Artist marketing platform un:hurd is rolling out a suite of new tools for artists and labels, after announcing a new six-figure strategic funding round that includes investments from Nigerian artist/record exec Mr Eazi and Dutch DJ/producer Sam Feldt.
Also investing in the latest round is Willard Ahdritz, Founder and Chairman of Kobalt. Ahdritz, who led a seven-figure funding round for un:hurd last year, is investing in the UK-born company through his investment advisory firm, Ahdritz & Co.
Hazel Savage, co-founder of Musiio (which was sold to SoundCloud in 2022) is another returning investor in un:hurd’s latest round.
The company says it will be putting the new funds towards the rollout of a suite of new tools for artists and labels, among them an AI-driven marketing assistant capable of helping artists improve their marketing campaigns through suggestions for content, comprehensive marketing plans and release schedules.
Other new features include a “fan hub” that enables artists to create personalized websites through which they can collect proprietary data about their fans, and a benchmarking tool that allows artists to compare their marketing performance to that of their peers.
un:hurd is also launching a web platform to complement its existing iOS app, in the hopes of further expanding the business internationally “while appealing to managers and record labels.”
Most of the new features are live now, with the rest coming online in the weeks ahead, the company said in a statement issued on Tuesday (February 27).
un:hurd’s app promises to help artists “cut through the noise” of the increasingly large number of music releases hitting streaming services every day, by offering an algorithm-driven marketing solution that highlights key digital opportunities for artists looking to build their fanbases.
“We can now be your virtual marketing team, facilitating and enhancing the most important marketing activities for artists.”
Alex Brees, un:hurd
Founded in 2021, the company says it has built a customer base of more than 70,000 artists since launching its mobile app in 2022, helping them to generate some 81 million Spotify streams in 2023 alone. The company says it has “worked with some of the biggest artists and influential record labels in the world.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time speaking to our 70,000-strong community of artists from 129 countries, and this suite of new features has been created to provide even more power to artists,” un:hurd founder Alex Brees said.
“From using AI to create a marketing strategy or content ideas, to running automated ads on TikTok or collecting fan data via your fan hub, we can now be your virtual marketing team, facilitating and enhancing the most important marketing activities for artists.”
Ahdritz added that he’s “very much enjoyed the last 12 months working alongside Alex and the team at un:hurd. I wanted to step up on my commitment to un:hurd to support the new developments that have the potential to change the game for independent artists in the marketplace.”
Un:hurd’s new products come at a time when a growing number of businesses are aiming to capitalize on the demand for marketing services for indie and DIY artists.
AI-powered marketing platform SymphonyOS, founded by Chuka Chase and Megh Vakharia, recently partnered with indie artist software and services platform UnitedMasters, to provide UnitedMasters’ artists with automated music marketing tools.
The company has also partnered with Downtown Music-owned digital music distributor CD Baby to offer marketing tools to its 2 million artists.
“I wanted to step up on my commitment to un:hurd to support the new developments that have the potential to change the game for independent artists in the marketplace.”
Willard Ahdritz
Believe-owned DIY distribution service TuneCore recently said that 80,000 artists have enrolled in its ‘TuneCore Accelerator’ marketing programs.
Meanwhile, streaming service SoundCloud has teamed up with marketing platform Feature.fm to provide indie artists with marketing tools and services.
Distribution and services company oneRPM reported in 2022 that its ‘Amplifier’ marketing platform had increased DIY artist streams by 129%, compared to artists who didn’t take advantage of the service.Music Business Worldwide
