20 Things you Didn’t Know about Songtradr
Music moves the soul. It creates a magical vibe which uplifts and inspires creativity in others. Without music, the world would be nothing more than a sterile husk with no soul. Fortunately, humanity is blessed with people who have the gift to craft this mysterious, magical motivator. That being said, as necessary as music is, its always been difficult for musicians to get their music out into the world. Enter Songtradr. Songtradr is the brainchild of one Mr. Paul Wiltshire, and works to make music globally accessible. Songtradr serves the creatives, the fans, the license holders, and more. In other words, Songtradr is structured in such a way that each and every faction of the music industry can partake and collaborate in its creation and distribution.
1. Chasing Jonah and TV Show Lucifer
Through Songtradr, a composer can craft their music for movies, content creators, brands, advertising, gaming and more.For instance, in season 2 of the television series, Lucifer hosted an up and coming musician on their soundtrack. The song is “War Paint“, and it was chosen for the show via the Songtradr platform. The artist, Ashley Dudukovich, who performs under the alias Chasing Jonah, received her break in the industry because of her association with Songtradr.
2. Mood Media Partnership
In August of 2017, Songtradr struck up a deal to create a partnership with Mood Media. Mood Media handles in-store music for retail establishments. At the time, Songtradr represented over 100,000 music creators. So, partnering with Mood Media made great business sense. After all, Mood Media will need plenty of music to supply it’s retail clients, and Songtradr has more than enough musical creatives for Mood Media.
3. Musicians Retain 100 Percent of Their Music Rights
Songtradr’s mission is to create a safe haven for musicians. A place where they can craft music and stay in full control. This means retain complete control over their publishing rights. Here, creatives are in charge over the licensing, distribution and monetization of their music. In other words, musicians can license their music to a video game developer, or distribute it to Spotify, and get paid for it. Songtradr has 3 levels available: Starter, Lite and Pro. The Starter package is free, the Lite package is $19 per year, and Pro is $49 per year.
4. Songtradr has seen a 200% Growth During the Pandemic
Many people took advantage of the lockdown, among them artists and musicians. Songtradr noticed that when the lockdown occurred there was an immediate increase in the amount of music being uploaded by artists. An increase in uploaded tunes, also means an increase in the product available to potential Songtradr clients. This ended up resulting in a doubling of earnings for creatives.
5. Songtradr Acquires Big Sync Music
Big Sync Music is a music licensing agency which provides music for advertising agencies and brand names on a global basis. In February 2019, Songtradr acquired Big Sync Music Ltd. Brands that have dealt with Big Sync include Samsung, Lipton and Amazon, to name a few. This acquisition will increase opportunities for both brands and musicians on a global basis. According to Songtradr CEO, “Big Sync’s global footprint working with major international brands combined with Songtradr’s technology and our growing community of artists, creates an unparalleled music licensing solution for all parties.”
6. Songtradr Creates a New Global Creative Division
In 2021, Songtradr placed Amanda Schupf in charge of its newly created global division. This new global creative division will be tasked with assisting creatives, labels and others to obtain new music. This new global creative division will consist of the following sections: Labels, musicians, and music programming. Schupf holds an impressive resume, which includes working with such A list musicians as Ludacris, Swizz Beatz and John Legend.
7. Songtradr was a Sponsor of the 2018 APRA Music Awards
The APRA Music Awards, or Australian Performing Right Association, celebrate the creative power of contemporary music on the Australian continent. Headquartered in Sydney Australia, the APRA works diligently to ensure that those in the music industry obtain fair treatment. As they work closely with creatives in the music industry, it’s only right that Songtradr became a sponsor of their 2018 music show which celebrates the music crafted by Australian citizens.
8. Fans Can Now Tip Their Favorite Musicians via the Songtradr Platform
Songtradr is all about finding ways to make the lives of its 600,000 plus musicians profitable and abundant ones. One such way which was recently introduced, is the ability of fans to tip their favorite musicians in real-time. That’s right, Songtradr instituted a “tip jar” of sorts for their creatives. Reminiscent of the tip jars found in piano bars, the concept is the same. All tips received from fans are the sole property of the musician. All a musician needs do is upload a track and receive tips! Minimum tip amounts are $1.00.
9. In 2016 Songtradr Expanded its Operations to Southeast Asia
There’s no doubt about it, music moves us in mysterious ways. As such, there’s always room for new creators, and these creators require a trusted platform from which to grow creatively and financially. Songtradr partnered with Homonym PH, a music marketing company in order to expand their reach. Homonym PH will curate Songtradr’s massive music selection to suit the Pilipino sector. According to CEO Paul Wiltshire, “Building our presence in a region so rooted in music culture is natural fit for Songtradr, and a tremendous step in our ongoing expansion. Our global expansion further solidifies our position as a leader in international music licensing, and we look forward to our continued growth across the world.”
10. Songtradr Opens New York Office
With the great success Songtradr has had with the TV and film business, they decided to dip their toe in the waters of the advertising industry. In a bid to secure more opportunities, Songtradr CEO, Paul Wiltshire, decided that New York City would be the place to start. This way, Songtradr will be close to advertisers, and work to enhance its connections within that industry.
11. Top Investors Help Songtradr Net 50 Million
Los Angeles based music licensing company, Songtradr recently announced receiving 50 million dollars worth of investor funding. The funding will probably go towards international expansion efforts and products. Those who invested in Songtradr include: Greenscape, Argo, Perennial, Regal and Aware Super. As of June 2021 total funds raised by Songtradr are over $100 million.
12. Songtradr Acquires Tunefind
2021 saw music licensing giant, Songtradr obtain yet another asset to its already growing stable of acquisitions, Tunefind. Tunefind is to music what Google is to everything else. It’s a search engine which serves those who are looking for information on music found in TV, video games or film. According to Songtradr CEO Paul Wiltshire, “The depth of its database and coverage are unparalleled. As we continue our ambition to develop the best tools for B2B music discovery, Tunefind’s encyclopedia of music used in TV, film and gaming has considerable unrealized value, and equally our extensive data from advertising music use will expand the Tunefind offering.”
13. In 2017 Songtradr Entered a Partnership with Milamber Ventures PLC partnership with Milamber Ventures PLC
Milamber Ventures, PLC is now involved in a partnership with Songtradr. Milamber Ventures, PLC is based in the UK, so it’s hoped that such a partnership will help Songtradr with their members who reside in the UK. According to CEO Paul Wiltshire, “Milamber Ventures PLC has deep insight in music and media business growth, and that’s a strong proof point towards successful prowess in the business and usage of music, and of rights ownership.”
14. Songtradr Acquires Cuesongs
In 2020 Songtradr acquired Cuesongs. Based in the UK, Cuesongs is home to over 150 indie music labels and publishers. Like Songtradr, they work bring content creators and musical artists together. By acquiring Cuesongs, Songtradr will be in a much better and stronger place when it comes to expanding their program and style of doing business to their UK musicians, labels and rights holders. Cuesongs was founded in 2010 by UK musician Peter Gabriel. Songtradr CEO Paul Wiltshire states, “Their team is passionate and hardworking, which has led them to foster strong personal relationships with labels and publishers in the UK and beyond,”We look forward to building on those relationships further and working closely with the Cuesongs team.”
15. Big Sync Expands into Four New Markets
Once acquired by Songtradr, Big Sync Music began to gather some territory. In 2020, under the leadership of Songtradr, Big Sync Music began expanded into four new markets: France, Germany, New Zealand and Australia. Michael Szumowski will oversee operations for Australia and New Zealand, while Pedro Anacker will oversee Germany and Nicolas Farcy will deal with music licensing in France.
16. Songtradr Acquires “Stream Safe” Platform, Pretzel
Music copyrights are a real issue for content creators. No matter how hard some content creators try, there are times when even the most diligent content creator gets hit with a DMCA strike. Pretzel was the first company to supply creators with music that they can be sure won’t cost them a DMCA strike. With over 12,000 hours of music, Songtradr saw this as a fabulous opportunity to supply music to content creators. Songtradr CEO Paul Wiltshire said: “Music and gaming has always gone hand in hand and gamers are some of the most engaged and valuable music fans.”
17. Songtradr Provides Sync Licensing
In the past, synchronization licensing wasn’t easy for a musician to come by. However, with the advent of Songtradr, all that’s a thing of the past. if you’re not familiar with the term, synchronization licensing or “sync” for short, simply means that the individual who owns the rights to a piece of music, allows the licensee to “sync” the music to a visual media. For instance, if an individual live streams video games, they are free to sync up some music to their visual content without any DMCA worries.
18. Songtradr Now has an App
Make getting your music recognized faster and easier by using Songtradr’s Music Wanted app for Android. Here, you’ll be able to sit down, relax with your phone and check their licensing opportunities. Upload and submit your music, while keeping abreast of how it’s doing via their convenient Submission Progress Page. There are three selections from which to choose: Songtradr Free, Songtradr Pro, and Songtrader Distribution.
19. Wisetech Global Richard White Invests in Songtradr
Billionaire founder of Wisetech Global, a global logistics company, Richard White had been keeping his eye on Songtradr’s development for around three years, stating, “During this time, Paul and his team have not missed a beat in delivering on their vision, which is impressive by any standard.” Indeed, it was this steady growth pattern which caught White’s attention, leading him to invest heavily in Songtradr’s future.
20. Songtradr Provides Creatives with More than Enough Assistance
One thing about Songtradr is evident: They exist to foster the careers of their creatives. One of those methods is their information rich blog. However, don’t stop there. Songtradr’s Youtube channel is packed with valuable information from how to start your own record label to the basics of Chillhop music. They also post their Songtradr Showcase shows, where one can get an idea of the range of talent they have.
Final Thoughts
Songtradr is the answer to many a musicians prayers. Music is one of the toughest industries to establish a financially secure career. Throughout the decades, many a parent has felt a small pit in their stomach whenever their child announced that a career in music was their chosen path. Today, with platforms such as Songtradr, gone are the days when a musician had no other choice but to live without. Thanks to Songtradr, the musician can compose, upload and keep track of their songs performance. In effect, the chance for earning a living off of one’s musical creativity has become a reality for thousands, and that’s a good thing.
