Apple has brought Platoon, a British business which provides support for emerging musicians. A source close to Apple confirmed on Friday that the technology giant has purchased the London based artists and repertoire company set up by technology investor Saul Klein and music industry veteran Denzyl Feigelson in 2016.
The deal will see Apple increase the amount of support that it can offer to new musicians using the business’ Apple Music streaming service. Since its launch, Platoon has worked with some big emerging artists such as Billie Eilish, Stefflon Don and Jorja Smith.
Platoon has always had close links to Apple thanks to co-founder Mr Feigelson, who worked closely with Apple for 15 years on projects including its iTunes music store and its yearly iTunes Festival in London.
The company’s other co-founder, Mr Klein, previously co-founded technology business LoveFilm. He now invests in early-stage technology businesses through his LocalGlobe investment firm.
Music Business Worldwide reported on Friday that Platoon will continue to run as an independent business from its North London office. The purchase of Platoon is not the first deal that Apple has made which could allow it to find promising young musicians.
In October, Apple hired the staff from Asaii, which analyzed music streaming data to find popular young musicians. The company’s website said that its goal was to “find the next Justin Bieber, before anyone else”.
And in 2015, Apple bought another UK music business, Semetric, which ran a service that gave record labels data on how popular their artists were on streaming services.
