Last Monday, I came across Walter the Producer, an indie musician from Boston. His music isn’t featured on any of the playlists I follow, and he has fewer than 150,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. I found his song on Shazam while I was 2,000 miles away from home in a brewery in Phoenix.
Discovering new music has become a sort of challenge. Walter the Producer even playfully acknowledges this in his Spotify artist bio, stating, “If you gatekeep me i will hunt you down.” Traditionally, well-funded artists have had an advantage over independent musicians when it comes to promotion. However, changes in algorithms at platforms like Spotify, the popularity of viral TikTok songs, and strategy shifts at publications like Pitchfork and Rolling Stone have made it much more difficult.
Creating music has become more accessible than ever. This environment inspired the founders of Groover, a Paris-based startup established in 2018. The platform helps independent artists promote their work by allowing them to submit music to individual curators who can offer feedback and help amplify music they believe in. Romain Palmieri, co-founder and CEO of Groover, explained that the company was created to address the promotion challenges they encountered in their own music careers.
Recently, Groover secured an $8 million Series A funding round led by OneRagtime, Techmind, Trind, and Mozza Angels. The company intends to use this capital to further expand its presence in the U.S., its largest market, and enhance its offerings for artists, including coaching and promotional resources.
The company’s business model is distinctive. The 3,000 and growing music curators on Groover determine their own price, with each transaction being divided equally between the curator and Groover. Palmieri mentioned that if a curator doesn’t listen to a song within seven days, the musician will receive a refund, but 90% of requests are typically answered within that timeframe.
While I appreciate the concept of artists being able to establish direct relationships with different curators, it’s disheartening that pay-to-play has emerged as the primary option for independent artists. The curators working with Groover are not just promoting music they like but rather music they like and have been paid to listen to.
However, I recognize that as the number of independent musicians continues to rapidly increase, music journalism is shrinking. Although the solutions may not be perfect, they are necessary. The fact that artists have the freedom to choose who they work with on Groover, the outreach is relatively affordable, and the response rate is high makes this appear to be the most artist-friendly approach outside of earned promotion.
Palmieri added that a majority of independent artists do not have better or more cost-effective options. They can either persistently pitch their music to publications with no guarantee of getting noticed or pay for PR, which does not guarantee success.
This system also benefits music curators. They often struggle to identify standout music in the ever-growing sea of new releases. Groover’s platform helps them receive direct payment for their work, thus making their jobs a bit easier.
It’s encouraging to see efforts being made to address this issue because, as a listener, discovering new music has become noticeably more challenging. Many tweets and conversations with friends highlight this widespread issue. In a Facebook group named “Music Aficionados” that my friends and I started in high school to share new music, only one person still posts.
Additionally, Groover is not the only startup aiming to assist small musicians. GigFinesse is another startup that helps musicians and venues streamline the booking and payment process for gigs.
I appreciate GigFinesse in the same way I do Groover; I value startups that provide clear solutions for both sides of the equation. Both of these startups offer assistance to artists and the industry professionals required to support them. The community needs each other to thrive, and every musician has to start somewhere.
