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Leading tech figures from companies including Twitch, Spotify, Deezer and Snapchat back social platform that already has 1.1 million active users, integration with Viber and 35 million monthly plays
 

Voicy, an online content platform for discovering, creating and sharing sound-clips and sound-effects, has secured a €1.2 million pre-Seed round led by Oliver Samwer’s Global Founders Capital.
 
Senior executives from a host of leading tech companies including Twitch, Spotify, Deezer, Snapchat, Booking, Uber, Reddit, Acast and Tesla also contributed to the round. The funding will be used to grow Voicy’s team, develop its partnership network and expand its presence across Europe and the US.
 
Voicy has two sides to its business. The first enables users to create or use a library of short audio messages or sound effects, which can then be downloaded, shared or messaged. The second is an instant integration with consumer apps and social platforms which enable users to search and send sound clips and audio GIFs as part of their existing chat function. Voicy’s mission is to do for sound clips what GIPHY has done for GIFs.
 
In just over a year, Voicy (https://www.voicy.network/) has built a community of 1.1 million regular users who have created a database of 125,000 unique sounds totalling an average of 35 million monthly plays. On top of that, 10,000 new sounds are added each month. Voicy has also recently signed a partnership with Viber with users having sent over 20 million audio messages,  which have been played together 100 million times in only three months.
 
Among the investors in Voicy are Jeronimo Folgueira (CEO, Deezer), Sven Ahrens (director of global growth, Spotify), Oskar Serrander (COO, Acast), David Vismans (former CPO, Booking), Sunita Kaur (senior VP at Twitch, former director at Facebook), Mike Sackler (Founder and partner, VC Supernode Global) and serial investor Wouter Kneepkens.
 
Xander Kanon, Co-Founder and CEO of Voicy, said: “There is a communication shift happening in which shorter formats of content have become more important and popular than ever before. First you had emojis, then you had GIFs and now you have ‘Voicies’.
 
We believe that audio memes will become the next big thing in social media and will play especially a vital role in the future of communication within streaming and gaming applications. When sharing our vision with investors, we always got the same question: Why doesn't this exist yet? Voicy enables users to express themselves in a completely new way. With Voicy's short entertaining sounds, communication becomes more direct, fun and expressive. In essence, the excitement for our community and users is that they can create iconic sound bites which can then become part of the language millions of people from across the world use to communicate with.
 
This funding round will enable us to take the next step on our journey, which is building up our team, improving our product offering and securing partnerships with some of the world’s leading apps and communication platforms.
 
Our partnership with Viber showcases how quickly and easily major platforms can integrate with Voicy using a simple universal API.”
 
Soheil Mirpour from Global Founders Capital, said: “Voicy is a very exciting new startup. In short order, their strong team has grown a huge community of very active users who are creating hundreds of pieces of new audio content every day. There’s a massive amount of potential for short audio in social communication. A Discord user spends on average 285 minutes a day in a Discord voice chat, people share 7 billion voice messages per day on Whatsapp alone and billions of people use short audio in their Tiktok or Instagram videos. Voicy brings a new concept to the table, which is ready to disrupt an enormous market - we knew we had to invest."
 
Sven Ahrens, Director of Global Growth at Spotify, said: “Voicy combines the most interesting trends in user-generated audio content for messaging and gaming – what is there not to love? Every messaging, media and gaming platform is trying to get audio interactions right, and with Voicy they have the perfect tool right in front of them. Fueled by a fervent community of soundboard creators, people from all over the world can now send quick reactions and emotions as sounds. No matter what app they’re in.”

03 Nov 2025 | Press release

The Team Around You Launches — Connecting Artists with Vetted Music Industry Experts

Platform founded by highly regarded executive, Phil Loutsis, who has more than 15 years music industry experience The Team Around You, a platform connecting artists with vetted music industry experts on a consulting basis, has today confirmed its full launch on...more

03 Nov 2025 | Press release

New campaign to ‘demystify’ jobs in the creative industries for young people from working class and underrepresented backgrounds

  More young people from underrepresented backgrounds to be launched into careers in the creative industries as part of the Plan for Change  New research shows half of 11-18 year olds say do not know what qualifications are needed for creative jobs...more

03 Nov 2025 | Press release

Nelonen Media Live and Warner Music live strengthen festival partnership

Nelonen Media Live and Warner Music Live have signed a partnership agreement that deepens their collaboration in festival programming and artist bookings. As part of the partnership, Warner Music Live - a division of Warner Music Finland - will take...more

03 Nov 2025 | Press release

Greatest Hits Radio: Bohemian Rhapsody - Still our Number One!

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31 Oct 2025 | Press release

UK Music Video Awards 2025 winners announced

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31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Downtown Artist & Label Services Expands in Brazilian Phonk with Major Label Renewals and Viral Wins

Follows long-term renewal deals with Enarma Records and Polaris Records as well as the viral success of tracks from DJ FNK, TRXVELER, and DJ ANXVAR. Downtown Artist & Label Services (DA&LS) has deepened its commitment to the fast-growing Brazilian Phonk and...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Songpact Announces India Launch: Bringing Fast, Transparent and Accessible Music Contracts to Creators

India’s music industry is having its global moment. Streaming has reshaped listening habits, Indian artists are finding audiences far beyond their home borders, and the country is now one of the world’s fastest-growing music markets - with more than 185...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

BRIT Awards 2026: Stacey Tang announced as BRITs Committee Chair

New era for UK's biggest night in music as ceremony moves to Manchester BRITs Committee Chair announced as Stacey Tang Creative team for 2026 show revealed Awards categories & criteria evolve for 2026 Ceremony to take place at Co-op Live on Saturday 28th February     Following the...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Universal Music Group and Stability AI announce strategic alliance to co-develop professional AI music creation tools

  Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment and Stability AI, the leading independent multi-modal generative AI company, today announced a strategic alliance to develop next-generation professional music creation tools, powered by responsibly trained generative AI and built...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Applications now open for Manchester’s £245,000 Grassroots Music Venue Fund

Manchester sets a new national benchmark for local cultural leadership Music Venue Trust call on other councils to actApplications for grants open on Tuesday 28 October   Manchester City Council’s £245,000 discretionary fund to support the city’s Grassroots Music Venues is now...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Sony Music Publishing Invests in Elements Music & Launches Creative Partnership

Collaboration marks significant milestone for the Finnish music industry Sony Music Publishing (“SMP”) today announced it has acquired a significant stake in the Finnish company Elements Music, as well as the company’s music publishing catalog of approximately 10,000 works. Additionally, the parties have established a...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

SourceAudio Promotes Weston McGowen to Global Head of Catalog Services

  SourceAudio, the music industry’s most widely adopted sync platform and a leader in AI music dataset licensing, has promoted Weston McGowen to Global Head of Catalog Services. He is based in New Orleans and will report to SourceAudio Co-Founder & CEO Andrew...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

The IMPF Global Music Summit receives honour at the AUPA! Awards

The Summit recently finished its fourth edition, attracting 650 executives from around the world.   The IMPF Global Music Summit Palma has been honoured at AUPA! Awards in Bilbao, Spain.  The AUPA! Awards are the closing highlight of BIME Bilbao (Bizkaia International Music...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Beatport and Youth Music Join Forces to Empower Young Electronic Music Creators

Beatport is proud to announce a new partnership with Youth Music, building on the success of Beatport's Diversity + Parity Fund and Youth Music's ‘Rescue the Roots’ campaign. Together, the two organisations are collaborating to support grassroots electronic music projects...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Dan Rosen to lead Warner Music Australasia & Southeast Asia

Unified approach creates bigger opportunities for artists in a region of over 550 million people   Dan Rosen has been appointed to lead Warner Music Group's recorded music businesses in Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - as...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Music Streaming Services Call On National Assembly of Québec For "Cultural Sovereignty with Listener Choice" Over Bill 109

DIMA – the Digital Media Association – representing Canada's leading music services including Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube, yesterday (October 29th) submitted evidence to the National Assembly of Québec's special consultation on Bill 109. The bill seeks to affirm the cultural sovereignty of Québec by...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Impala elects new executive board in Zagreb, holds first European independent music summit

IMPALA elected a new board and set its priorities for the next two years at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Zagreb this week. The meeting was hosted as part of RUNDA Digital Day, RUNDA Adria's annual conference supported by Merlin, which was represented by Shrina Patel, Merlin's Senior Director of Business Affairs and...more

31 Oct 2025 | Press release

Universal Music Group N.V. Reports Financial Results for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2025

  Summary Q3 2025 Results Revenue of €3,021 million increased 5.3% year-over-year, or 10.2% in constant currency, with growth in all segments. Recorded Music revenue grew 3.6% year-over-year, or 8.3% in constant currency, Music Publishing revenue grew 8.6% year-over-year, or 13.6% in constant...more

30 Oct 2025 | Press release

Anti Social Camp UK schedule reveal — pinkpantheress, glass animals, nathan sykes headline free major uk music festival next week

PinkPantheress, Glass Animals’ Dave Bayley, Jamie Cullum, Billy Bragg, Nicholas Petricca of WALK THE MOON, Nathan Sykes and 200 additional artists, songwriters and producers will kick off the inaugural Anti Social Camp UK presented by Tileyard November 3rd through 7th...more

30 Oct 2025 | Press release

SAY Award prizes made of repurposed skateboard decks unveiled with 1 week to go

With just one week to go until The Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award announces 2025's winner, Scotland's national music prize has revealed a first look at this year's prizes – handcrafted by local Dundee makers No Comply, and made completely from...more

30 Oct 2025 | Press release

Warner Music Italy Launches Warner Records Italy and Atlantic Records Italy

Eleonora Rubini elevated to Label Director, Warner Records Italy; Marco Masoli upped to Label Director, Atlantic Records Italy  ADA Italy moves under the leadership of Renato Tanchis   Warner Music (WM) Italy announces that it’s evolving the structure of the company on its...more

30 Oct 2025 | Press release

Bandsintown launches marketplace with 30+ partners to help independent artists reach billions of fans and own their data

Bandsintown now connects its 700,000 independent artists with music distribution, CRM tools, and marketing partners like CD Baby, Community, Groover, Musixmatch, ROSTR, TuneCore — expanding on existing integrations like Google, Linktree, Shazam, Shopify, Spotify, Squarespace, and YouTube   Trusted by 100 million...more

30 Oct 2025 | Press release

Universal Music Group and Udio announce Udio's first strategic agreements for new licensed AI music creation platform

Companies settle copyright infringement litigation and collaborate on groundbreaking new creative product suite  Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, and Udio, an AI-powered music creation platform, today announced industry-first strategic agreements, under which the companies settled copyright...more

29 Oct 2025 | Press release

War Child’s ‘Day of the Girl’ Concert Series Raises Over £40,000 to Support Girls and Women Affected by Conflict

Through Intimate Live Shows Featuring English Teacher, girli & Katy J Pearson   War Child UK is proud to announce that this year’s Day of the Girl concert series has raised over £40,000 to support girls and women living in conflict zones around the...more

29 Oct 2025 | Press release

My future as an amateur football club coach by Nuno Suraiva, founder, SCL-Lusitanian Label Group

Featured in Complete Music Update. Nuno Saraiva has had a 30 year career in the music industry as an artist, songwriter, music publisher, record label, consultant, music exporter and project manager. He is founder of the SCL-Lusitanian Label Group in Portugal, and...more

29 Oct 2025 | Press release

MIME Conference 2025 unites music leader to bridge the gap between education and industry

As the UK prepares to launch its new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, the Music Industry + Music Education (MIME) Conference will explore music policy and accreditation, plus resources and opportunities for the next generation of music professionals.   Leading figures...more

29 Oct 2025 | Press release

ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN Announce Alignment on AI Registration Policies

The Three Major North American PROs will now accept registrations of partially AI-generated musical works   ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN today announced they have each adopted policies to accept registrations of musical compositions partially generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. These works...more

29 Oct 2025 | Press release

Karma Artists Continues to Make Waves in Asia

Writer/Producer Collaborations, Writing Camps and Cultural Exchanges Fueling ‘Extraordinary’ K-pop Success Karma Artists, the London-based independent music company, is celebrating a number of successful creative projects alongside a slate of future activities, which will see it further engage with the fast-growing...more

29 Oct 2025 | Press release

Warner Chappell Music sign rising Portuguese star Maninho

  Warner Chappell Music (WCM), the global music publishing arm of Warner Music Group (WMG), has signed Maninho - one of Portugal’s most in-demand and highly-respected talents.  The singer-songwriter, who also has a record deal with Warner Music Portugal, exploded onto the...more

29 Oct 2025 | Press release

EXIT announces 2026 Global Tour following Government pressure in Serbia - first destinations revealed

 EXIT will tour through Egypt, India, Malta, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia as part of 'The First Chapter' EXIT, one of the world's leading music festivals, is entering a new chapter in its history. After announcing that it will not be held...more

03 Nov 2025

  • Spotify perfected the business of distraction — and now we’re paying the price (see Features)

  • Remasters, deluxe editions and greatest hits show back catalogues are a goldmine (see Features)

31 Oct 2025

  • Universal Music Group and Stability AI announce strategic alliance to co-develop professional AI music creation tools (see News)

30 Oct 2025

  • UMG and Udio settle lawsuit; announce agreement for new licensed AI music creation platform (see News)

  • The last days of Utopia (see News)

29 Oct 2025

  • UK Music introduces 'Five Ps' guide to boost diversity and inclusion across the music industry (see News)

28 Oct 2025

  • Reservoir Media: A hidden gem? (see Features)

  • The music industry remains divided on generative AI. Where will that leave us? (see Comment)

27 Oct 2025

  • How fan power is reshaping pop (see Features)

24 Oct 2025

  • The “forever” stakes of generative AI ownership (see Comment)

23 Oct 2025

  • Lyor Cohen: AI won’t replace artists — it will make them unstoppable (see Opinion)

22 Oct 2025

  • Omdia tips music publishers’ revenues to hit $10bn this year (see Reports)

  • Unit1 Studio launches offering potential for immersive avatar concerts through lower production costs (see Digital)

21 Oct 2025

  • Are we still in the music business? When your POV is worth more than your mp3s (see Opinion)