Royalty-free images giant Shutterstock has fully acquired PremiumBeat, a ‘leading provider of exclusive, high-quality music and sound effects for use in videos, films, television, apps, games, and other creative projects’.
The purchase price consists of initial consideration of approximately (US) $32 million in cash. An additional fee will be payable if Shutterstock hits certain operating and financial goals through 2018.
Earlier this year, Shutterstock launched its ShutterStock Music division,and recently passed the milestone of licensing more than one million video clips.
PremiumBeat is said to work with leading composers to offer a high-quality library of exclusive music to businesses including advertising and media agencies, as well as Fortune 500 companies.
“We are excited to add such a complementary business in PremiumBeat, with a fast-growing customer base and an extraordinary collection,” said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. “We understand the intersection between music and video and believe that music licensing will benefit from the same, strong market demand we are capitalizing on with video.”
“We share the same vision as Shutterstock to support video editors, marketers and content creators around the world as they tell engaging stories,” said Francois Arbour, CEO of PremiumBeat. “We are excited to leverage Shutterstock’s global reach and leadership in video licensing.
“Advancing forward together provides tremendous benefit to our customers, our musicians and our team. It really is the perfect fit.”
With offices in Montreal and Dallas, PremiumBeat will continue under the leadership of Francois Arbour, who will expand his responsibilities to lead music globally for Shutterstock and focus on further growth.
Meanwhile, Shutterstock has also snapped up global picture agency Rex Features for (US) $33m.Music Business Worldwide
