Pipeline executive chairman Matt Spetzler (left) and Merlin CEO Charlie Lexton. Photo Credit: Merlin
Days after launching with a goal of becoming today’s “largest funder of independent music,” B2B advance platform Pipeline has officially partnered with Merlin.
Fresh off the announcement of its Udio licensing agreement, Merlin disclosed the Pipeline pact moments ago. Co-founded by Matt Spetzler, the latter company set sail on Tuesday and noted that it’d already secured north of $200 million from investors.
Now, some of this funding is poised to reach Merlin members. Time will tell precisely what the new partnership looks like in practice; Pipeline still has a waitlist for prospective capital recipients, with one of the appropriate form’s questions concerning the applicant’s Merlin membership status.
But at the top level, with the option to access Pipeline advances, Merlin members can “grow their businesses and unlock the value of future revenues without disrupting existing commercial relationships,” according to the indie collective.
On the “option” front, Merlin also stressed that members can decide whether to explore financing via Pipeline, deals with which shouldn’t prevent arrangements involving different players.
“Importantly,” Merlin spelled out here, “the service is entirely optional, and participation does not prevent Merlin members from entering into financing or commercial arrangements with other parties. Merlin members retain full flexibility and complete control over their broader business dealings.”
Elsewhere in their release, the relevant entities didn’t dive into eligibility requirements or funding-term details. As we covered earlier this week, though, Pipeline aims to work with “labels with over $500k in annual revenue and digital distributors with over $1M in revenue,” its website shows.
Per the same source, advances “typically range anywhere from 20% to 100% of the annual revenue,” repayment terms usually run three to five years, and Pipeline draws a “percentage of monthly royalties until the advance is recouped, subject to a monthly minimum.”
In a statement, Spetzler reiterated the above-mentioned goal and described affording indies advances against digital royalties as “not only possible, but practical and scalable.”
And in remarks of his own, Merlin CEO Charlie Lexton touted the Pipeline partnership as “a gamechanger.”
“We can now offer Merlin members a streamlined path to advance funding that doesn’t require them to compromise their rights or business plans,” Lexton continued. “We’re supporting our members’ ability to compete, while preserving their freedom to work as they choose. Merlin members work on their own terms.
“They need support that speeds them up, not processes that slow them down. With Pipeline, we have found a partner that understands that, and together we have developed an offering that meets that challenge,” he concluded.
