A music tech start-up focused on royalty distribution has received £600k funding for its music monitoring service.
Audoo’s plug-in device monitors and recognises the music played in commercial spaces, ensuring that the artists responsible are paid for use of the track.
The advent of streaming music has made it easier for commercial spaces to play music into their spaces but are required to pay royalties when they do so.
The company, founded by former Visa Europe and Vodafone executive Ryan Edwards, launched after Edwards – an ex-musician –claimed to hear his own single played in a well-known department store chain.
Edwards never received any broadcast royalties for the music, and said it highlighted a gap in the market.
Edwards and his company say a ‘royalty revolution is coming’ and will invest Audoo’s profits back into the music industry.
The start-up’s backers include co-Founder of Bink Greg Gormley, co-founder and CEO of Testcard Luke Heron, Director of Ventures and Chief Innovation Officer of Co-op Tim Davies, Ed Matthews and Marcus Watson.
Edwards said: “As an ex-musician, I know first-hand how challenging the distribution of royalties can be with its manual processes and lack of accurate data.
“Tracking performance royalties has always been a challenge in the music industry. We aim to change this by providing a tool for PROs to manoeuvre efficiently in the digital age and ensure artists are paid fairly.”
Investor Greg Gormley added: “I’m delighted to have invested in such an innovative business that will change the face of the music industry and fairly reward artists.
“As a technology entrepreneur, it was evident very early on that Audoo’s technology has the potential to revolutionise a much-loved industry, making it fairer and more transparent for everyone.”