Songtradr’s Spending Spree
In addition to the more in-depth analysis, I’ll now be sending a regular update of interesting activity at the intersection of music and brands, as well as regular interviews revealing insights from the people choosing the music. Onto volume 1…
Songtradr with $50m to spend - who’s their target?
Next in line after Epidemic’s monster valuation is Songtradr. Whilst Epidemic’s investment will undoubtedly drive some M&A, they differ from SongTradr in that their core, non PRO catalogue is central to the valuation. Songtradr on the other hand seems to be following the service layer approach recently demonstrated by Downtown. Songtradr’s previous funding rounds have seen them splurge on Cue Songs, Tunefind, Big Sync, Pretzel and most recently Massive Music. Continuing this theme along the services route seems plausible but will it be a new vertical or a new geography?
Facebook pays indie artists too
I’m not so sure most people are discovering artists on Facebook like their press release would have you believe but since I don’t have an account, what do I know? This new deal extends royalty payments to anyone distributing their music via Distrokid and Tunecore. The first interesting idea that comes to mind is could this enable more sync opportunities for these artists but getting all distributed artists to align under one payment structure or model seems like a headache that no one wants to revisit.
BTS & McDonalds:
Is there anything BTS can’t make a success of? If the previous collaborations with Travis Scott and J Balvin are anything to go by this is gonna sell a few burgers for McDonalds. There’s no info on the size of the brand partnership fee but it seems to work pretty well for both parties and McDonalds could pay an extortionate amount and still see some upside on this one.
Paco Rabanne supports three emerging artists with 5k each
With an estimated turnover of $26m, throwing 3 emerging artists $5k each a year seems a little tight. This feels shortsighted and almost a complete waste of money. Supporting artists over a longer period with their platform and reach as well as a cash bonus could have made for a much more impactful and engaging campaign. It would have also seen better returns for the brand and a greater chance of success for an artist.
More next week!