Crowdmix CEO Alleges "Gangster" Investor Used "Blackmail" To Gain Control Of Company

Crowdmix was one of music tech’s most spectacular failures ever. After raising more than $18 million, the startup quickly went down in flames without ever launching a public product. _____________________________ The CEO of failed music tech startup Crowdmix broke six months of silence this week, telling a UK court that…

Dart Music Files For Bankruptcy

[UPDATED] Dart Music promised to fix music’s metadata problem; first with classical music and then all genres. But after raising $1.5 million, the promising startup has filed for bankruptcy. ____________________________________ Dart Music has filed for bankruptcy in its home state of Tennessee. In a press release, the company said it…

A Look At The 11 Startups Named To TechStar Music’s Inaugural Class [Bas Grasmayer]

Here we review eleven tech startups chosen by known startup accelerator Techstars, and what they’re doing to reshape the future of music tech, and the music industry as a whole for years to come. ______________________________ Guest Post by Bas Grasmayer on Music Tech Future Techstars Music just announced their first…

Stagelink Expands To US Backed By Seven Figure Investment

[UPDATED] German based event crowdsourcing platform Stagelink has expanded to the U.S. after concluding a seven-digit seed financing. Using Stagelink, musicians and other creators uncover fan demand for potential live appearances to produce successful, risk-free events and tours. Stagelink will open its first U.S. office in Santa Monica, California. “Coming…

Techstars Music Names 11 To Inaugural Startup Class

While startup incubators and accelerators have proven to be successful tech company launchpads , their involvement music has been limited. Only Nashville’s Project Music and the UK’s Abbey Road have been sustained efforts. This week, the most high music incubator to date, TechStars Music, announced its inaugural class. _________________________________ Techstars…

Jay Z To Launch Venture Capital Fund

Jay Z has long been a player. In this case, we don’t mean cheating on Beyonce. We are referring to his early stage investments in everything from Uber to JetSmarter. Now, he’s working to formalize his activities as a VC by launching his own new fund. ______________________________ Jay Z is…

Bandcamp Grew Fan Signups 4X By Making A Very Simple Change

By any yardstick, Bandcamp is on a roll. Not only is it growing rapidly, as measured by both new artist and label signups and transactions, but the indie music site also experienced an exponential jump in fan growth after it made a single, simple change. ____________________________ The number of fans…

Everything I Know About Digital Entrepreneurship, I Learned from YouTube

Here Peter Hollens outlines how YouTube can work as the perfect combination business school and incubator for the eager digital entrepreneur, as it allows artists to learn how to foster a community of fans while simultaneously allowing them the develop vital business skills. _____________________________ Guest post by YouTube artist and…