Don’t call it a bubble-pop! But music-focused financing is down a lofty 37 percent on the year, according to stats compiled by Digital Music News. This includes the range of venture capital, angel, and broader private equity funding, based on rounds we could confirm with the companies. The year-to-date count (as of July 20th) now stands at $256 million even, a number that includes a monstrous, $50 million round for Soundcloud in January and a downright Herculean, $135 million round for Sonos in June.
And, there could be another ‘mini-bubble’ in the works. Indeed, June has been one of the biggest in recent memory for music-related startups and companies. Still, that wasn’t enough to surpass a comparable tally of nearly $406.5 million at the same point in 2011.
Signs of a fresh bubble ahead are hard to miss. Outrageously large rounds for Spotify and VEVO are expected, if Sonos hasn’t already convinced you.
And, these ransom-drops typically happen at random chronological moments. For example, the grand total for 2011 ended up being $462.6 million, with most of it happening in the first half.
Here’s the tally of all the 2012 rounds so far. This doesn’t include rumored and unconfirmed rounds, of which there are certainly a few.
