Apple's Investment, Strategic Partnership In UnitedMasters: What You Need to Know

Apple Inc. AAPL made an atypical move by opting to seed invest in UnitedMasters that promotes independent artists. The tech giant is known for its outright buys rather than making strategic investments.

What Happened: Apple is leading a $50 million Series B funding in UnitedMasters and has also stitched up a strategic partnership with the latter.

Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which are already investors in UnitedMasters, have also participated in the recent financing round. These companies along with Walt Disney Co DIS-owned 21st Century Fox had contributed $70 million in Series A funding in 2017.

UnitedMasters, founded by Steve Stoute in 2017, is a distribution app that allows artists to release music easily from iMessage to all major streaming platforms. It also promises artists 100% ownership of their music.

Related Link: 10 Things Apple Investors May Wish For In 2021

Why It's Important: Apple's partnership with UnitedMasters is seen as eventually paving the way of integration with Apple Music. UnitedMasters supports publishing to multiple platforms, including TikTok and Spotify Technology S.A. SPOT.

In 2018, Apple acquired London-based Platoon, which helps independent artists fund, distribute and market their content.

For UnitedMasters, the infusion would come in handy to hire talent to the company global, as it's scouting for local technical talent and artists talent to build out the platform worldwide, TechCrunch reported citing Stoute.