PRESS RELEASE: Blockchain-powered music data tracking platform Utopia Music announces acquisition of ISPY Group
Please find below a press release announcing the acquisition of Swedish technology development company ISPY Group by blockchain-powered music data tracking platform Utopia Music.
With an estimated $30-60 billion worth of untapped revenue in the music industry, and with the sum of royalties collected by performing rights agencies (PROs) remaining unallocated, unattributed, and largely unpaid to rights holders due to missing ownership information, Utopia Music aims to leverage blockchain technology to create a new music ecosystem which seeks to provide a new industry standard for all stakeholders by offering transparency, fairness, and smart contract-based payment processing.
The acquisition of ISPY Group and the incorporation of its cutting-edge technological solutions will allow Utopia Music to bolster the strength of its platform and service offerings.
Utopia Music Announces Acquisition of ISPY Group
Blockchain-powered music data tracking platform acquires Swedish technology development company to open avenues to an estimated $30-60 billion of untapped revenue in the music industry
Zug, Switzerland - October 11th, 2018 - Utopia Music, the company behind cutting-edge data analysis and blockchain-powered tracking and attribution platforms, are building towards its goal of creating a more transparent and efficient music ecosystem, with the announcement of the acquisition of ISPY Group, a full-service technology development company.
Established in 2003, ISPY Group is a Stockholm-based digital agency which specialises in multi-platform development, design and usability, tailored online strategies, and hosting infrastructure for online media and internet companies. ISPY Group delivers scalable and secure global infrastructures with some of its clients’ platforms handling over 100 million users worldwide.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mattias Hjelmstedt, CEO and Founder of Utopia Music, said: “At Utopia Music, we are building an inclusive ecosystem which will benefit all stakeholders in the music world by removing existing inefficiencies and unlocking untracked revenues. Our technology will fuel streamlined rights management, allowing for flexible and customisable payments, as well as providing insightful user data to help artists and businesspeople make more informed decisions.”
“Our strategic acquisition of the ISPY Group will help us build a powerful data communications protocol upon which any third-party can build new products and services, fuelling value creation in the wider music ecosystem. The wealth of tech talent from ISPY Group — composed of more than 30 R&D engineers and designers — and their cutting-edge technological solutions will strengthen our platform and service offering, allowing us to become a leader in the space,” he continued.
The acquisition will facilitate the rapid global scaling of Utopia Music’s platform and help expand its business operations. Following the commencement of the acquisition in mid-June 2018, the ISPY Group is expected to be fully incorporated into Utopia Music AG by the end of the year. Utopia Music’s head office, along with management of the group, will continue to run out of Crypto Valley in Zug, Switzerland, with operations, technology, and development being run from Barcelona, Spain, and Stockholm, Sweden.
Peter Karlsson, CEO and Strategic Business Developer at ISPY Group, said: “ISPY Group has always had a bold vision to help our clients change the way they leverage technology, and we are proud to be contributing to the end-to-end digitisation of the music value chain and the revitalisation of the status quo with our deep expertise and knowledge. Joining forces with Utopia Music allows us to strategically pivot from being a consulting business to becoming a product development company, and the engine that powers the music industry.”
By collecting massive volumes of data, creating unique metadata, and building real-time analytics tools, Utopia Music is unlocking creative value and opening avenues to access an estimated $30 - $60 billion of untapped revenue in the music industry. Utopia Music will also offer refined user data to help shape better business decisions in a digital era, in order to better connect artists to fans. Utopia’s transparent and unified music rights database will ensure that rights holders and licensees are represented, protected, and paid. Its smart contract-powered, blockchain-based architecture will also allow for the automated administration and distribution of royalty payouts.
For more information, visit https://utopiamusic.com/
About Utopia Music
Utopia Music is on a mission to translate the world of music data into a form that helps creators, businesspeople, and consumers by collecting massive volumes of data, creating unique metadata, and building real-time analytics tools for the music industry.
Leveraging blockchain technology to create a new music ecosystem, Utopia Music seeks to provide a new industry standard for all stakeholders by offering transparency, fairness, and smart contract-based payment processing. Founded in late-2016, Utopia Music will provide the missing link necessary to revitalise the current inefficient structure of the music industry by providing better analytics, faster payments, and unlocking new revenue streams.
About Mattias Hjelmstedt
Mattias Hjelmstedt is CEO and Founder of Utopia Music. A serial entrepreneur, Mattias has successfully founded and sold a number of technology companies since the early 1990s. An unparalleled innovator, Mattias’s passion for combining media and tech has pushed him to help transform and build several industries including e-sports and digital TV.
Within e-sports, Mattias was one of the pioneers, designing the first social platforms for games and assisting in the creation of the software still used today to power some of the world’s largest games, including Battlefield. Unhappy with the state of the Video-on-Demand (VOD) services, Mattias was an early architect of VOD for premium film and p2p distribution. With this knowledge, Mattias was then able to successfully navigate TV’s challenging copyright landscape and help turn online TV into a global reality.
Mattias´s media career shows, above all, that he understands not only how to disrupt, innovate, and drive efficiency within established industries, but also how to create a user experience which propels growth and provides value for consumers.
About Peter Karlsson
Peter Karlsson is CEO and Strategic Business Developer at ISPY Group. With more than 20 years’ experience in the online business and product development field, Peter has worked with startups, agencies, and one of the world’s largest multinational communications companies Telenor. In his role as Head of Online Business Development at Telenor, one of his responsibilities was to merge the silo development between various brands to become more cost and time efficient, and to bring the product more quickly to market.
In the last decade, Peter has been part of many leading movements in the technology industry, including being part of the team that pioneered a landmark deal between Bredbandsbolaget and Spotify, marking the music streaming giant’s first ever partnership. Peter also played a key role in spearheading a collaboration between Sony Music and Bredbandsbolaget, organising the first live streamed concert from Nalen, Stockholm, with Swedish artist Christian Walz.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://hodlitbro.com.au/2018/10/12/press-release-blockchain-powered-music-data-tracking-platform-utopia-music-announces-acquisition-of-ispy-group/