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Merlin provides independents the means to own their future. Merlin is a member led, music focused organization providing digital music licensing for independents across the globe. Members benefit from Merlin’s premium deals, but work directly with key digital partners. Our membership consists of independent labels, distributors, and other rights-holders, representing tens of thousands of labels and hundreds of thousands of artists from every country in the world. Merlin works collaboratively with our digital partners, delivers value back to those digital partners, and seeks to drive other incremental benefits to our members.
Merlin’s approach has enabled our membership to grow to represent 15% of the global market share. Merlin’s membership includes independents such as Altafonte, Amuse, Armada Music, AudioSalad, AVL Group (including CD Baby, DashGo and FUGA), Beggars Group, Cinq Music Group, Dim Mak, DistroKid, Domino, Epitaph Records, Foundation Media, Freeme Digital, IDOL, Kontor New Media, Mad Decent, MNRK Music Group, Monstercat, Mushroom Music, Ninja Tune, ONErpm, [PIAS], Pony Canyon, Redeye, Secret City, Secretly, Symphonic Distribution, Sub Pop, Vydia, and hundreds more.
Merlin has deals with nearly 40 digital services, including partners like Adaptr, Apple, AWA, Boomplay, Deezer, JioSaavn, JOOX, KKBox, Meta, NetEase, Pandora, Peloton, SberZvuk, Snap, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tencent, TikTok, TREBEL, Triller, Twitch, UMA, Yandex, YouTube Music, and many other global, regional and strategic partners, as well as being in conversations with dozens more.
Merlin has resources in London, New York, North Carolina, the Netherlands, and Tokyo.
Merlin’s approach has enabled our membership to grow to represent 15% of the global market share. Merlin’s membership includes independents such as Altafonte, Amuse, Armada Music, AudioSalad, AVL Group (including CD Baby, DashGo and FUGA), Beggars Group, Cinq Music Group, Dim Mak, DistroKid, Domino, Epitaph Records, Foundation Media, Freeme Digital, IDOL, Kontor New Media, Mad Decent, MNRK Music Group, Monstercat, Mushroom Music, Ninja Tune, ONErpm, [PIAS], Pony Canyon, Redeye, Secret City, Secretly, Symphonic Distribution, Sub Pop, Vydia, and hundreds more.
Merlin has deals with nearly 40 digital services, including partners like Adaptr, Apple, AWA, Boomplay, Deezer, JioSaavn, JOOX, KKBox, Meta, NetEase, Pandora, Peloton, SberZvuk, Snap, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tencent, TikTok, TREBEL, Triller, Twitch, UMA, Yandex, YouTube Music, and many other global, regional and strategic partners, as well as being in conversations with dozens more.
Merlin has resources in London, New York, North Carolina, the Netherlands, and Tokyo.
Overview
Location
United Kingdom, England, London
Employees
11-50
Founded date
2012
Mentions in press and media 24
| Date | Title | Description |
| Sign up to see | Sign up to see | Sign up to see |
| Oct 16, 2025 | Spotify moves further into AI music with Sony, Universal, Warner partnership | Spotify said it will be partnering with Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, and Believe to develop “responsible” artificial intelligence products. The company did not outline any specific AI tools but said i... |
| Aug 14, 2025 | Here are five British tech startups to look out for | A new cohort of Future Fifty tech firms is demonstrating exponential growth and attracting significant investment, reinforcing London’s position as a hub for dynamic scale-ups in this space. These companies are making headlines across diver... |
| Oct 30, 2024 | Dinastia INC of Colombia Acquires Stake in Music Platform SonoSuite | Colombian Firm Dinastia INC Invests in Barcelona’s SonoSuite Dinastia INC of Colombia Acquires Stake in Music Platform SonoSuite SonoSuite, a music technology services company based in Barcelona, has announced a significant investment from ... |
| Apr 2, 2024 | Anghami and OSN+ Successfully Complete Milestone Transaction, Creating an Entertainment Powerhouse | The transaction has received all required regulatory approvals for successful closure OSN Group's investment in Anghami gives it a majority stake at a valuation of $3.69 per share ABU DHABI, UAE, April 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Anghami Inc. (... |
| Jan 23, 2020 | TikTok inks licensing deal with Merlin to use music from independent labels in videos and new Resso streaming service | TikTok, the fast-growing user-generated video app from China’s ByteDance, has been building a new music streaming service to compete against the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. And today it’s announcing a deal that helps pav... |
| Apr 20, 2017 | Spotify strikes new deal with indy giant Merlin ‘competitive’ with big labels | Spotify — the streaming music company with 50 million paying users — has been working on renegotiating licensing deals with labels over the last several months — a critical move to improve its revenues and margins en route to going public —... |
| Aug 19, 2015 | Funny How Recording Industry Only Likes A 'Free Market' When It's To Their Advantage | When it comes to the nexus between competition and regulation, competition is all too often cursed with fair-weather friends. For today’s example, we’ll take a trip down the copyright regulation rabbit hole. |
| Jun 8, 2015 | SoundCloud CEO on Apple’s new music streaming service: ‘I’m all for it.’ | We are excited to bring Transform 2022 back in-person July 19 and virtually July 20 - 28. Join AI and data leaders for insightful talks and exciting networking opportunities. Register today! Midem paid for part of Chris O’Brien’s travel to ... |
| Oct 23, 2013 | Why we haven’t reached digital music’s golden era | Charles Caldas is CEO of global independent music rights agency Merlin. Hypothetically, digital music fans should currently be living through a golden era. But short-sighted interests could be leading us into a dysfunctional new era of the ... |
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FAQ about Merlin
When was Merlin founded?
Merlin was founded in 2012.
What has the press written about Merlin?
Parsers VC has collected 24 articles mentioning Merlin, among them “Spotify moves further into AI music with Sony, Universal, Warner partnership” (Oct 16, 2025) and “Here are five British tech startups to look out for” (Aug 14, 2025).
Is Merlin still active?
Yes, Merlin is active; its latest activity on Parsers VC dates from Oct 17, 2025.