« When we started, there were 20,000 tracks released daily on streaming platforms; today there are nearly 140,000. "explains Romain Palmieri, co-founder and CEO of Groover. A figure that illustrates the profound transformations that the music market has seen significant growth in recent years. This is undoubtedly driven by the dominance of on-demand listening, which has far surpassed other forms of music consumption such as downloading and online sales, and now constitutes the industry's primary source of revenue. Streaming has profoundly altered the revenue stream for artists, as well as the way they manage their visibility.

How can artists adapt to this new paradigm, focusing on the musical creation while promoting them to industry professionals and maintaining contact with their fans? This is the ambition of Romain Palmieri and the mission of Groover, which have remained unchanged since the company's creation in 2018: to offer artists worldwide innovative solutions for promotion, development, and engagement with their audiences. Our mission has always been to help independent artists get their music heard. With Temple by Groover, we're taking another step in that direction. " says the entrepreneur.

Groover, a platform designed to help musicians grow

Founded by Romain Palmieri, Dorian Perron, Rafaël Cohen, and Jonas Landman, then students at UC Berkeley, Groover is a music promotion tool which allows artists to send their music to curators and visibility players such as playlists, radio stations, influencers, journalists, blogs, YouTube and Twitch channels, to gain promotional exposure. It also connects them with potential partners like labels, booking agents, publishers, and managers. And even coaches and mentors, who can provide feedback on submitted productions. With a community of 650,000 artists and over 3,500 active curators in more than 180 countries, Groover is changing the industry and redefining the music promotion, with an approach centered on the artist's needs (artist-first).

Groover responds to a strong market trend: there is an increasing amount of content shared on streaming platforms. And this phenomenon will continue to intensify, particularly with the advent of artificial intelligence. But at the same time, the need for independent artists to reach the right niches and contacts, to promote their music to the right audience, and to gain visibility in a transparent and effective way, remains, and it is this need that the company has been addressing since its inception. It's an ongoing process of exploring trends in the music industry and understanding the factors that contribute to an artist's success, audience growth, increased visibility, and fan engagement. We then adapt to these factors, finding the right curators and contacts to meet their needs. For example, at the project's inception in 2018, artist growth largely stemmed from blogs and YouTube channels. Then, starting in 2020, independent playlists on platforms like Deezer and Spotify gained prominence and led to a significant increase in listens. Underlying all of this, we've always maintained a strong presence on social media, particularly Instagram and, more recently, TikTok, which are essential growth drivers for artists. " explains the entrepreneur.

For curators such as bloggers, media outlets, and radio stations, Groover addresses a fundamental need: the constant desire to listen to and discover new gems remains unchanged. However, this need is compounded by a recurring problem: industry professionals receive an overwhelming number of submissions, far too many to filter effectively themselves. They therefore require a tool for pre-curation, which the platform makes possible. Artists, through a paid subscription service, can pre-select relevant contacts before sending them their music.

Temple by Groover: a suite of direct-to-fan tools for independent artists

Without hesitation, according to its CEO, one of Groover's main development challenges, in order to pursue its mission and remain relevant, will be to expand its service offerings for independent artists. From a music sharing solution to curation services, the tool is evolving into a more comprehensive all-in-one platform, now integrating musical coaching solutions and support for preparing a track's release, such as writing bios or managing social media. And, of course, a new and essential dimension for the platform is building and nurturing a community of fans.

The acquisition of Temple, a major milestone in Groover's growth, is part of this strategy. This rapidly growing British music tech company aims to provide artists with innovative and easy-to-use tools to transform listeners into loyal fans and maximize the impact of each release. Founded in 2021 by Omar Ismail and Sam Milar, Temple develops tools such as customizable microsites whose links can be added to Instagram accounts (link-in-bio microsites, allowing artists to showcase their music, merchandise, concerts, videos, and social media all in one place), messaging and fan data collection tools (a CRM useful for collecting email addresses and phone numbers to communicate directly with fans and reach new listeners), and advertising features.

Thanks to this acquisition, the platform is enriching its solution direct-to-fan (direct relationship with fans) and consolidates its position as a major portal in the music industry, where creators not only find an audience but also hold the keys to building and maintaining that connection. This is an even greater challenge for listeners who want to follow their favorite artists to better identify with them. Aware of this objective, the CEO concludes: Groover's main objective will always be to stay as close as possible to independent artists and their needs, and to listen to their requests. Everything we do is geared towards creating more value for the artist. "The startup has certainly not finished enriching its score."

The company Groover benefited from the support of the Tech&Touch fund

The Tech & Touch fund, deployed by Bpifrance and La French Touch, is a seed capital and venture capital fund for startups in the cultural and creative industries. Financed as part of the France 2030 plan and managed by the General Secretariat for Investment, in conjunction with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Culture, the Banque des Territoires, and the IFCIC, it invests in companies combining creativity and technological innovation. It makes direct minority investments (Pre-Seed to Series C) in cultural and creative startups and indirect investments (funds of funds). Tech & Touch covers various cultural sectors in France, including transformation and innovation issues such as AI, VR, blockchain, and Industry 4.0.