Indie artist services and distribution platform UnitedMasters has partnered with mixing and mastering startup RoEx to provide AI-powered mastering services to UnitedMasters’ artists.
The partnership seeks to provide indie artists with “professional-grade” mastering services that have historically only been accessible through expensive studio sessions.
RoEx, a London-based company spun out from Queen Mary University of London, offers two consumer products: Automix, which enables musicians of all skill levels to create audio mixes and masters, and Mix Check Studio, a tool that analyzes tracks to provide actionable feedback and highlight common mixing and mastering issues.
The two companies will integrate RoEx’s AI audio engine, Tonn, within the UnitedMasters web platform and iOS app to let artists master their tracks directly and produce studio-quality sound. A press release on Tuesday (September 17) said this integration “finetunes sonic elements such as dynamics, EQ and compression to ensure that distributed tracks sound balanced and cohesive.”
Mastering services are available at a price of $4.99 per track.
UnitedMasters’ data indicates an advantage for mastered tracks, with over 500,000 recordings showing a 34% jump in streams during the first three months of release versus non-mastered ones.
Building on this partnership, RoEx and UnitedMasters plan to provide comprehensive audio quality services for UnitedMasters’ artists and produce educational content for UnitedMasters’ artist development tool, Blueprint.
“By partnering with RoEx to bring professional-grade mastering to our platform, we’re putting high-quality tools directly into artists’ hands.”
Linnea Sundberg, UnitedMasters
Additionally, the two parties are looking to launch an in-app challenge called “The Exclusive,” which aims to discover and reward exceptional music from UnitedMasters’ artists. Up to 50 artists will be chosen to receive free mastering credits valued at $150 each for their upcoming releases. Submissions for The Exclusive will be open until November 1.
“In today’s music landscape, technology can be a great equalizer for independent artists. By partnering with RoEx to bring professional-grade mastering to our platform, we’re putting high-quality tools directly into artists’ hands,” said Linnea Sundberg, VP, Corporate Development at UnitedMasters.
“At UnitedMasters, we believe that by democratizing access to professional technology and know-how, we can help independent artists compete at the industry’s highest levels. This partnership is another step in our ongoing mission to use technology solutions to catalyze artist growth.”
Separately on Tuesday, RoEx announced that it has appointed Tom Nield as the new Head of Partnerships to further expand its partner network. Nield brings over 15 years of experience at the intersection of music and technology, having held positions at [PIAS] Entertainment Group, soundhalo, LANDR, and Landmrk, a location-based experiences platform he co-founded
In his new role, Nield will focus on building strategic partnerships with music distributors, creator platforms, and independent musicians. Nield will be based in London, reporting to RoEx CEO David Ronan.
RoEx’s partnership with UnitedMasters adds to the former’s growing network of B2B collaborations. Recently, the company partnered with Music.AI to offer its multi-track audio mixing services to a network of 16,000 labels, agencies, and tech developers. Additionally, RoEx was awarded a £250,000 grant by Innovate UK to support the development of AI projects that support the UK’s music industry.
“Our mission has always been to make top-tier production quality accessible and efficient for all creatives. Collaborating with UnitedMasters expands this mission, allowing more artists to produce polished, professional tracks. We are also delighted to now have Tom Nield on board, bringing his extensive music industry experience to help drive RoEx’s goal of democratizing audio production for everyone,” David Ronan, CEO at RoEx, said.
“Our mission has always been to make top-tier production quality accessible and efficient for all creatives. Collaborating with UnitedMasters expands this mission, allowing more artists to produce polished, professional tracks.”
David Ronan, RoEx
Nield added: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to be joining RoEx as Head of Partnerships, as our suite of products continues to bring professional level audio to more musicians, producers and creators. Our partnership with UnitedMasters perfectly highlights our intentions to take our intelligent audio tools to the global community of music creators through tailored partnerships and integrations of our intelligent audio engine, Tonn.”
The RoEx integration marks UnitedMasters’ latest offering for artists following a new subscription tier called DEBUT+ that costs $19.99 per year. The tier, launched last month, allows artists to keep 100% of their royalties.
The platform has secured funding through several rounds, starting in 2017 with a $70 million investment round led by from Alphabet, Google‘s parent company, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, and 20th Century Fox. By 2021, another funding round had increased the company’s valuation to $550 million.
Since then, UnitedMasters has expanded its services to artists, including launching a mobile app in 2019, partnering with TikTok for in-app music distribution, introducing a beat marketplace, and collaborating with beatBread to provide artists with advances of up to $1 million.
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