 INVESTMENT ROUNDS SUMMARY ·Sep 26, 12:20 PM PANDORAProbably over $40 million in funding; 120 employees. (Industry consensus is that they hope to be eventually acquired at a much higher price than Last FM was.)Pandora: $30 million raised PLUS a new fourth round (11/07) Pandora thru Dec 05: $22.3 million in financing Interesting article comparing Pandora’s vs. Last.fm’s mathematical algorithms Funny blog posting: “When not nailing your musical sensibilities perfectly, Pandora is great at shaming you..” LAST.FMRecently sold for $280 million in cash to CBS (May ’07) about a year after receiving $5 million in funding. (Source: Story above in “Pandora” section.) Staff of 60, says Wikipedia.First round of funding (date unclear) Last.fm gets funding, MOG gets $1.4 million, SingShot gets $1 million… (2006) Names of angel & first round Last.fm investors (May ’06) Seemingly-reliable source of ‘$5 million’ number CBS press release on acquisition Interview with founders post-sale Feature interview, post-sale, with photos
YAHOO! LAUNCHCASTTo acquire its various Internet radio and music services, Yahoo! paid $4 billion (Broadcast.com) plus $12 million (LAUNCH) plus $160 million (MusicMatch):Circa 2000, Cuban sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for $4 billion Yahoo! acquired LAUNCH (Internet radio and music videos) for $12 million in June 2001 Yahoo! acquired MusicMatch for $160 million (Oct ’04) LAUNCHcast found “non-interactive” in court (Apr ’07); Sony claims it plans to appeal Yahoo Music to be scaled back?
SLACKER“$53.5 million in funding, more than 50 employees”Interview with Slacker’s Mudd Slacker (3/07): 50 employees, $13.5 million in funding Slacker got $40 million more!
RHAPSODY (REAL NETWORKS)Music service purchased by Real Networks in 2003 for $35 millionReal bought Listen.com for $35 million, says Bratton Real spent >$14 million on Rhapsody acquisition in Q3 2003 alone Real got $762 million settlement from Microsoft in Fall ’06 Real is a $900 million company (as of 11/26/07) Real rolls out revised Rhapsody (12/05) Real contributes Rhapsody in exchange for 51% interest in venture with MTV Details on JV — MTV contributes cash (note), gets ad commitment
LALAOver $14.7 million already raised.Received $9 million in funding (from Bain and Ignition) for convoluted plan Lala raises $5.7 million more… but why? Around 20 employees
AOL RADIOAOL paid $400 million in June 1999 (during the bubble) for Spinner and Nullsoft (i.e., Winamp and Shoutcast).http://www.news.com/2100-1023-226540.html Spinner had received $12 million in funding four months earlier: http://www.news.com/2100-1023-221295.html Surprisingly absent from all the acquisition activity, however, are the traditional radio companies, such as Chancellor Media and the CBS Group. “I’m surprised television properties like MTV are scooping these companies up,” said Mark Hardie, senior analyst with Forrester Research. “I would have expected one of the big radio groups to buy [Imagine Radio].” Mark Mooradian, senior analyst with Jupiter Communications, echoed that opinion. He noted that MTV’s entrance into Net radio “totally makes sense” but said it is “a huge missed opportunity for traditional radio. I’m surprised they’re not in the bidding here.” According to the study, Internet radio and general Net use stand to cut into the traditional radio broadcast business. “Clearly, the Internet is changing consumers’ media habits, and it may erode radio listenership in the future,” Edison Media Research says on its site.
LIVE 365Has “burned through $60 million“ in VC funding and raised additional funding since. http://www.live365.com/info/management.html
MSN RADIO (MICROSOFT)Spent at least $65 million to include such sets of stations as “Sounds Like” and “LocalSounds”… (Now just a white-labeled version of Pandora.)MSN bought MongoMusic in 2000 for $65 million in stock. (Had 50-60 employees. Characterized songs by tempo, etc., for “Sounds like” or “Mood” radio (right?).) MSN Radio Plus” initiative MongoMusic employeed “groovers” Mood stations mentioned in user review Broadcasters object to ‘Local Sounds’ Mar ’05: MSN Radio ‘a shadow of its former self’ Memo from departing MSN Radio employee to new staff Stupid survey!
BOOMSHUFFLE (from Snocap)At least $25 million in funding so far. Company’s primary business model (legal p2p music) is in trouble.Dec ’04: Snocap raises $10 million in funding *Mar ’06: Snocap raises $15 million in third-round funding” Oct ’07: Snocap lays off 60% of staff Nov ’07: Snocap launches BoomShuffle
FINETUNE (from NextRadio Solutions)“NextRadio has Sound Financial Backing, with a fund controlled by Adam W. Kirsch as its largest investor. Adam was a founder of Bain Capital, a global leader in private equity investing, where he specialized in consumer business investments including Staples, Sports Authority, Duane Reade, Wesley-Jessen, and Brookstone.”http://www.radioamp.com/ — “About us” Finetune review
iLIKEHas received at least $13.3 million to date (at a $52 million valuation)Pittman’s iLike received $13.3 mil from IAC for 25% stake
MYSTREAMSMyStrands has 10 C-level executiveshttp://www.crunchbase.com/company/Mystrands
SONICNETMTV purchased Imagine Radio (for $14.5 million) in Feb. 1999, rebranded it as Sonicnet, and committed to $150 million in promotional support*http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/09/23/BU80751.DTL
NETRADIO.COMWas attempting to raise $35 million in an IPO in 1999. Succeeded, it looks like.http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-56288687.html http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-56336870.html
LOUDEYEAugust 2006: “Nokia says its buying the Seattle-based digital music company Loudeye for $60 million, which aggregates content and rights from music labels for distribution across mobile, Internet and other platforms. Nokia said it is paying $4.50 per share. Loudeye’s stock had sat under $1 for weeks, mostly because investors did not give the money losing music service any chance of making it to the black. It had lost $4.6 million for the first quarter of this year on sales of $8.7 million. Loudeye previously sold its U.S. assets to Muze…”http://gigaom.com/2006/08/08/nokia-snags-loudeye/ VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMSGood online publication: TheDeal.comhttp://www.thedeal.com Index Ventures (Last.fm, etc.)
WEBCASTERS IN GENERALFree online music services: “You’ve been able to get free Internet radio for years, but today’s experience is truly personal and completely customizable… We tested five of the best free options and rated them… (Lala, Last.fm, Pandora, Rhapsody, Slacker)”http://www.laptopmag.com/Features/Free-Online-Music-Services.htm?page=0
DEVICESGoogle Android to bring full web functionality to cellphones in Q3 2008?http://www.laptopmag.com/News/Cell-Phones/Google-Announces-Android.htm
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Commenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
