Jaxsta is an Australia-based database of music
credit
Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), ...
s. According to a 2018 report in ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'', "it wants to be a cross between
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...
and
LinkedIn
LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is primarily used for professional networking and career development, and allows job se ...
, a trusted source for the music industry when it comes to finding out who played what role on your favourite songs." This extends to performers, artists, engineers, producers and songwriters. Jaxsta's data is content-owner supplied rather than crowd-sourced.
History
Jaxsta was founded in Sydney in 2015
by former movie and music industry professional Jacqui Louez Schoorl and her husband
Louis Schoorl
Louis Schoorl (born 23 December 1976) is a Dutch-born Australian songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist.
Career
Based in Sydney, Australia, Schoorl has written or produced for 5 Seconds of Summer, Taylor Henderson, Jessica M ...
, a producer and songwriter. Jaxsta has offices in Sydney and Los Angeles, with representatives in London and New York.
The idea for Jaxsta was first formulated by Louez Schoorl in 2006 when she was transitioning from the film to the music industry
and noticed music credits metadata was becoming lost with the transition to
digital music
Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samp ...
,
as the credits that had once populated
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...
record sleeve
A record sleeve is the outer covering of a vinyl record. Alternative terms are ''dust sleeve'', ''album liner'' and ''liner''.
The term is also used to denominate the outermost cardboard covering of a record, i.e. the ''record jacket'' or ''album ...
and
CD booklets were vanishing as downloading was becoming more prevalent. Jaxsta derives its name from the credits on vinyl "jackets" (covers) – the stars of the jackets – i.e.
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
.
The company was launched in beta mode on June 13, 2019, with the claim that it contained more than 100 million music credits, including those for 1.9 million songwriters, 1.3 million artists, 150,000 producers and 100,000 engineers. As of June 2022, those numbers had risen to 240 million deep-linked official credits, 67 million individual web pages,
30 million unique recordings credits and 15 million profiles, with 700,000 new credits processed each day.
As of June 2022, Jaxsta has more than 295 data partner agreements in place.
Its data partners include the three major labels, the
Merlin Network of independent music companies and unions including the
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...
and
SAG-AFTRA
The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, record ...
,
as well as independent distributors such as
CDBaby
CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that "C ...
,
DistroKid and SoundCloud Repost. The
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
,
The Recording Academy
The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...
and the
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) are also data partners. Jaxsta was listed as a
public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...
on the
ASX
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
on December 28, 2018.
Membership Plans
Jaxsta's
business-to-business
Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when:
* A business is sourcing materials for their production process for output (e.g., a ...
membership plan was launched on November 21, 2019. It offered music industry specific tools such as industry events calendars, market insights, chart alerts for artists and non-artists, and gave members the ability to claim and manage their Jaxsta profile page.
On April 22, 2020 Jaxsta announced it was waiving the $US150 annual membership fee and making Jaxsta membership free for the rest of 2020 to assist the music industry during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
In August 2021, to coincide with the return of paid memberships, Jaxsta introduced two levels of membership: Jaxsta Core, a free introductory membership, and Jaxsta Plus, which for $US49 a year offered members access to a suite of features such as Credit and Chart Alerts, the ability to claim their profile (or the profiles of those they represent), Prioritize Your Credits, and more.
In June 2022 Jaxsta's membership plans evolved to reflect the music industry's demand for accurate metadata, resulting in the introduction of a further two levels of membership: Business and Enterprise. Jaxsta Plus was rebranded Creator, and Jaxsta Core became the free membership level.
Enterpriseis for organisations that require accurate data to enhance royalty identification and increase opportunities for their rights holder members. Enterprise delivers a comprehensive metadata solution.
Businessis aimed at companies such as record labels, publishers, managers and agents and includes a suite of features designed to save time, provide data-driven solutions and build the careers of each business's clients.
Creatorcontains an extensive and evolving suite of features designed to empower music makers and the industry professionals who represent them.
Songtradr Investment
On September 10, 2020, Jaxsta announced a commercial agreement and an investment with
Songtradr
Songtradr is a music licensing platform.
Platform
Songtradr is an automated music licensing marketplace, which as of 2019 had 400,000 artists using the platform in about 190 countries. Songs represented on the platform are licensed by companies ...
, the Los-Angeles-based global B2B music rights and licensing marketplace platform. Overall, the deal was worth A$1.92 million (including A$1.42 million via a convertible note).
Through this arrangement, Jaxsta members gained direct access to Songtradr’s Neighboring Rights revenue collection service, while Songtradr utilises Jaxsta’s music credits metadata to I.D. and scoop-up uncollected revenue.
In April 2022 Songtradr announced an additional investment of $A3.0 million via a secured convertible note.
Leadership Change
On April 28, 2022, it was announced that Louez Schoorl would be moving into the Founder role, and former Chief Marketing Officer Beth Appleton would be Jaxsta's new CEO. The Music Network reported that "the change will allow Louez Schoorl to focus on the Jaxsta product and our community and creative relationships".
Appleton joined Jaxsta in July 2021 from
Warner Music Australia
Warner Music Australia Pty Limited (WMA) is the Australian division of the Warner Music Group. WMA also distributes in New Zealand.
History
In 1969, Warner Bros. Records branched out and WEA was born. The first country in which it was estab ...
, where she served as General Manager and Senior Vice President Marketing Australasia.
Content
In December 2019, Jaxsta launched its podcast, Humans of Music, hosted by former ''
Rolling Stone Australia
''Rolling Stone'' Australia is the Australian edition of the United States' ''Rolling Stone'' magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture, published monthly. The Australian version of ''Rolling Stone'' was initially published in 197 ...
'' editor Rod Yates.
Guests have included
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...
frontman
Gary Lightbody
Gareth John Lightbody (born 15 June 1976) is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. He has also founded the musical supergroups The ...
,
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...
,
Bethany Cosentino
Best Coast is an American rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009. The band consists of songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Bethany Cosentino and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno. Cosentino, a former child actress, began w ...
,
Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cri ...
,
John Butler John Butler may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer
*John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist
* John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber
*John Butler (born 1954), ...
and
M-Phazes
Mark Landon (born 1 February 1983), better known by his stage name M-Phazes, is an Australian-born producer based in LA. He has produced records for Logic, Demi Lovato, Madonna, Eminem, Kehlani, Zara Larsson, Remi Wolf, Kiiara, Noah Cyrus, a ...
.
In June 2020, it was announced that Yates would head up Jaxsta's dedicated editorial portal.
Jaxsta One Sheet
In November 2021, Jaxsta introduced the Jaxst
One Sheetin an effort to help music professionals create a "shareable resume".
The One Sheet is pre-populated by information on the user's Jaxsta profile, including credits, social media statistics, TikTok plays, contact details, bio, image and more.
References
External links
* {{Official, jaxsta.com
Australian companies established in 2015
Online music and lyrics databases
Music search engines
Social cataloging applications
Music information retrieval
Companies based in Sydney