Royalty Exchange, an online marketplace where songwriters can sell a portion of their royalty stream, announced on Monday that it closed a $6.4 million convertible note to help fuel its growth. The outsized haul -- an original benchmark for this round was $3 million -- will go towards new hires and investment in technology.
Led by CEO Matthew Smith, the company connects rights holders with private investors looking to buy a portion of a writer's royalties through an online auction process. That said, artists retain full control of their copyrights and continue to collect on whatever percentage they don't sell off.
So far this year, the Royalty Exchange marketplace has helped creators earn over $3.8 million, and the company said its month-over-month growth rate is in the double digits. A recently closed auction raised $580,000 for the royalties belonging to the late songwriter Tony Geiss, whose credits include "Elmo's World" and other songs from Sesame Street.
"We've experienced significant growth over the last year. But we've only scratched the surface," said Smith in a statement. "Imagine if you had only two options to grow your business... either sell out completely or grow from internal cash flows only. That's the choice many artists face today. Royalty Exchange adds a whole new option for rightsholders, and we do it by bringing competition and transparency."
Royalty Exchange also announced the addition of three new members of its advisory board: Jeff King, COO, SOCAN; Bill Silva, Bill Silva Presents; and Travis Hill, Carnival Music co-founder and songwriter.
