beatBread Raises $124 Million Backed by Mega-Bank Citi

Indie finance platform beatBread said on Tuesday it secured $124 million in loans and equity investment to expand its lending products for unsigned artists, writers and labels.

Equity investors leading the funding round include global banking giant Citigroup and venture investors and long-time beatBread backers Deciens Capital and Mucker Capital. Other investors include Advantage Capital, while GMO provided additional credit funding.

“At beatBread, we’re building a financial foundation for true artist and label independence,” beatBread CEO Peter Sinclair said in a statement. “By giving creators more choice, more access and more control, we’re helping them stay independent on their own terms … [to] compare multiple funding options from multiple funding sources and make the choice that’s right for them.”

The latest fundraise follows two earlier capital infusions in 2022 when beatBread raised $34 million from Deciens, Mucker and others, and separately $100 million secured through an institutional funding agreement with Variant Investments.

Launched in 2020, beatBread’s offerings include providing artist advances, which can range from $1,000 to $10 million. Artists, songwriters and indie labels with over 10,000 monthly listeners on Spotify can secure loans by pledging a portion of their back catalog to beatBread for a term of several years and/or future release royalties from streaming. The platform’s funding network and deal comparison tools present clients with offers from multiple distribution and finance companies. Most artists put the advance toward paying fees for collaborators, creating music videos and funding digital marketing campaigns.

The investment from Citi, made by the banking group’s fintech investment arm called SPRINT, marks its first investment related to music royalties, Citi’s head of markets and innovation investments Lee Smallwood said in a statement.

Citi recently signed an agreement with the global private equity firm Carlyle to partner on debt and equity financing for growing financial technology firms through SPRINT.