Splice Takes Away $57.5M Series C Funding

Splice, the company evolving the way musicians make music, today announced that it has raised $57.5 million in a Series C funding round to continue helping musicians create and earn revenue. Leading the round are existing investors Union Square Ventures and True Ventures who are joined by DFJ Growth, Flybridge, and Lerer Hippeau. Liontree, Founders Circle Capital, & Matt Pincus, founder of Songz Publishing, are also joining the round.

In addition to the next chapter of funding, Splice also announced that it has paid $15 million in royalties to music creators who distribute their sounds through the company's artist-to-artist sample service, Splice Sounds. The affordable subscription-based sample library used by Top 40 hitmakers, Grammy Award-winners, and bedroom producers gives creators access to a library of over 3 million sounds. It is one of several Splice products that accelerate creativity including the Rent-to-Own payment model that makes professional creative tools accessible for small monthly payments and Splice Studio, a free back-up and collaboration product that allows musicians to seamlessly store, save, and share music project files in the cloud.

"Splice is truly becoming a platform for the millions of musicians we dreamed of when we first started building it," said Splice co-founder and CEO Steve Martocci. "We know and trust these investors – they share both our commitment to building a product and company that is good for musicians and share our big vision in continuing to transform the way musicians create, connect, collaborate, and make money. This funding will help bring that vision into reality."

Since Splice raised a Series B in November of 2017, the company has continued to build robust sample and gear offerings to ensure Splice's sounds and gear marketplaces are the definitive marketplaces of their kind. In the past year, Splice has partnered with both emerging talent and major artists – from boi-1da, who won a Grammy for Drake's "God's Plan," and SOPHIE whose Grammy nomination for Best Dance/Electronic album was heralded as historic – to distribute their original sample content to a rapidly growing community of Splice producers. In a first for both Splice and the industry, the company released a professional Digital Audio Workstation on Rent-to-Own, making a powerful and essential piece of recording software accessible to musicians for only $16.99/month. They also recently announced a strategic partnership with industry heavyweight Akai Professional to accelerate the creativity of today's musicians by uniting the best in creative hardware and creative content.

Splice will use the new investment to improve its existing marketplaces and workflow tools, as well as to explore new ideas. "We've built an incredible portfolio of marketplaces and products that serve all people who make music – from Grammy award winners to kids in their bedrooms. This investment allows us to evolve those products and take several huge leaps toward a creatively and financially healthier music culture. Our focus on supporting musicians will not waver. And we have some big, meaningful surprises in store for them," said Ryan Walsh, Splice's Chief Product Officer. Walsh, who joined Splice in June, previously directed product management for media at Apple, including Apple Music and the iTunes stores for movies, music, and television. He joined Apple as part of the Beats by Dre acquisition, where he was Vice President of Product, managing design, product development, analytics, and growth.

In addition to Walsh, the company has recently brought on two other Chief Executives poised to help accelerate Splice's impact. Chris Acquaviva, the former CFO of Marvel Entertainment, joined Splice this month as the company's first CFO and brings to Splice a deep understanding of the modern media and content landscape. Kavita Vora, Splice's first Chief of People Officer who joined Splice last year, has first-hand experience leading People & Culture in the creator economy, having previously served as Chief People Officer at MakerBot, one of the first companies to disrupt 3D printing making it accessible and affordable to consumers.

Walsh, Acquaviva, and Vora join Jonathan Lee, Splice's Chief Business Officer, Steve Martocci, Splice's CEO, and Matt Aimonetti, Splice's CTO to form Splice's Chief Executive Team.

"It's an exciting time to be a musician, in no small part because of what Splice is doing to catalyze creativity through new technology and new business models," said Andy Weissman, managing partner at Union Square Ventures. "We've believed in Splice since day one and are doubling down five years after our first investment to bring the vision to life."

About Splice
At Splice, we're evolving the way people create, connect, and collaborate. We don't just react to what musicians need now; we take their creativity further by asking what they need next. From our browsable library of samples to our pioneering rent-to-own plugin plans, our products power the creative flow of today's musicians. Over two million musicians – from Top 40 hitmakers to bedroom producers – come to Splice to get started or unstuck, move forward and make progress on their music. Splice was founded in 2013 by Steve Martocci and Matt Aimonetti with a belief that an open music ecosystem will lead to more and better musicians, more and better music, and a creative culture that works better for everyone. http://splice.com.

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