Digital music veteran David Sayer joins Songtradr’s Australian team
Songtradr, one of the world’s largest independent B2B music licensing marketplaces, has hired David Sayer as its new director of premium music in Australia.
In what the company describes as “an evolving role”, Melbourne-based Sayer will handle relationships with local labels, music catalogues and artists.
He will oversee non-exclusive sync licensing, digital distribution, and rights management including YouTube and the collection of publishing and neighbouring rights royalties.
“Rights management is a major revenue stream and neighbouring rights is another that hasn’t been utilised effectively,” Sayer told TMN.
“Songtradr is perfectly positioned to capitalise on these often-overlooked revenue streams. We intend to be a major player in the region in all three spaces – distro, sync and rights.
“We’re in discussion with a number of key rights holders and we’ll be making some big announcements shortly. Australia is important and Songtradr is very invested in APAC and plans to have a strong footprint in the sector.”
Sayer’s appointment follows the company’s recently completed its Series C funding round, reported by TMN in August this year, which raised US$30 million (AUD$42 million).
The fundraising was geared to accelerate Songtradr’s global expansion plans, increase product development and fund key acquisitions in the sector.
Pictured: Jexsta’s Jacqui Louez Schoorl & Songtradr’s Paul Wiltshire
Songtradr also recently struck an investment in, and partnership with, the publicly-listed Australian company, Jaxsta, the world’s largest dedicated database of official music credits.
The collaboration connects Songtradr’s neighbouring rights service to Jaxsta’s rapidly growing user-base and extensive global artist and performer credits metadata.
A music business veteran of 30 years, Sayer was an account manager at one of Australia’s first digital music companies, Valleyarm Digital.
He also worked at Premier Artists and Amphead Music and is skilled in digital distribution, account acquisitions, artist management and live events.
“David brings a wealth of knowledge and many years of industry experience to this role,” Paul Wiltshire said, the Los Angeles-based CEO of Songtradr.
“Not only has he worked with many great Australian artists over the years, but he is also an expert in the digital landscape, making him a natural fit for Songtradr.”