Songtradr, the music licensing platform founded by Australian songwriter and entrepreneur Paul Wiltshire, is reportedly worth $879 million after booking a $109 million capital raise.
The new capital injection is one of the largest funneled into an Australian-founded company in 2023.
Songtradr bills itself as an all-in-one music licensing platform for corporates, small businesses, and content creators, providing tunes for use in everything from advertisements to TikToks and Twitch streams.
Subscribers can select specific tracks from the Songtradr marketplace and can browse from playlists corresponding to different moods, like selections inspired by recent film and TV hits like Oppenheimer and The Bear.
Songwriters and producers, who populate the platform’s catalogue, earn fees whenever a Songtradr client licenses their music.
Wiltshire himself has described the platform as a B2B version of Spotify.
That billing, and the growth of the music licensing market, appear to have wooed investors after a lull in capital-raising activity.
The Australian Financial Review reports the Los Angeles-based company’s Series E round took 18 months to close, capping off a tough period for founders seeking extra capital.
Joining the round was Epic Games — the same company that sold the D2C music sales platform Bandcamp to Songtradr last month, in a process that saw Bandcamp lose half its workforce.
The gaming giant reportedly joined previous investors including WiseTech’s Richard White, Perennial, and Argo in the series E raise.
Previously, Australian-based investors including the St Baker family office, Regal Funds Management, and Aware Super have invested in the company.
Beyond Bandcamp, Songtradr has undertaken a long string of acquisitions as it shores up its position in the lucrative music licensing sphere.
Other recent acquisitions include:
SmartCompany has contacted Songtradr for comment.
Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
