Production-music firm Epidemic Sound has raised a $20m funding round, which the company says will fuel its expansion to Asia. The round includes equity funding from Korean investor DS Asset Management, and debt funding from Swedish group SEB. Epidemic is opening an office in South Korea this autumn, in partnership with the former company.
“We have witnessed strong growth in demand for Epidemic’s music platform across the Asian continent prior to even having a presence there, so this launch feels like a natural next step for Epidemic,” said CEO Oscar Hoglund in a statement, with his company saying it has doubled its revenues in the past year.
Music Ally followed up to find out more about Epidemic’s plans in Asia, which will kick off with an emphasis on licensing music to YouTubers and other online-video customers. “Our first step is to enable content creators and storytellers to access and use our music, which provides a huge opportunity for our emerging artists that are looking to get exposure in that part of the world,” Hoglund told us. “Signing K-pop music creators is on our list for 2020 and beyond.” He added that South Korea will be the hub for wider ambitions. “We’re absolutely using our entry into Korea as a way to enter Japan and China. It is a phased plan so we don’t have specifics on timings of when we’ll open up our catalogue to each country with localised content, for example, but it is in our plan.”
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