Baton, a music industry startup, has successfully raised $4.2 million in funding, as announced by the company. This new capital infusion will be directed towards enhancing Baton’s product, expanding its team, and introducing new features.
Established by musician Gabe Warshaw, Baton launched its private beta in 2022. It serves as a collaborative platform for artists, producers, managers, A&R representatives (who are responsible for talent scouting), and catalog administrators. The platform enables them to share unreleased music, discover new content, collaborate with others, and ensure that all creators are properly recognized and remunerated for their contributions.
Baton is particularly focused on providing a solution for musicians whose work has been used or altered without their consent. It offers a transparent system where creators can track who has accessed their material, whether it’s a complete song, a sample, or a pack, thus maintaining visibility throughout the collaboration process.
In addition to these features, the startup is also developing a decentralized infrastructure to allow creators to upload their songs securely, without the fear of intellectual property theft. The platform incorporates an automated system for payouts as well.
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“Music has always been integral to my life. Raised in New York City‘s East Village by two artist parents, I began drumming at the age of two,” Warshaw shared with TechCrunch. “My upbringing in the music scene, coupled with my experience as a professional musician, gave me an up-close perspective on the difficulties talented artists face in making a living from their art. Initially concentrating on physical infrastructure in my career, I founded Baton out of a desire to create digital solutions for the everyday challenges I observed in the industry.”
In addition to his role at Baton, Warshaw is the founder of Prince Street Studios, a recording studio located in Brooklyn.
Baton has reportedly facilitated connections for hundreds of artists and safeguarded the intellectual property of thousands of songs. Among its notable clients are DJ Dahi, a Grammy-winning producer known for his work with celebrities like Kendrick Lamar, Drake, J. Cole, Rihanna, and Post Malone, and A&R Sickamore, renowned for managing the careers of Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott.
DJ Dahi praised Baton, stating, “Baton is an incredible resource for discovering emerging talent that I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.”
Sickamore echoed this sentiment, remarking, “In the intersection of music and technology, Baton stands out for perfectly aligning its vision with its execution. It’s the solution that budding producers and established artists alike have been eagerly anticipating.”
The funding round was led by BITKRAFT Ventures and saw participation from Techstars, Dorm Room Fund, NYU’s Innovation Venture Fund, the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship, Dark Arts, Franklin Templeton, Harmonic Future, and angel investors from the music industry.
The investment is earmarked for hiring in engineering, product development, and marketing. Additionally, it will enable the company to create a mixed-media collaboration and rights management ecosystem catering to visual artists, filmmakers, and designers.
Interested users can gain early access to the platform by signing up on Baton’s website.
