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Business News Digital
Cür Media raises $2 million, needs quite a lot more
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 15 April 2016
Streaming music newcomer Cür Media yesterday announced the completion of a new $2 million funding round led by Intuitive Venture Partners and Katalyst Securities. That sounds like a significant sum of money for a start-up, though in a streaming music sector where Spotify just raised another billion, not so much.
While Cür is some way off operating at a scale where a money pot of $1 billion is required, the company admits that the two million will only buy the firm a few weeks’ grace. According to company filings, Cür is already behind on previously reported commitments to pay $8 million in advances to the majors to secure access to their catalogues.
$500,000 of this new money is being paid over to placate the rights owners in the short term, with plans to pay the balance in June. Given that much of the rest of the $2 million is needed for development and running costs at the streaming firm, that probably means Cür needs to find backers who will stump up another $7.5 million pretty damn quickly.
Which possibly sounds like a bit of tall order, given the challenges of getting a streaming service off the ground, though bosses at the firm have put a positive spin on the modest cash injection they have secured.
Says CEO Tom Brophy: “I’m pleased to have completed this financing and to move our company one step closer toward the launch of Cür Music. We intend to work diligently to move our company forward and deliver on the great potential of Cür Music in the multi-billion dollar music streaming industry. I’m grateful for my team who have worked diligently to prepare a terrific and competitive product for consumers at a price-point of $1.99 per month that works for the masses”.
Those of you thinking the mid-price Cür Music streaming service had already launched in the US, well, that was a soft launch, see. The company is hoping to properly launch its long in development mainstream streaming product later this year, rushed fund-raising and tricky label deal renegotiations permitting.
