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Business News Deals Digital
Lickd raises £5.1 million in new finance
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 28 September 2021
Lickd, the company that aims to make it easier for creators on platforms like YouTube to use commercially released music in their videos, has secured another £5.1 million in funding, which is nice. For Lickd.
The new round of funding has been led by an existing backer, the investment group spearheaded by Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, but also includes “strategic investments” from Fortnite maker Epic Games and good old Warner Music. The latter announced a partnership deal with Lickd late last year.
Lickd aims to make it much simpler for online video creators to use commercially released music rather than production music in their content. With truly user-generated content, creators can usually rely on the music licences secured by the user-upload platforms, but that often results in ads being placed alongside their videos, and/or stops the creators from monetising the content themselves.
Plus the platforms’ licences only usually cover truly user-generated content, meaning commercially created content isn’t covered. It’s also not always entirely clear when content stops being user-generated and becomes commercial.
As it continues in its bid to simplify music licensing for creators and generate extra revenues for the music industry, how will Lickd specifically spend all this new cash? A big old party? New Fortnite skins all round? YouTube Premium accounts for all? A free steak dinner for any enthusiastic music business journalists feeling a bit hungry? Maybe.
But mainly: “This series of funding will not only enable Lickd to amplify its commercial song library – providing greater value to its content creators – but it will allow the company to continue to build its technology offering, its international footprint and its customer base”.
Says CEO Paul Sampson: “The ongoing support of the Nick Mason Group, combined with Epic and Warner coming on board, delivers a win-win for all – for Lickd as we continue to expand, for the creators who want commercial music to better monetise their content, for the artists who want to be paid fairly for their work and for the broader ecosystem as we create new ways to grow”.
Adds Mason: “We invest in companies that combine transformational technology with strong industry knowledge, which Lickd has proven it has from the outset. Having these strategic partnerships in place from leading brands in the entertainment space is testament to both Lickd’s proposition and to its clout in the music and creator space. We are excited to be able to continue to support Paul and team and to remain a part of the company’s future”.
