STOCKHOLM, SE (Hypebot) – Spotify has sold the music creation app Soundtrap back to its founders, Per Emanuelsson and Bjorn Melinder – a little more than five years after the streamer bought it for what was estimated (at the time) to be $30 million. The financial details of the new deal were not disclosed.
Spotify’s decision to move away from music creation comes at a time when major labels are calling on the streamer to deal with what they see as the glut of music caused by the 120,000 tracks uploaded daily, mainly by DIY artists that use apps like Soundtrap.
The music creation space is also getting more crowded with the launch of dozens of AI-powered tools and competitor BandLab announcing that it has more than 60 million users.
“Soundtrap was built to provide the best collaboration platform for making music online,” said Per Emanuelsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Soundtrap, in a statement. “Together with Soundtrap’s co-founder, Björn Melinder, we’ve made the decision to acquire the company from Spotify, returning to an independent operation. Over the last five years, we’ve greatly benefitted from Spotify’s expertise and global reach, enabling us to rapidly scale our service and launch new products. We thank Spotify for helping to set us on our trajectory today and are very excited for the future.”
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.
