Archive for: funding

MOG Gains New Investors

Not to be outdone by streaming competitors Spotify, who are rumoured to have gained a new funding partner (and consultant) in the form of Napster/Facebook founder Sean Parker, MOG have announced second round funding of $10,000,000 dollars, which they plan to use to take the platform into Europe, as well as funding Stateside expansion. As things stand, the two competitors are entrenching in their home territories, but the date of their confrontation on one side of the Atlantic must be drawing closer, even though no dates have been mentioned by either team. MOG’s monthly subscription is less than half the price of Spotify’s, but Spotify has major label backing, plus a vocal and passionate fanbase. Pandora are keeping their heads down, and quietly getting on with dominating the internet-radio and car dashboard scene, but the clash between these two will likely define the major player in on-demand streaming. The future of this type of music consumption is far from gilt-edged, however, as Spotify are still struggling to up their paid (£9.99 a month) subscription rates to supplement their ad-funded service, while MOG are operating at about a 17% conversion rate from their free trial to a $5 a month subscription. Whether either of these approaches will be successful enough to fund them in the long term remains to be seen, but given the high level of uptake, there is certainly a market for on-demand. Who gets to service it is currently being decided.

Slicethepie Lands $1.4M In New Funding

Despite an economic meltdown that has added to venture capitalists’ already wary view of the music industry, fan-to-artist funding enabler Slicethepie has attracted another $1.4 million. The money will be used to broaden marketing efforts, as well as, support some of the 20 artists already funded by the site.

Band Metrics: Soon To Launch Analytics Tool for Bands Get Angel Funding

There has been a lot of talk recently about music startups. iLike is on the table and looking for a buyers, as is Imeem. A couple months ago Tunecore received more funding and now it is rumoured that Band Metrics has received angel funding.

Funding was led by Allen Graber, who is a technology investor and entrepreneur. Band Metrics was a Techcrunch 50 2008 semi-finalise, and this is a great step forward for their company. Band Metrics provides a first-of-its-kind semantic web application for the music industry that collects, analyzes and displays artist’s dynamic popularity. The company’s music intelligence and analytics are achieved through patent pending technology which assists artists in understanding large amounts of data relative to their music, fans and shows, while also helping them manage their digital identity.