Soundtrack Your Brand raises $22 million growth round led by Industrifonden
We’re excited to announce that we are leading a $22 million growth round in Soundtrack Your Brand, the world’s fastest growing background music company. New investor Balderton Capital also participated in the round, together with existing investors including Creandum, Northzone and Telia Company. The round enables the company to continue its mission to kill bad background music on a global scale.
Read “Welcome, Soundtrack Your Brand” by our investor Björn Bergström. ↗
While the consumer music industry has been busy saving itself from piracy, the billion-dollar market for background music has been overlooked and left behind. The result is a primitive, outdated and fragmented industry with a huge untapped potential, where many businesses still play music using CDs or illegally using consumer streaming services.
Soundtrack Your Brand is today the world’s fastest growing company in the background music market. It provides the industry’s first modern music streaming platform licensed to use in public and commercial environments and a scientifically proven music curation model for brands. The service combines data analysis with hands-on expertise to deliver content that fits individual brands, boosts sales and makes staff happier.
– Soundtrack Your Brand has a massive opportunity to fully digitalise the background music industry. Leading that shift creates endless possibilities in terms of both insight and reach, says Bjorn Bergstrom, Investment Manager, Industrifonden.
Over the past 12 months, Soundtrack Your Brand expanded from the Nordics into more than 100 countries worldwide. It has seen both revenue and user base grow by more than 400 per cent, with continued trajectory into 2017. Key customers include McDonald’s, Nike, TAG Heuer and Toni & Guy, in addition to thousands of small and medium-sized businesses. The company was founded by Andreas Liffgarden and Ola Sars, former executives with Spotify and Beats, and with backing from Spotify.
– Background music today is sold as a utility, and there’s rarely much thought going into what music brands are playing and why, says Ola Sars, CEO and co-founder, Soundtrack Your Brand. He adds:
– Today’s background music sucks for brands and consumers alike, and it’s hurting the music industry at large. As lovers of music and technology, we’re completely overhauling this industry, to once and for all kill bad background music.
With Industrifonden leading the growth round, other participants in the round are: new investor Balderton Capital together with existing investors including Creandum, Northzone, Telia Company, H&M’s family vehicle HMP and industry veteran Jorg Mohaupt and Spotify’s Chief Content Officer Stefan Blom.