UnitedMasters

United States - Brooklyn, New York

• 28/10/2021
• Series C
• $50,000,000

UnitedMasters is a new music industry alternative that provides independent artists with premium music distribution services, a suite of tools to help them directly connect with fans, and opportunities for unique partnerships with some of the world’s biggest brands including the NBA, Bose, and iHeart.

UnitedMasters allows artists to easily distribute their music to all major streaming services. Distributed artists become eligible to participate in a variety of advertisements, brand partnerships and other promotions that earn them money and bring in new fans. UnitedMasters also provides artists access to their streaming and social data so they can gain insight into how to maximize fan engagement. The most promising artists on the platform unlock access to a bespoke suite of promotional services like playlist pitching, marketing, PR, and promotion. UnitedMasters aims to give artists the tools to operationalize their independence and maximize their creative and economic potential.

UnitedMasters was launched in 2017 by Translation founder and music industry veteran Steve Stoute with a $70 million Series A led by Google’s corporate umbrella Alphabet alongside prestigious venture firm Andreessen Horowitz and entertainment giant 21st Century Fox. Led by a team of executives, marketers, engineers, and storytellers with backgrounds from YouTube, Soundcloud, Pandora, Instagram, Dropbox, Complex, and Vice, the platform positions talent for mainstream impact while allowing them to maintain full ownership over their master recording rights.

Related People

Steve StouteFounder

United States - New York, New York,

Steve Stoute is an advertising and music industry entrepreneur. Stoute serves as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of UnitedMasters and Translation. With funding from Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz and 21st Century Fox, the companies are converging music, technology and storytelling in a way that has never been done before.

UnitedMasters is a technology and data-driven artist services company that provides creators tools to maximize their potential while remaining independent from traditional record labels. Translation Agency is a creative agency that connects the world’s most famous brands to culture through sports and entertainment.

Prior to founding Translation in 2004, Stoute was a music industry executive at Sony Music and Interscope Geffen A&M. He produced albums for Mariah Carey and Nas, led the production efforts for Gwen Stefani and Enrique Iglesias, and executive produced the Academy Award–winning “8 Mile” film and soundtrack.

In 2009, the American Advertising Federation inducted Steve into the Advertising Hall of Achievement. Steve was recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business in 2014 and named Executive of the Year by Advertising Age in 2013. In 2011, Stoute added author to his list of accomplishments with the release of his critically acclaimed book, The Tanning of America. In this NY Times Best Seller, Steve builds on his philosophy of a global shift towards a “shared mental complexion,” by teaching corporate America how to understand and engage with today’s young adult market. Since its publication, the book has been made into a four-part VH1 documentary, “The Tanning of America” and an audiobook narrated by Kerry Washington.

Steve has been the keynote or featured speaker at many noted conferences including the NBA All-Star Tech Summit, Cannes Lions, the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Google Zeitgeist and as a speaker at UC Berkeley’s School of Data Science.

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevestoute/