Symphonic Distribution adds $37M funding, eyes acquisitions

Independent music distributor Symphonic has closed a $37 million Series B funding round.

Philadelphia-based NewSpring Growth led the round with participation from Ballast Point Ventures.

This funding round comes after 5 years of strong growth for Symphonic with a projected net revenue at the end of the 2021 of $12 million. In addition to its home base of Tampa, the company has offices in Nashville, Brazil and Colombia and a headcount of 100.

With the new funding founder Jorge Brea plans to build his corporate development team in Q1 and then look at acquisitions beginning in Q2 including in the ulta-comptitive market in rights to music catalogs.

“We’ve been able to build a lot of value over the years and grown revenue substantially,” founder Brea told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. “We went to building a top-class team, did a controlled cash burn and we’re now to the point we could take on more capital to do even bigger moves.”

“Anything can happen in five years and there are larger companies who could acquire or merge with us,” he continued. “Or if a Series C appears — if it looks good to everyone involved, that could be an opportunity. But certainly, in the next year or two we’re just putting our head down and growing organically.”

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.