Live music start-up Muso raises US$1m in funding
Australian live music marketplace Muso has secured AUD$1.5 million (US$1m) in seed funding in a round led by early-stage investment group Investible, venture capital firm Alberts Impact Capital and Unified Music Group.
Muso, founded in 2018 by Jeremiah Siemianow, Brandon Crimmins and Alan Jin, is a two-sided marketplace connecting emerging artists to gig opportunities and venues to new acts.
Since its inauguration, 150 venues and 850 artists have registered on the Muso platform, which has facilitated 1,800 new shows, with a further 900 booked and 750 already played.
The start-up has received backing from music industry players, in the form of management, promotion and record company Unified Music Group and Albert Impact Capital, founded last year by members of the family behind the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA), the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) and Albert Productions record label.
“We found that if we made live music easier to organise, more venues would begin hosting it, in turn creating more opportunities for musicians”
“We started Muso after realising there was a real disconnect between musicians and venues on a local level,” says Muso co-founder Siemianow. “Many venues struggle to find musicians and DJs, while musicians end up wasting time and energy securing gigs and chasing payments.”
“We found that if we made live music easier to organise, more venues would begin hosting it, in turn creating more opportunities for musicians.”
David Albert, CEO of Alberts Impact Capital, comments: “The investment reflects Albert’s heritage, its long association with the music industry and ongoing support of pioneers passionate about live music.”
Muso was selected for the Sydney-based Startmate accelerator programme in January 2019 and was among start-ups to be showcased at the Bigsound technology conference in September.
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