Mandolin Raises $12 Million to Fuel Post-Pandemic Livestreaming
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Bulletin YOUR DAILY ENTERTAINMENT NEWS UPDATE JUNE 30, 2021 Page 1 of 24 INSIDE Mandolin Raises $12 Million to • Meet The Creative Fuel Post-Pandemic Team Behind Ed Sheeran’s Record- Livestreaming Strategy Breaking TikTok Livestream BY GLENN PEOPLES • Spotify Touts Benefits of its Livestreaming startup Mandolin has raised $12 in Nashville, with more staffers in Los Angeles and Discovery Mode million in Series A funding to bankroll its growth New York. People with tech expertise are also located as House Judiciary strategy as live concerts return and online concerts in Denver and San Francisco. Probe Continues aim for the mainstream. Founded in the wake of COVID-19, when the Inter- • Britney Spears’ Dad Mandolin’s funding came from several venture net was the only respite for concert-deprived music James Spears Seeks capital firms, including 645 Ventures; Foundry Group, fans, Mandolin exits the pandemic to a drastically Court Probe of Her investor in Harmonix and Mixhalo; “venture studio” different reality. With vaccination rates over 50% Allegations From High Alpha; and TIME Ventures, the investment fund in many states, and venues re-opening and booking Conservatorship of Salesforce founder Marc Benioff. High Alpha and shows into 2022, in-person concerts and festivals are Hearing Benioff also took part in Mandolin’s seed round that back in full force. For Mandolin and its investors, the • How Will was announced in October 2020. question is whether livestreaming will remain after #FreeBritney Deal CEO Mary Kay Huse says Mandolin’s strategy fits pandemic-weary music lovers leave their homes again. With a ‘Ruthless’ with 645 Ventures’ experience in consumer and B2B “Yes, I believe it absolutely is here to stay,” says Probate System? Law Experts Assess technologies. Huse. “I think that sentiment is shared across a major- “Not just their investment but their experience will ity of the industry.” • Edén Muñoz and help supercharge our growth strategy — particularly She adds, “Very few people had experienced a live Manuel Turizo Win in such a fast-growing company,” Huse tells Billboard. stream pre-pandemic. Anywhere from 80 to 90% Songwriter of the Year at 2021 SESAC Mandolin will use the funding to build the company of fans surveyed have now experienced one and Latin Music Awards from 50 employees at the end of 2020 to an estimated whole the majority of those fans absolutely plan on 100 by the end of the year, Huse estimates. About half going back to in person shows, they also want to con- • BILLBOARD 200 of the staff are headquartered in Indianapolis. About a tinue to have the option of streaming live.” CLICK HERE dozen people focused on artist and venue relations are (continued) TOTAL IMMERSION ESSENTIAL ANALYSIS of the latest business topics and trends formulated to give industry players the competitive advantage in a rapidly changing market. EXCLUSIVE QUARTERLY REPORTS that deliver in-depth, holistic reporting; case studies; and custom data designed to serve the industry. A DEEP DIVE LIBRARY stocked with intelligence on fan data, SUBSCRIBE TO BILLBOARD PRO FOR song catalog sales, TV synchs, Africa’s burgeoning music ACCESS TO NEW REPORTS business and the gaming industry’s embrace of artists. AND THE ARCHIVE Panos Panay Harvey Mason jr. Valeisha Butterfield Jones Co-President CEO Co-President A BOLD NEW ERA IS HERE The next generation of Recording Academy leadership. GRAMMY.COM Page 3 of 24 IN BRIEF One reason Mandolin likes its chances is The 12-song, hour-long show also marked because its new platform, Mandolin Live+, Meet The Creative the live premiere of Sheeran’s new single, uses its core streaming business as a jumping “Bad Habits,” which TikTok previewed off point to the rest of the concert experience. Team Behind Ed exclusively the week before, and it has in- Huse compares Mandolin’s plan for spired more than 400,000 fan videos to date, Live+ to the way people enjoy sports. Sheeran’s Record- the platform says. Most fans choose to watch the game live Following the gig, Billboard spoke from their homes and enjoy the pre-game, Breaking TikTok with Paul Hourican, TikTok’s U.K. head of halftime and post-game shows. Some people music operations, Ed Howard, co-president attend the game and increasingly use their Livestream of Atlantic Records U.K., and Emil Nava, an smartphones to enhance their experi- award-winning music video director. The ences. Simply watching the field, court BY RICHARD SMIRKE three worked alongside director Hamish or diamond has become a bore. Stream- Hamilton on creating the record-breaking ing apps give audiences on-demand video ONDON – The long list of records livestream. “We’ve really taken livestream- replays. And newer sports venues allow that Ed Sheeran has smashed ing vertical,” says Hourican, “and we’ve people to order food and drinks from their throughout his career continues taken it to another level.” seats. to grow. Billboard: When did conversations Transforming the concertgoing experi- LMore than 5.5. million unique viewers about this project first take place and ence inside venues could be the game- watched the singer’s TikTok livestream last what were your aims going into it? changer that sets a livestreaming company Friday (June 25) and the two replays the fol- Ed Howard: TikTok approached us ear- apart. Venues will follow businesses such lowing day. That makes it the biggest-ever lier in the year and we loved the idea. The as grocery stores into contact-less ordering live music performance on TikTok, says the timing was perfect. Ed’s a football fan and and pickup, which became a standard retail platform, surpassing the 4 million people he’s recently done a shirt sponsorship deal offering that will live beyond the pandemic. who tuned in for Justin Bieber’s Valentine’s with Ipswich Town. There were so many The same cloud-based platform could pow- Day TikTok livestream in February. things to like about it. [Ed Sheeran] played er a smartphone app that provides a venue Sheeran’s global livestream was filmed in his last live shows in Ipswich two years ago with new tools, and a concertgoer with the U.K. at a spectator-free Portman Road and it’s going to be a while until anybody features such as multiple camera angles, soccer field — home to the singer’s favorite can see him really do that again. So, this was something Mandolin is currently piloting, team, Ipswich Town Football Club — and an opportunity for fans to see something says Huse. was conceived and filmed specifically they have been starved of for a long time. “It gives us more shows and more op- for the TikTok audience. It incorporated And also, to open it up to a whole new audi- portunities to amplify in-person experiences special effects, augmented reality and other ence. which we think ultimately is the more excit- prominent TikTok creators like Jeremy Paul Hourican: TikTok is native vertical ing vision,” she says. Lynch, Nathan Ramsay and Leticia Stock. app, so we wanted to make something that AUTHORITATIVE INTELLIGENCE. DELIVERED DIGITALLY. CLICK HERE FOR FREE DELIVERY DIGITAL NEWSLETTERS Congratulations, 2021 BILLBOARD COUNTRY POWER PLAYERS Including our very own Diane Pearson and Lori Badgett. Diane Pearson Lori Badgett SVP and Team Leader SVP and Team Leader Entertainment Division, Entertainment Division, Nashville Nashville Discover The way up® at cnb.com. City National Bank Member FDIC. City National Bank is a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada. ©2021 City National Bank. All Rights Reserved. 431479 BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 13, 2020 | PAGE Page 4 5 OF of 1924 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] IN BRIEF SamHunt’s Southside Rules Top Country reallyA maximizedlbums; the space. Brett So how do youY oungEmil just ‘Catcreally ran withh it.’-es Emil had Fifth the ers Airplay that could be well be incorporated into capture all the grandeur, bells and whistles crazy idea of having all these phones on the stadium shows and concerts going forward. and excitementLea of a liveder; show, butTravis do it in stage,Denning so Ed could speak Makes directly to the audi History- BB: What were your personal high- vertical? We were really keen to present Ed ence. They really just ran with it and created lights from the concert? and present the show in way where there’s something awesome. We also spent a lot of Emil Nava: I’ve always been a fan of “You Sama familiarity Hunt’s second to it for studio the TikTokfull-length, community. and first in overtime five and years, effort Southside bringing sales in some (up 21%) ground- in the trackingNeed week. Me, On ICountry Don’t NeedAirplay, You.” it hops It 18-15was mine (11.9 mil - (MCABut an Nashville/Universal incredible spectacle Music as Group well. Nashville), debutsbreaking at No. 1 onaugmented Billboard’s realitylion audiencethat you impressions, have andup 16%). Ed’s first ever video together and it was Top Country Albums chart dated April 18. In its first week (ending April 9), it Emil Nava: The biggest thing we didn’t never seen before, particularly in a stadium the beginning of our friendship and career. earned 46,000 equivalent album units, including 16,000 in album sales, ac- TRY TO ‘CATCH’ UP WITH YOUNG Brett Youngachieves his fifth consecutive cordingwant to to do Nielsen was just Music/MRC make a [traditional] Data. live environment. and total Country Airplay No.It 1was as “Catch” also the (Big song Machine that ended Label Group) this show ascends show.Southside The biggest marks Hunt’s challenge second for No. all of1 on us, the Ed Howard: There’s no other artist in and2-1, Ed’s increasing performance 13% to 36.6 was million just unreal.