Currently, UnitedMasters has deals with the NBA, ESPN, TikTok, Twitch and others that allow artists to tap big brand deals that would normally be brokered by a label and manager. UnitedMasters and its competitors should continue innovating to disrupt the music landscape, because deals like this with Apple ultimately push the industry forward.
A company like UnitedMasters leveraging analytics to holistically monetize fans could go a long way in uncovering new opportunities for revenue growth. Andreessen Horowitz and Alphabet also re-upped their investment in the company, as UnitedMasters is set to enter into a strategic partnership with Apple.
UnitedMasters initially raised $70 million from Andreessen Horowitz and Alphabet in 2017, with personal involvement from Larry Page and Ben Horowitz joining the board. CultureBanx noted the platform with its 1 million current artists is set up to create a more equitable future for artists by distributing music across the range of digital platforms out there, think Spotify, Tidal (now Square), and Soundcloud. Then
it collects data on the artist’s listeners, that they can use for advertising things like concerts and merchandise sales. Basically UnitedMasters can check streams, fan and earnings data at a glance.
“Currently, independent artists have less opportunity for success and we’re trying to remove that stigma,” Stoute said to Tech Crunch. Revenue from indie labels and artists grew 27% in 2020, increasing their combined streaming market share to 31.5%, according to industry data provide Midia Research.
UnitedMasters wants to provide that technical edge at scale, allowing artists to build out their fanbase at a community level. Artists give UnitedMasters 10% of their revenue in exchange for distribution support, and unlike a record label, UnitedMasters doesn’t own the artist’s masters, they get to keep them.
Trapital reported that if a weekly playlist like Spotify’s RapCaviar spun off from the streaming service and formed its own entity, it could monetize by charging artists for placement the same way other playlists do. The key difference between UnitedMasters and the hypothetical ‘RapCaviar LLC’ is that Stoute’s company is a third party between the artist and the outlets offering exposure, while RapCaviar would be a direct channel for the artist.
SOURCE: Kori Hale