Elton John joins Paul McCartney and ABBA's Bjorn in latest $5M funding round for music tech company Audoo

Elton John has joined the likes of Paul McCartney’s MPL Ventures and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA fame in the latest $5 million funding round by Audoo Ltd, the UK-based music technology company that helps artists to receive their fair share of royalty payments.

Audoo said the round, which brought the total amount to $22 million, also saw participation from John’s husband David Furnish. MPL Ventures and Ulvaeus contributed to a December 2021 funding round. Creative industries hub Tileyard and London-based family office Edinv are also investors.

With artists losing out on up to $3 billion in unaccounted royalties, the five-year-old business uses its Audoo Audio Meter and insights platform to solve the public performance royalty data collection and payment distribution issue, according to Sky News, which first reported the story.

The technology monitors music played in public venues and has a 99% recognition rate in detecting the songs. It takes a general data protection regulation compliant (GDPR) digital imprint of the music before relaying the information in real-time to Performance Rights Organisations (PROs) and Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) to ensure rights holders are compensated accurately.

The devices have been installed across Europe, Australasia and Africa to track and report songs played in public locations including gyms, shops, restaurants and hair salons.

The idea was formed when Audoo founder and chief executive Ryan Edwards heard his own top-10 song being played in a retail store in 2018 and checked his royalty statement to realise he had not been paid for the broadcast.

“Right now, artists are not being paid accurately for their plays because the data simply doesn’t exist,” John commented.

“People have given up on their dreams and we’ve lost talent and future stars because of this disparity. That’s why we’ve invested in Audoo and their world-class technology and data, to help create a more transparent system for everyone, and ultimately to keep the music alive.”

Edwards said being able to draw on the support of artists in its mission to revolutionise the royalty space has been key to the company’s success.

“With Elton & David’s strategic investment, we will be able to continue to champion & deliver a fairer, and more transparent music industry for creatives to benefit for generations to come,” Edwards added.

“We look forward to welcoming more international partners, licensees and creators to join us on this industry-changing journey.”

Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com