AI-driven music funding platform beatBread has expanded the services it offers to its artist clients to include publishing administration, via new partnerships with Kobalt and AMRA.
Four-year-old beatBread offers advances to artists using an algorithm that forecasts earnings potential by analyzing an artist’s streaming and social data to generate an offer. The automated system means an advance can land in artist’s bank account within days of applying.
beatBread offers advances on existing catalog as well as new and unreleased music. Advances range from $1,000 to more than $4.5 million, and artists repay their advance as a percentage of their revenue, over a period of time that the artists themselves can set.
Under the new partnership, beatBread is offering artists publishing administration services in the US through Kobalt, and in 200 territories outside the US via Kobalt-owned AMRA (formerly the American Mechanical Rights Agency).
beatBread says Kobalt and AMRA’s services will result in “increased royalties, faster payments and increased data transparency” for its artists, and will be particularly helpful for artists “who are currently unpublished and under-collecting their performance and mechanical revenues”.
“beatBread’s funding platform is open, and we are committed to providing access, choice and empowerment for all creators, regardless of their chosen publisher or PRO,” beatBread CEO Peter Sinclair said in a statement.
“We have found that providing open funding and open architecture isn’t enough. Many artists on our platform have significant uncollected or undercollected publishing revenue.”
Peter Sinclair, beatBread
Added Sinclair: “But we have found that providing open funding and open architecture isn’t enough. Many artists on our platform have significant uncollected or undercollected publishing revenue. This partnership provides artists who control their publishing rights and qualify for funding on the beatBread platform with a turnkey access to Kobalt and AMRA’s best in class collections.”
Founded in 2020, beatBread raised $34 million in a seed round in 2022, then closed a $100 million institutional fund later that same year.
In 2023, beatBread expanded its financing activities through a fractional investing platform called sliceNote, which allows qualifying investors to buy a stake in an artist’s future revenue stream for as little as $1,000, ranging up to several million.
In late 2023, beatBread said it had provided more than 1,000 advances to artists and indie labels on six continents, and tracks by beatBread-funded artists had been streamed more than 10 billion times over the course of the year.
“beatBread has redefined financing options for labels, artists and songwriters in the modern music industry.”
Laurent Hubert, Kobalt
“beatBread has redefined financing options for labels, artists and songwriters in the modern music industry,” Kobalt CEO Laurent Hubert said.
“Empowering songwriters to collect the revenue they have earned in an efficient and transparent manner has always been our mission at Kobalt and we are excited to work with beatBread to extend this service to the thousands of artists who rely on their platform who do not already have a music publishing administrator.”
AMRA CEO Tomas Ericcson added: “We are excited to embark on this journey with a company that is truly innovative and dedicated to the support of songwriters big and small. In this fast-paced era where music transcends boundaries and streaming reshapes our listening habits, our mission is to ensure songwriters and artists are compensated to the fullest extent.”Music Business Worldwide
