Spinnup, the Universal-owned digital distribution service for unsigned talent, has surpassed a milestone of 100,000 artists on its platform.
Founded in Stockholm by Universal Music Sweden in 2013, Spinnup has now launched in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and the UK, and most recently in France, with further territories set to follow in 2017.
The platform rivals the likes of Tunecore, with the tempting possibility of those on its platform being up-streamed to the UMG label system should they turn enough heads.
Since launch, 29 Spinnup artists from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, UK and USA have been signed by Universal Music labels. The most successful of these signings, Vigiland, has now been streamed in excess of 250 million times on Spotify, and is now certified 15 x Platinum in Sweden.
These numbers mean just 0.029% of Spinnup acts have been elevated into the Universal label system so far.
For a fixed annual fee per release, Spinnup provides unsigned talent with the tools to distribute their music directly to fans via the likes of Apple Music, Spotify, iTunes, Deezer, Amazon, Google Play, Rhapsody and Tidal.
Spinnup artists control their own rights and royalties whilst gaining access to an artist portal offering smart streaming data and social media statistics.
“Our scouts are continually scouring the music within the platform in the hope of unearthing new talent and tracks.”
Nina Usher, Spinnup
Spinnup operates independently in each territory, with a network of 100 scouts currently searching for the best talent within the platform – each feeding directly into UMG labels.
Nina Usher, General Manager at Spinnup, said: “We are delighted to have our first 100,000 unsigned artists from around the world signed up with Spinnup.
“Our scouts are continually scouring the music within the platform in the hope of unearthing new talent and tracks. We are incredibly proud of the further success that Spinnup artists and scouts have gone on to achieve thanks to our unique A&R relationship with Universal Music labels globally.”
To celebrate the milestone, Spinnup UK is launching Sound Advice – a campaign that will offer free single releases via Spinnup for UK artists from 21st November to 31st December.
During this time, Spinnup will have three additional guest scouts from Universal Music UK labels – Island Records, Polydor Records and Virgin EMI searching for new talent within the platform and giving feedback directly to artists.
In addition, a live Q&A will take place with Glenn Cooper, Strategic Marketing Director, Island Records with additional activity to run throughout the campaign.
Music Business Worldwide