The Deals: Jared Gutstadt’s Audio Chateau Records Secures $9M Funding Round & More

Skip to main content Other recent deals include a new tie-up between Oak View Group and Independent Artist Group and Adobe's licensing agreements with UMG and WMG. Courtesy Photo Audio Chateau Records, a music and creator company founded by Jingle Punks’ Jared Gutstadt, secured up to $9 million in Series A financing to support its next phase of growth. According to a press release, Audio Chateau merges “the creative resources of a record label with the commercial capabilities of an agency and content studio,” recognizing “that artists are multifaceted creators and aims to help established and emerging talent grow their careers, brands and businesses.” Investors in the funding round include Jonathan Schulman, Ben Lurie and Julie Gauthier of CW Ventures. “I’ve seen the shift to creator culture firsthand, and I believe the next generation of successful artists will be the ones who build something bigger than their music,” said Gutstadt in a statement. “That’s what we’re building at Audio Chateau. We want to give artists the creative resources, relationships and opportunities to turn their talent into lasting businesses. This investment allows us to bring more talent into that model, strengthen what we’re building and create new avenues for how artists are discovered and developed.” Oak View Group (OVG) partnered with Independent Artist Group (IAG) in a deal that will provide sponsorship and brand partnership opportunities to IAG’s roster. Through the agreement, touring and music assets from IAG artists will be made available to OVG brand partners through OVG’s network of sponsorship sellers in North America. The deal will encompass title sponsorships, artist presales, artist and brand engagements, fan activations, meet-and-greets and more. Read on for more recent music industry deals. Adobe Strikes Music Licensing Deals With UMG & WMG for Non-Commercial Use Adobe announced it’s working with Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG) to bring fully-licensed music clips directly to Adobe Premiere mobile. The deals will soon allow Adobe Premiere users to integrate up to 60-second music clips from UMG and WMG into their videos. The licenses will cover personal, non-commercial use only; users working on projects requiring commercially licensed music can continue to use Adobe Stock Audio. — Chris Eggertsen Soho Square Capital Takes Minority Stake in U.K. Ticketing Platform Skiddle U.K. indie ticketing platform Skiddle received its first external investment since its launch 25 years ago, with Soho Square Capital investing to “accelerate the company’s existing five-year growth plans,” according to a press release. Co-founders Ben Suborn and Richard Dyer will retain control of the business, with Soho Square taking a minority equity stake. Soho Square’s Joe Tebbutt will join Skiddle’s board. The funding will help allow Skiddle to expand beyond music, festivals and nightlife; the company is looking to focus more on lifestyle events while also making additional investments in tech, marketing and business development. The Soho Capital investment will additionally allow Skiddle to expand into new European territories. The deal with Soho Square is being touted as a greater partnership that will give Skiddle “access to additional strategic experience and a network of businesses that have previously navigated European expansion, supporting the company as it pursues its international plans with greater pace and scale,” according to the release. Launched in 2001 by Suborn and Dyer, Skiddle generated more than 178 million pounds ($235 million) in face value ticket sales across 180,000 events in 2025, with revenue growing an average of more than 20% a year over the past two years, according to the company. — Chris Eggertsen Sonos/Music Story Music metadata infrastructure company Music Story signed a multi-year partnership with Sonos that will see the latter drawing on Music Story’s consistently updated music metadata — allowing Sonos devices to “better understand music: stronger discoverability, easy connection to external platforms, and fewer incorrect tracks played through the speakers,” according to a press release. — Chris Eggertsen Sonilo/Musical AI Sonilo, described in a press release as a “generative audio company building video-native music and sound models,” partnered with AI music attribution and rights management company Musical AI. According to the release, the companies “aim to demonstrate a model for generative music where licensing, attribution, and compensation are built into the process from the start.” Sonilo “generates music and sound effects directly from video footage, text, or both, using models built around licensed source material,” the release adds. Through the deal, Musical AI’s technology will analyze Sonilo’s generated outputs to measure how licensed recording and compositions contributed to them. This will provide Sonilo’s licensing partners with the data they need to account for compensation for the songwriters, artists and other rights holders behind the original music. Sonilo says it’s currently finalizing master recording and publishing agreements with major rights organizations as it readies the launch of its new music model. Daily newsletters straight to your inbox Sign Up More From Pro