Community Music, part of UNIFIED Music Group, has appointed startup investor and capital strategist Matt Allen as Head of Artist Capital — bringing in-house venture capital expertise to an Australian independent music company for the first time.
Artists have always been told to submit grants, sign deals, or go to the bank, but Community Music thinks there’s a better way.
The appointment of Matt Allen signals a significant shift in how Community Music plans to fund artist growth. Rather than relying on legacy models, the company is now building funding solutions from within — ones modelled on the kind of capital access that tech founders have long taken for granted.
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Allen is well-credentialled for the role. As Co-Founder of Tractor Ventures and Venture Partner at Side Stage Ventures, he has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in non-dilutive, revenue-based funding at the intersection of culture, creativity and tech, making him one of Australia’s most respected figures in startup investment and capital strategy.
For funding, artists receive upfront capital to invest in their careers without giving up ownership of their music or business. Repayment comes solely through future streaming royalties, with artists retaining flexibility over how much of their streaming income goes to recoupment versus their own pocket. They can also top up funding as it pays down.
Allen put it plainly: “Artists have always been misunderstood by traditional funding models from banks, government, and labels. They’ve always had valuable, tangible assets, so backing an artist should be more like backing a founder.”
UNIFIED Music Group Founder and CEO Jaddan Comerford, who first connected with Allen in 2020, shares that view. The two have since co-invested in companies including QSIC, an AI-driven retail music platform, and Tixel, a secondary ticketing business. “The economics of business is changing, so the economics of music need to change too,” Comerford said. “Because if we let that slip, we fail our artists.”
Community Music’s funding program has already deployed over $3 million of a $10 million commitment to independent artists, with Allen now on board to expand that further.
Backed by UNIFIED Music Group’s broader ecosystem — spanning management, publishing, recorded music, touring and the Ground Floor program — Community Music is staking a clear position: artist independence and financial growth don’t have to be in opposition.
