Music executive Steve Stoute just made another power play and secured a $50 million Series B investment from Apple for his independent artist distribution platform, UnitedMasters.
UnitedMasters says that the investment will fuel its “mission to enable artists to maintain full ownership over their work while expanding their economic opportunity and introducing them to millions of new fans.”
The round is led by Apple with additional funding from two existing backers — Google parent Alphabet and Andreessen Horowitz. Google/Alphabet led the company’s $70m funding round when it launched in 2017.
“The power in the music industry has shifted back into the hands of the artist. We are taking that power and using it to place the industry’s intellectual property back into the hands of its rightful owners,” Stoute said in a statement to Billboard.
“We built UnitedMasters as a record company in your pocket to remove the barrier entries for any independent artist who wants to create and retain full equity in their work, connect directly with their fans, and earn far more money than the legacy model through new revenue streams such as advertising. Technology, no doubt, has transformed music for consumers. Now it’s time for technology to change the economics for the artists,” Stoute continued.
UnitedMasters allows independent artists to publish their projects directly on all of the major streaming services. The distribution platform also gives artists access to data regarding fans’ interaction with their content and also allows them to “maintain full ownership over their master recording rights” — conditions that are not typically afforded to artists in the music industry.
“Steve Stoute and UnitedMasters provide creators with more opportunities to advance their careers and bring their music to the world. The contributions of independent artists play a significant role in driving the continued growth and success of the music industry, and UnitedMasters, like Apple, is committed to empowering creators,” further commented Apple’s Eddy Cue in the statement.
This is Apple’s second jump into the independent artist arena after acquiring prominent artist services, A&R and distribution company Platoon in 2018.
