United Masters, an independent music distribution platform and tool factory UnitedMasters has raised an US$50 million series B round led by Apple, reports TechCrunch.
A16z and Alphabet are participating again in this raise. United Masters is also entering a strategic partnership with Apple alongside this investment.
Launched in 2017 by CEO Steve Stoute, UnitedMasters provides music distribution services plus analytics and royalties tools. It has facilitated partnerships between indie artists and brands such as the NBA, ESPN, TikTok, Twitch, and more. It currently has one million “artist partners” on its platform
Stoute told TechCrunch that he credits Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, with having a philosophy aligned with the UnitedMasters vision with getting this deal done.
“We want all artists to have the same opportunity,” he said “Currently, independent artists have less opportunity for success and we’re trying to remove that stigma.”
This infusion, Stoute told TechCrunch will be used to hire talent that are mission oriented to take UnitedMasters global. They’re seeking local technical talent and artists talent to build out the platform worldwide.
