Epidemic Sound, which vends a subscription service enabling digital creators to access background music for their videos, has raised $450 million in fresh funding at a $1.4 billion valuation.
The round was led by Blackstone Growth and EQT Growth, and Epidemic says it will harness the funds to accelerate user acquisition, develop new products, localize its offerings, continue to invest in its music library, and expand into new markets.
“We’re in the privileged position where our music is the soundtrack to our generation’s greatest achievement,” Epidemic co-founder and CEO Oscar Höglund said in a statement. “We know what the internet sounds like and through data, we can see the trends emerging among content creators as they use our tracks to bring their stories to life.”
The Stockholm-based company was founded in 2009. Prior to this latest round, it had raised $58.9 million in funding from the likes of Creandum and Atwater Capital.
Epidemic says it’s growing fast, from seeing its tracks play for an average of 250 million hours each month on YouTube in 2019 to playing more than 1 billion hours each month today, per Techcrunch. Of course, Epidemic’s music can also be used on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitch, and beyond. A subscription for creators starts at $15 per month.
The company posted net revenues of $42 million in 2019, and laid off roughly 20% of its staff in May at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, with most layoffs occurring within its sales department.
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