I was delighted to hear that in August, one of my investments, Soundtrack Your Brand (Soundtrack), signed a global licensing deal with Universal Music Group (UMG) to use its catalogue of music on the platform. Soundtrack Your Brand is a cloud-based music service, founded in 2013 by Olar Sars, which positions itself as one of the world’s fastest-growing B2B music streaming services. This deal, which excludes China, now means that Soundtrack has direct licensing deals with all three major labels, meaning it no longer has to do business with the performance rights organisation SoundExchange.
 |
| Soundtrack Founder Olar Sars |
Interestingly,
a 2019 study on background music commissioned by Soundtrack Your Brand and
carried out by Nielsen found that music rights-holders around the world could
be losing out on at least $2.65 billon each year because small businesses, like
restaurants and shops, play background music through personal streaming
accounts. The study estimated that around 88% of businesses play music 4-5
times per week and 86% of businesses are prepared to pay for an improved
service. This underscores the pertinence of understanding and utilising music
effectively in a business environment and the potential for growth in the
sector.
Soundtrack seeks to help businesses by providing data insights and detailed analyses on how playing music can impact their business and, ultimately, their profitability. This includes everything from the impact of music on customer satisfaction to how it affects moving sales. Founder Sars describes this newly formed relationship as the “reimagining of the licensing and business-to-business model”. He hopes that Soundtrack can deliver value for everyone, from artists and rights owners through to major brands. He also sees this deal as an opportunity for 20 million businesses to move away from using illegal consumer services to adopt a legal mode of operating, while also helping to compensate fairly those involved in all stages of the industry.
The partnership between Soundtrack and UMG comes as part of the latter’s attempt to ensure creators are valued and fairly compensated. Paul Stuart, Head of Licensing and Business Affairs at Soundtrack said “he couldn’t be happier for our customers who can now access UMG’s incredible artists and their music through their unrivalled catalogue and new frontline releases”.
