music-industry
(12)
Live Nation Entertainment
It books the band, owns the room, prints the ticket and sells the beer sponsorship. Inside the $23-billion machine that moves 150 million concertgoers a year - and the antitrust fight over whether one company should do all of that.
Third Chair
Third Chair is an AI-native IP enforcement and licensing platform that helps rightsholders find who is using their content, trademarks, and likeness without permission and turn that unauthorized use into revenue. Backed by Y Combinator (X25) and FundersClub with $2.3M raised, it pairs AI agents that monitor, investigate, and draft demand letters with an on-demand network of lawyers. Customers - including Universal Music Group and much of the recorded-music industry - used the product to generate more than $1M in revenue in the last six months of 2025.
Medallion
Medallion is a New York-based music technology company that gives recording artists a white-label digital hub to build and monetize their own fan communities. Founded by former Songkick CEO Matt Jones and launched in 2022, the platform lets artists promote releases, tour dates and merch drops, sell digital collectibles and 'Digital Deluxe' albums, and offer exclusive access to their most devoted superfans - all under the artist's own branding rather than a third-party social feed. Backed by $22.7M in funding from investors including Dragonfly, Lightspeed Faction, The Chernin Group and Metallica's Black Squirrel Partners, Medallion powers communities for artists such as Jungle, Disclosure, Greta Van Fleet, Sigur Ros and My Morning Jacket.
Lior Tibon
Lior Tibon is the co-founder and CEO of Duetti, a New York-based music financing platform that lets independent artists and songwriters sell their catalogs, individual tracks, or fractions of them for upfront cash. Before Duetti, he spent more than seven years as COO of TIDAL, the artist-owned streaming service launched under JAY-Z, and started his career as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank in London. Duetti has raised over $623M to fund the independent music community, backed by The Raine Group, Flexpoint Ford, Nyca Partners, Viola Ventures and Roc Nation.
Matt Jones
Matt Jones is the co-founder and CEO of Medallion, a New York-based platform that lets artists build branded, artist-owned digital environments where their most engaged fans can pay for early access, exclusive drops, and premium music formats. Before Medallion he ran Crowdsurge, the direct-to-fan ticketing company he started in 2008 that later merged with Songkick; he served as Songkick's CEO through its 2017 acquisition by Warner Music Group. Medallion closed a $13.7M Series A in December 2023 led by Dragonfly and Lightspeed Faction, with Metallica's Black Squirrel Partners, Coinbase Ventures, and members of Disclosure, Jungle, and Mt. Joy also on the cap table.
indify
indify is a New York music marketplace that connects emerging independent artists with the partners they need to build a career - funders, managers, marketers, lawyers and creatives - without a traditional record deal. Founded in 2015 by three childhood friends, it started as a data tool for spotting breakout talent early (it flagged Billie Eilish, Post Malone and Khalid before they were famous) and evolved into a platform where artists strike transparent, per-release deals, keep their masters, retain creative control, and keep at least 50% of profits after an investor is repaid.
Royalty Solutions Corp
Royalty Solutions Corp is a New York-based, fee-based music royalty administration and publishing services firm that acts as an outsourced, white-label royalty department for record labels, independent publishers, distributors, and management companies. Founded by third-generation music executive Mark Spier, it pairs enterprise-grade royalty software with hands-on accounting to process statements, register catalogs, handle mechanical and master-use licensing, and pay rights holders accurately - all on a flat fee rather than a commission, so clients keep their earnings.
Jake One
Jake One (Jacob Brian Dutton, born May 11, 1976) is a Seattle-bred hip-hop producer whose beats have moved from underground cult status to pop-culture ubiquity - he's the man behind John Cena's WWE entrance theme 'The Time Is Now,' the iconic De La Soul / MF DOOM collaboration 'Rock Co.Kane Flow,' and production credits across albums by Drake, J. Cole, The Weeknd, 50 Cent, Freeway, Brother Ali, Travis Scott, and dozens more. Operating under the Snare Jordan brand, he has released solo instrumental albums, collaborated on the funk duo Tuxedo with Mayer Hawthorne (Stones Throw Records), and built a parallel career as a sample-kit and beat-tutorial educator. He remains one of hip-hop's most versatile and quietly prolific producers, still releasing acclaimed work in 2024-2025.
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is the co-founder and CEO of Promise, an Oakland-based govtech company valued at $520 million that helps municipalities and utilities offer zero-interest payment plans to struggling residents. A former union organizer turned labor federation executive turned music manager for Prince, she now runs a platform that has reached 5 million+ households across 20+ states, proving that treating people with dignity is not just ethical — it is a business model. Named #247 on the Forbes Self-Made 250, she built Promise from a YC Winter 2018 bet to a $23 million-funded company generating $33M+ in annual revenue.
Shamal Ranasinghe
Shamal Ranasinghe is the Chief Business Officer at Audius, the decentralized blockchain-based music streaming platform. A 25-year music-tech veteran, he co-founded Topspin Media in 2007 - one of the first direct-to-fan platforms for musicians - before spending eight years as VP of Product at Pandora/SiriusXM building creator tools. At Audius, he leads major label and publishing deals, including a landmark global licensing agreement with Kobalt Music in 2024, while championing a world where artists own their music, keep 90% of revenue, and connect directly with fans without gatekeepers.
Chris Lyons
Chris Lyons is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the legendary Silicon Valley venture capital firm, where he spent over a decade reshaping how culture and capital intersect. Starting as Chief of Staff to co-founder Ben Horowitz in 2013, he rose to General Partner by 2021 and founded the Cultural Leadership Fund (CLF) in 2018 - Silicon Valley's first VC fund composed entirely of Black Limited Partners, uniting athletes, musicians, and entertainers as investors in frontier technology. A former sound engineer trained under Grammy-winning producer Jermaine Dupri, Lyons brings a rare cross-industry fluency to tech investing, bridging entertainment, sports, Web3, and enterprise software. As of early 2026, he announced his departure from a16z to launch his own fund, citing the AI revolution as the defining moment to build independently.
Bill Campbell
Bill Campbell is the founder and CEO of Barefoot Media LLC, a global advisory firm specializing in digital strategy, content licensing, and fundraising for startups in the music, streaming, and entertainment tech space. With over 30 years of experience, he previously served as Senior Vice President of Global Digital Business at both Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, where he structured landmark deals with Spotify, Apple Music, Google, and Amazon. His client roster includes TikTok/Bytedance, SoundCloud, Square, and United Masters, making him one of the most influential behind-the-scenes operators in digital entertainment.