Gydget raises funding round for celebrity widgets

November 15, 2007 | Chris Morrison | Comments | |

gydget.JPGWe recently covered widget-maker Gydget, when it switched over to the widget business from its previous incarnation as events site Attendio.

At the time, we mentioned that the company was seeking a fresh infusion of capital from its investors. It has now received the round, from investor SunBridge Partners, although it isn’t disclosing how much.

Gydget is a good example of a company that seems to have found a viable business plan in the course of an unsuccessful first try. Attendio never gained much traction, but the company tells us that its Gydget widgets are in active use.

Some new celebrities using the widgets include Henry Rollins, Paul Oakenfold and Unkle, as well as the whole artist catalog of Curb Records. Two larger labels, EMI and Universal Records, are also preparing to roll out the widgets, according to the company.

Gydget’s main competition is probably SplashCast, which has Columbia Records on board (see our previous coverage). However, the true risk for widget companies is always the Next Big Thing.

Most deals with record companies are non-exclusive, meaning artists can drop out at any time in favor of using a new, slicker technology.

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About the Author, Chris Morrison

Chris Morrison writes about cleantech and environmental issues for VentureBeat, with occasional forays into gaming and semantic technology. He got his start writing about tech for Business 2.0 magazine, but quickly realized new media was the ticket when that institution closed its doors in 2007. Chris has also covered public equities and regulatory issues. He originally hails from southern Virginia, graduated from Evergreen State College in Washington, and now lives in San Francisco.

  • Thanks for the mention, Chris. And congrats to Gydget on the new funding.

    Beyond Columbia Records, SplashCast is currently working with RCA, Zomba Records, Arista, Sony Legacy, Capitol Records, Island Def Jam, Geffen Records, and MTV on the music side of our business.

    One thing to consider is that the switching cost of widgets is very high, due to their viral nature. Once an artist has a widget on 10,000 fan web pages, it is very difficult for the artist or label to alienate those fans by turning it off in favor of another widget.

    Thanks, Chris.

    Best,
    Mike Berkley
    SplashCast
  • Thanks, Mike. Great to hear about your other partnerships.

    Interesting note on the cost of switching. I agree, in general. However, I wonder if there won't be some cyclical turnover, when bands are in between releasing albums or going on tour (and attention from fans, as a result, periodically drops).

    Maybe there's no way to tell yet; it's still all pretty new. Good luck to both companies -- keep in touch.