CueSongs

CueSongs operated as a specialized music licensing agency, providing a streamlined solution for securing commercial music for digital and online media. The company was founded in the UK in 2012 by renowned musician Peter Gabriel and Ed Averdieck, who previously served as the Head of Nokia Music. Gabriel's prior success with digital music ventures, including the sale of OD2 and We7, positioned CueSongs as a noteworthy player in the sync licensing market from its inception.

The firm's business model centered on offering a pre-cleared catalog of music, simplifying the often complex process of rights acquisition for content creators. Its platform served a diverse client base, including supervisors, producers, agencies, and creators of online content such as YouTube videos, games, and apps. By establishing framework agreements with major publishers like Universal Music, Sony ATV, and Warner Chappell, as well as over 150 independent labels, CueSongs provided access to a curated library of over 20,000 tracks. This allowed clients to find and license music for their projects through a single hub, paying a fee for the rights to use the tracks in their productions.

A significant milestone in the company's journey was its acquisition by the B2B music licensing marketplace Songtradr in November 2020. This move integrated CueSongs into Songtradr's larger ecosystem. Following the acquisition, in January 2022, CueSongs was merged with Big Sync Music, another Songtradr subsidiary, to combine their creative teams and expand service offerings to a client roster that included major brands like the Premier League, Coty, Unilever, and Google. This strategic consolidation aimed to leverage CueSongs' expertise in music for digital, social, and long-form content within the broader Big Sync Music agency. Prior to its acquisition, CueSongs had also entered into receivership in June 2016 but later re-emerged.

Keywords: music licensing, sync licensing, Peter Gabriel, Ed Averdieck, Songtradr, Big Sync Music, digital media music, online video music, pre-cleared music, music for brands, content creator music, music for games, music for apps, commercial music, artist catalog, record labels, music publishers, rights acquisition, corporate acquisition, UK music industry