Independent distribution and artist services platform Too Lost said on Monday (March 16) that Goldstate Music Group and private equity firm TA Associates made strategic investments in the company to help fuel its global expansion and tech development for independent labels and artists.
Too Lost declined to disclose the amount of capital raised, but said the company’s founders remain the largest individual shareholders. Goldstate’s investment comes out of its growth strategy fund, which is backed by Bridgepoint. The funding round included a senior credit facility from Pinnacle Financial Partners that will be used to support artist advances, catalog acquisitions and broader strategic initiatives.
Too Lost says it has 450,000 independent label and artist clients, primarily in the U.S., and around 100 employees. Founded in 2020, Too Lost rapidly scaled its music distribution services, the technology that allows songs to be uploaded to streaming services and other digital stores, landing early clients like Pink Sweat$, Chief Keef, Lil Tjay and Ye, and becoming profitable enough that the company had until now never taken outside investments, co-founder and CEO Gregory Hirschhorn tells Billboard.
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“With a lot more capital, we could be more aggressive in the expansion of our platform and continuing to build great services and tools for our existing clients and for new clients,” Hirschhorn says, adding they will also use the capital to finance and collateralize back catalogs for indie musicians and labels to finance new projects. “The capital will allow us to make continued, further investment into independent labels and artists by being able to fuel new projects.”
TA Associates’ Michael Berk said in a statement that Too Lost stood out in a crowded field of distribution service providers because its “high-touch services” position the company to serve indie artists and benefit from that sector’s growth.
“The independent music sector continues to grow faster than the broader industry, and creators are increasingly looking for sophisticated support and services without sacrificing ownership,” said Berk, managing director and co-head of TA’s North America Services Group.
Goldstate’s investment from its growth equity fund expands its existing client relationship with Too Lost, which distributes some of Goldstate’s 85 catalogs.
“They are more nimble than any other distributor because of the fact that they are a relatively new company with excellent tech capabilities,” founder and managing partner of GoldState Music Charles Goldstruck tells Billboard. “We deal with 30 different distributors across our 85 catalogs, and I’ve not found a platform that is more intuitive and easy to use than Too Lost.”
JEGI LEONIS was Too Lost’s financial advisor and Paul Hastings was its legal counsel. Ropes & Gray LLP provided legal counsel to TA Associates. Audit, tax and additional advisory services were provided by Deloitte LLP, EisnerAmper LLP, and Grant Thornton LLP.
