LONDON, UK: All Things Considered Group Plc (AQSE: ATC) announced that Driift, a leading UK based livestreaming business which ATC co-founded, has acquired Dreamstage, a technology and commerce platform that allows artists to engage their fanbase in highly interactive live streaming events.

As part of this transaction, Driift will be further strengthened by an additional £4m investment from Deezer, one of the largest independent music streaming platforms in the world, bringing the total investment across Driift and Dreamstage to more than £12m since they were founded in 2020.

The merger will bring together Driift’s award winning production capabilities with Dreamstage’s best-in-class technology and commerce platform, creating a new leader in livestreamed music experiences. The combined business will continue under the Driift name, run by CEO Ric Salmon and COO Claire Mas.

Founded in August 2020, Driift has delivered a succession of premium quality livestreamed events for some of the world’s biggest artists and performers, collaborating with multiple creative and distribution partners, and winning major awards including a BAFTA for “Glastonbury Festival: Live at Worthy Farm” produced in cooperation with BBC Studios.

In May 2022, Dreamstage provided the platform for Driift’s hugely successful global livestream for Little Mix, from London‘s O2 Arena, facilitating sales of over 85,000 tickets worldwide, showcasing strong synergies between both businesses.

The transaction demonstrates continued execution of Driift’s strategy within the fast-growing music livestreaming market, which shows continued increases in audience numbers and a clear willingness to pay for quality content and add-ons such as merchandising and virtual meet-and-greets.

Virtual concerts ticket sales are expected to generate up to $2 billion worldwide in 2022, and up to around $5 billion annually by 2028 (Source: MIDiA – Jan-2022).

Adam Driscoll, CEO of ATC said, “The establishment of Driift in 2020 as a reaction to the pandemic related shut down of the live music business was a clear example of ATC innovating in the face of industry challenges. Livestreaming is now becoming established as a new vertical in the music industry and will be a significant part of its future.

As the live touring business has emerged from lockdown over recent months, Driift has been at the forefront of the evolution of the livestreaming concert model. Driift has already built an unparalleled reputation for bringing groundbreaking livestreams to music fans all over the world, and we believe that the addition of Dreamstage’s tech and sales platform will take the business to the next level.

We are confident that the additional investment from Deezer and the support that they can provide to the business as now its largest shareholder will enable Driift to become a substantial player in what will be a huge new segment of the music industry in the future. We are very excited to have such a strong group of partners in the Driift business, benefiting the prospects for both Driift and the ATC Group.”

Ric Salmon, CEO Driift said, “This is an exciting new chapter for Driift. Over the past two years we have become genuine pioneers in the livestreaming space. We’ve collaborated with certain of the world’s most talented artists, filmmakers and creators to deliver online events that have been part of the latest redefinition of the livestreaming format. Our team has shown a proven ability to innovate, selling hundreds of thousands of tickets and generating millions of dollars in revenues already”.

“Through Deezer’s investment, we are confident that our upward trajectory will accelerate. We are delighted to welcome Dreamstage’s hugely talented team of developers, engineers and customer service personnel into the company. We can now offer a fully integrated livestreaming solution to our partners, with production, promotion and what we see as a market-leading technology and revenue generating platform under one roof. It is a major cultural shift, and we look forward to bringing an even greater range of live experiences to truly global audiences.”

ATC, Driift and Deezer would like to thank Dreamstage’s founders Thomas Hesse, Scott Chasin and Jan Vogler for their work in building Dreamstage over the past years, and for contributing to the success of this Transaction. We would also like to thank Beggars Group, for their commitment and contribution in the merger.