Through the pandemic, it was billed as one of many main platforms within the music livestreaming house. Final yr, it was named the most innovative music company in the world by Quick Firm.
However now Mandolin has introduced it’s shutting down its platform.
Mandolin was co-founded in June 2020 by former Salesforce EVP and COO Mary Kay Huse, who grew to become its CEO.
In June 2021, the agency introduced that it had closed a USD $12 million Sequence A funding spherical, co-led by 645 Ventures and Foundry Group, with returning investments from Excessive Alpha and Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures.
That funding got here eight months after Mandolin secured a separate $5 million seed investment, with participation from Excessive Alpha Capital, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.
In a statement on Instagram yesterday (April 19), Mandolin confirmed: “After 3 unbelievable years, we’re unhappy to announce that Mandolin will now not offer the digital fan experiences you’ve come to like. We’d wish to sincerely thank each fan that supported their favourite artist’s livestream, digital meet & greet and fan web page on our platform; doing so helped create a extra genuine ecosystem for followers and artists alike.
“We sincerely consider within the energy of followers to uplift your complete music group for the higher, so please think about redirecting the cash and a spotlight you’ll have paid to see a stream with us to purchasing your favourite artist’s newest vinyl, merch or tour ticket on their channels of alternative!”
In June final yr, Indianapolis-headquartered Mandolin introduced via a press release that it was launching the “music business’s first all-in-one knowledge unification and advice platform”.
That launch concerned the introduction of ‘Fan Navigator’ – which Mandolin known as “probably the most highly effective knowledge dashboard accessible within the Business” – plus ‘Fan Pages’.
The media launch acknowledged: “Trusted by over 1,000 artists up to now, Mandolin Fan Experiences is the business’s most complete set of fan connection instruments, spanning from livestreams and digital meet & greets to NFTs. And now, with the assistance of Mandolin Fan Web page, a free feature-rich link-in-bio resolution, artists can create a hyper-engaged group in only a few clicks, rewarding superfans whereas deanonymizing passive followers.”
Mandolin isn’t the primary music livestreaming platform to hit the skids within the post-pandemic period.
Classes, which was based by ex-Pandora boss Tim Westergren in 2020, quietly shut down in Q1 this yr.
“Let’s face it, digital music has failed the working musician,” mentioned Westergren on the time of Classes’ launch.
“Recorded music has been devalued, and digital retail is driving artists farther from their viewers. They want an alternate. Classes places management again within the arms of the artist. We generate the viewers and allow artists to show that fan base right into a reliable basis of assist and direct patronage. A monetary reward system pushed by fandom.”
Elsewhere within the tech x music sphere, we realized this month that Gimme Radio is to close down on April 29.
The platform will shutter little over a yr after elevating a seven-figure funding from backers together with The Orchard, iHeartMedia, and Harmony.
Gimme Radio ran two companies – Gimme Metallic for heavy metallic followers and Gimme Nation for nation/Americana followers.Music Enterprise Worldwide
