Curated music streaming platform Cantilever has closed a £250,000 pre-seed funding round, securing investment from a consortium of 13 independent record labels. The commitment was coordinated through the Organization for Recorded Culture and Arts (ORCA), a think tank and advocacy group backed by many of the same labels.
Label consortium backs pre-seed round
The £250,000 injection completes Cantilever’s targeted pre-seed raise. The funding came together during an ORCA discussion about the future shape of the independent music landscape, with twenty investors participating, comprising both labels and individual investors from those companies.
The label investors are:
- !K7
- Because
- City Slang
- Domino
- Everlasting
- Exceleration
- Hopeless
- Ninja Tune
- Partisan
- Playground
- Secret City
- Secretly Group
- Sub Pop
Statements from stakeholders
City Slang founder Christof Elinghaus, a founding ORCA supporter, framed the investment as a modest step toward a more equitable streaming ecosystem.
“Independent labels have very few true partners left in the ecosystem. The platforms that make our music available follow their own agenda, which doesn’t always align with the interests of our community. When we came across Cantilever, we were thrilled to find a concept that 100% aligns with our values and is driven by heavy curation, fairness and enthusiasm for our artist’s music. That is something that all of us are truly happy to support. Still, our investment in Cantilever can only be seen as a tiny step towards a fair, artist-and-label centric streaming ecosystem. We still have many more steps to go.”
Cantilever founder Aaron Skates said the label backing validates the platform’s mission.
“Cantilever was built to serve independent record labels and artists, so having over a dozen of the world’s leading independents backing us is the strongest validation we could ask for. This funding will allow us to make our first hires, improve the user experience and accelerate growth, with partners who have a genuine stake in the company’s success and know exactly who we’re trying to reach.”
ORCA Executive Director Patrick Clifton highlighted the platform’s focus on immersion over content overload.
“Cantilever’s proposition allows for immersion in the musicians’ art in a way that’s atypical in today’s environment of content overload. ORCA’s supporters were united in their desire to see it succeed.”
About Cantilever and ORCA
Cantilever is a curated music streaming service built for independent music, offering albums with rich context and user-centric payment structures designed to compensate artists more fairly.
ORCA is a global think tank and advocacy group formed by leading independent record labels. It produces evidence-based research to equip policymakers and trade associations with insights that strengthen music-powered ecosystems and promote inclusive industry growth.
