[UPDATED] Next-generation record label and music distributor Amuse has raised a $15.5 million Series A round co-led by Lakestar and Raine.The company was founded in Stockholm by execs from Spotify, Universal Music and Warner Music.
Using Amuse, artists can distribute their music for free to major services including Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, etc. and keep 100% of the royalties. Amuse then leverages data to identify promising talent and signs artists through licensing deals rather than traditional contracts, which means the artists still own their work
Artists that distribute via Amuse are under no obligation to sign with them if offered a record deal. The company has already seen one of their signed musicians, Adel, achieve a platinum single in less than a year.
“The way music is produced and consumed has dramatically changed, but traditional labels have not. Amuse is redefining the label deal and democratizing the discovery process, providing a sustainable solution to this problem,” said Diego Farias, co-founder and CEO, Amuse.
Amuse was founded in Stockholm in 2015 by music industry veterans Diego Farias, Christian Wilsson, Jimmy Brodd, Andreas Ahlenius and Guy Parry. The company’s board of directors also includes Edgar Berger, former Chairman and CEO of Sony Music International, and Jörg Mohaupt, former Warner Music Group board member. Gordon Rubenstein, Managing Partner, Raine Ventures, will join as a board observer.
“We are very excited by Amuse’s vision to reinvent the traditional record label with technology and data, analogous to how our portfolio company Spotify reinvented music distribution,” said Dharmash Mistry, General Partner, Lakestar. “Diego and his team have reimagined every step of the A&R process from inverting the commercial model to be artist-friendly and discovering new musicians to changing how individual songs are marketed. After their early success in Sweden, this investment will help roll out the model across Europe and the U.S.”