bubble bursts.
@blurtofocus Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Anton Kozikowski
How the music business (as we know it) is changing...
@joeathon Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Joe Athon
Why's it always got to be about tech start ups?
@AntoineElIman Thursday, June 30, 2011
Antoine El Iman
et il en manque...
Tara Wednesday, July 20, 2011
I think the MOG entry is incorrect. I believe it should be "Slacker"
http://www.webpronews.com/slacker-raises-3-million-preps-on-demand-launch-2011-02
Tara Tiger Brown Wednesday, July 20, 2011
http://tarathetiger.com/2011/07/20/music-tech-co-investments-2011/
I took the list and injected some crunchbase into it to give a better idea.
I’m pretty tired after doing this, but here are a few quick observations (I’ll leave it up to you to add some more!). I’ll try to keep adding as 2011 rolls along.
paulr Sunday, July 31, 2011
@Tara
I'm looking at updating this to include July figures, and wanted to respond to some of your points.
First, on the 'startup' definition, I'd agree it's being used in a broad fashion though there's plenty of disagreement on what this means. Some companies love to be called startups, others absolutely hate it, we used it to loosely refer to companies that are still courting and using funds to expand (relatively) early and unproven models.
Also, regarding your music-specific point, the test was whether the company could be having - or is having - a serious impact on the music industry. I'd argue that Eventbrite is emerging as a potentially serious competitor to Ticketmaster, for example, which definitely impacts bands, music fans, etc.
/paul
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