Spotify sells SoundBetter artist services marketplace to founders

Spotify has sold Soundbetter back to its founders. SoundBetter focuses on sourcing production\ and mixing services as well as background singers and musicians.

Like its original acquisition of SoundBetter, details of the sale were not released.

Spotify acquired SoundBetter in 2019 as part of a plan to offer a full stack of services to artists. But while it still owns music creation app Soundtrap, Spotify haS moved away from its 2019 promises including the suspension of a much-toiuted direct distribution offering created after a significant investment in DIY platform DistroKid.

Instead, Spotify’s focus has been on in-house offerings like “Marquee” that monetize their existing relationship with artists. Marquee is a paid pop-up fan recommendation when an artist drops a new release designed to turn listeners into lasting fans.

Statements from both sides point to a very amicable split.

Shachar Gilad, SoundBetter co-founder with Itamar Yunger, said: “Spotify accelerated SoundBetter’s trajectory, helping us reach hundreds of thousands of musicians around the world. SoundBetter today has a larger community of amazing artists creating more and higher quality music, and a wider array of expanded services.”

“Together, Spotify and SoundBetter benefited from many synergies, but as SoundBetter continues to evolve, both parties agreed that the company is best positioned for the next stage of growth by returning to the founders that have been committed to shepherding it from the beginning,” added Spotify Global Head of Creator Marketing, Dom Sanya.

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.