A new financing platform has entered the fray, with ambitions to become the “largest funder of independent music globally”.
Pipeline, backed by Matt Spetzler’s investment firm Jamen Capital, has raised over USD $200 million in capital and aims to help independent music companies “unlock the value of their intellectual property, in order to drive growth and scale”.
Emerging from stealth after more than a year of development, Pipeline says it’s looking to address an “imbalance” between the independent music sector and major music corporations.
Pipeline hopes to use its financing solution to ensure indie companies and creators avoid “the need to turn to third-party acquisitions or onerous deal terms”.
Spetzler, who serves as Founding Partner of Jamen Capital and Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Pipeline, is well known in the music financing space.
He has completed more than 10 investments in music/audio, totaling over $5 billion in value, and currently serves on the boards of companies including Kobalt, Soundtrack, Recognition Music Group, and Muse Group.
Before launching Jamen Capital, Spetzler was a Partner and Co-Head of Europe at private equity firm Francisco Partners, where he played a key role in the firm’s ~$750 million majority acquisition of Kobalt Music Group in 2022.
Pipeline says it has assembled a leadership team with “decades of combined experience across music, investing, finance and technology”, which has “evaluated, invested in, or operated more than $8 billion in music IP, spanning labels, publishing, distribution, and analytics businesses”.
Pipeline, which benefits from Jamen’s flagship operating platform in music and creator finance, was advised by Raine and Moore & Van Allen for its fundraising and launch.
“Our ambition is to become the largest funder of independent music globally”
Matt Spetzler, PIPELINE
Pipeline arrives amid an expanding landscape of alternative funding options for indie artists, labels, and distributors.
Music financing platform beatBread has deployed over $100 million across 1,700 funding agreements since its founding in 2020.
Last year, beatBread raised $124 million in fresh funding, including equity capital from Citi, Deciens Capital, Mucker Capital, and Advantage Capital.
Another player in the space, Duetti, is best known for making indie catalog acquisitions. It recently expanded beyond buying master rights to publishing rights and royalty streams, fueled by $200 million in new debt financing.
“Independent music companies control some of the best and most valuable IP in the industry, but they often lack efficient, affordable ways to unlock that value,” said Spetzler.
“Pipeline was built to change that dynamic, providing accessible and flexible capital, as well as IP analytics and forecasting tools, that allow independent businesses to have the resources to grow and scale on their own terms. We want to help companies unlock the value of their IP and compete on having the best artists, not the biggest checkbook.”
According to Pipeline, its platform offers “fast decision-making, an efficient tech-supported underwriting process and enables the payment of advances with minimal contractual paperwork”.
Initially, the company is focusing on working with labels and distributors, before launching a pilot with publishers and Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) in the next couple of months.
“We aim to work closely with established partners across the music ecosystem to reduce friction, lower risk and improve speed, while enabling simpler, more flexible and advantageous deal terms versus what is currently offered to the independent community,” added Spetzler.
“Our ambition is to become the largest funder of independent music globally, reinforcing our company’s mission to help music companies scale and grow independently, on their own terms.”Music Business Worldwide
