Spotifys principal owner Northzone Ventures is investing 7 million Euro in the Swedish music company X5 Music that in a short matter of time has grown to become the leading digital record label in Europe. The new funding will first and foremost be used to facilitate signing of American artists and to increase X5 Music´s current catalogue.
“We are opening up a new office in New York at the beginning of 2011. We will be specializing in investments regarding American artists and music catalogues. Our business plan to be the best in the digital market has been very successful. With Northzones strengths and front edge competence within the streaming music department, we can now truly be the best alternative for major American artists†– says Johan Lagerlöf CEO at X5 Music.
Through the investment in X5 Music, Northzone is getting a deeper involvement into the value chain within the digital music area, a market they believe has substantial growing potential.
“Our vision is that the whole music industry will be digital within the next five to ten years. X5 Music has shown that it is the best music company in the world to act in this market. Together we are getting a unique possibility to take on the leading role in this exciting market that is constantly growing. X5 Music has grown quickly and with our investment we are hoping to accelerate this even more.†– says Torleif Ahlsand, general partner in Northzone Ventures.
During 2010, X5 Music has had more than 10 albums on the American Billboard chart, even though the company only distributes its music digitally and is based in Stockholm. X5 Music´s ambition is to, with their local presence and Northzones support, be the leading company in the digital music market in USA. The USA-expansion would make them the first Swedish “record label†in 50 years to do so.
About X5 Music:
X5 Music Group is the leading digital music company in Europe. They specialize in music products meant for online distribution and mobile services. X5 Music has its headquarters in Stockholm and the company distributes and sells music through a wide variety of media channels, such as iTunes, Real Networks, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, CDON and Amazon. With a total of 70 million downloads sold, X5 Music is Amazon and iTunes biggest European partner. The companys extensive catalogue consists of 8 000 albums and 200 000 music recordings.
About Northzone Ventures:
Northzone is a European Venture Capital Partnership with a Nordic stronghold. With dedicated professionals in Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen – most of whom are themselves former successful entrepreneurs, Northzone work round the clock to help its portfolio companies grab whatever world market they are after. Northzone has been around since 1994, raised and managed 6 funds with consistent top-tier returns, and currently manage € 350 million. Northzone’s investments include great companies like Spotify, Tobii, Lastminute.com, Stepstone, Nimsoft, Funcom and NextGenTel.