laut.de
laut.de (LAUT AG) is a German-language online music magazine founded in 1998, serving music enthusiasts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with news, album reviews, concert listings, interviews, and photo galleries. The privately held Konstanz-based firm, owned by SEITENBAU GmbH, monetizes via advertising, content licensing, and a subscription product.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersKonstanz, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What laut.de does
laut.de, operated by LAUT AG (a privately held German stock corporation headquartered at Seilerstrasse 7, Konstanz, and a subsidiary of SEITENBAU GmbH), is a long-established German-language online music magazine founded in 1998. The platform provides daily music news, artist profiles and interviews, album reviews with both reader and editorial ratings, concert and festival listings across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, photo galleries, music videos, and a genre encyclopedia. Registered users can rate albums, favorite artists, and comment on articles. The product is built on standard web technologies (Imperia AG CMS, PHP, JavaScript) and embeds third-party media from YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, Vevo, Vimeo, Bandcamp, Instagram, and TikTok; no public or partner-facing API is documented.
LAUT AG also operates laut.fm, a music streaming service, and licenses editorial content as a "Content-Dienstleister" to prominent portals across the DACH region. The commercial model rests on three revenue streams: digital advertising (operated in a joint-controller arrangement with Quality Media Network GmbH under GDPR Art. 26), a paid ad-free subscription through Content Pass GmbH, and B2B content licensing. The company's geographical footprint is explicitly regional (DACH), with no documented global expansion. Leadership consists of two Vorstand members (Florian Schade and Sascha Oriwall), an editorial director (Joachim Gauger), a deputy (Michael Schuh), and a data protection officer (Alexander Cordas), supported by a stated core team of 17 employees plus a large network of freelance contributors (40+ named authors, 3 photographers, 2 technical staff). Revenue is not publicly disclosed.
laut.de firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- laut.de
- Legal name
- LAUT AG
- Website
- https://laut.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- laut.de (LAUT AG) is a German-language online music magazine founded in 1998, serving music enthusiasts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland with news, album reviews, concert listings, interviews, and photo galleries. The privately held Konstanz-based firm, owned by SEITENBAU GmbH, monetizes via advertising, content licensing, and a subscription product.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where laut.de is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Konstanz
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
laut.de business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Digital Advertising: Primary revenue stream through display advertising and programmatic marketing. The site uses sophisticated targeting for interest-based advertising, audience segmentation, frequency capping, and reach measurement. Google Analytics and INFOnline measurement (SZMnG) are used for audience analytics that support advertising monetization.
- Subscription Service (contentpass): Premium ad-free and tracking-free access subscription through partnership with Content Pass GmbH, allowing users to access the site without advertising.
- Content Licensing to Third-Party Portals: Content service provider (Content-Dienstleister) for named portals in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, licensing editorial content to partner platforms.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
laut.de product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Laut.de is a German-language online music magazine delivering daily music journalism including news, album reviews with reader and editorial ratings, artist profiles and interviews, concert and festival listings across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, concert photography galleries, music videos, and a genre encyclopedia. Additionally, LAUT AG operates as a content service provider (Content-Dienstleister) licensing editorial music content to renowned partner portals in the DACH region, and offers a premium ad-free subscription through contentpass.
Product overview
laut.de is a German-language internet music magazine operated by LAUT AG based in Konstanz. The platform functions as a single unified music media product offering integrated content across multiple editorial sections: music news, artist profiles and interviews, album reviews with reader/editorial ratings, concert and festival listings organized by city, photo galleries with photographer credits, music videos with charts, and a genre encyclopedia guide. The platform also operates a community feature allowing registered users to rate albums, favorite artists, and comment on articles. LAUT AG additionally provides content syndication services as a content service provider to partner portals in German-speaking markets.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- laut.de Music News Daily music journalism covering news, hypes, and industry gossip across all music genres including German rap, metal, rock, pop, and international acts, targeted at German-speaking music enthusiasts.
- laut.de Artist Profiles Artist portrait pages featuring biographies, interviews, photos, album reviews, concert listings, and video content for bands and musicians across all genres.
- laut.de Album Reviews Album reviews featuring both reader ratings (Leserwertung) and editorial ratings (Redaktionswertung), accompanied by reader discussions and CD price comparisons.
- laut.de Concert Listings Concert and tour database with tour dates, festival information, and ticket listings organized by artist and location, searchable by city and distance radius (20km, 50km, 100km, 250km) across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
- laut.de Photo Galleries Concert photography galleries featuring photographer credits, organized by artist and event location across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
- laut.de Genre Guide / Poplexikon Music genre encyclopedia and pop lexicon providing music genre exploration and discovery tools for users seeking to learn about and navigate music genres.
- laut.de Music Videos and Singles Music video and single listings with current single charts and MP3 download links, for users tracking current music releases.
- laut.de Content Pass Premium Subscription Premium ad-free and tracking-free subscription service offered in partnership with Content Pass GmbH, providing users with an alternative access model without advertisements or tracking.
- laut.de Content Services / Syndication Content licensing and syndication services providing music journalism content (news, reviews, artist coverage) to partner portals in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, positioning LAUT AG as a content service provider (Content-Dienstleister).
Companies that use laut.de
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
laut.de technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration20 records
Feature4 records
laut.de partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- DACH Region PortalscoreLaut.de operates as a content service provider (Content-Dienstleister) for namhafte (renowned) portals in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The company licenses its editorial content including music news, reviews, and artist coverage to these partner platforms, extending its reach beyond the owned laut.de domain.
- Quality Media Network GmbHcoreQuality Media Network GmbH (Alt-Niederkassel 75, 40547 Düsseldorf) is the joint controller with LAUT AG for advertising marketing on the platform. They handle the collection and use of data for targeted advertising, audience targeting, reach measurement, and ad delivery optimization including frequency capping.
- consentmanager ABcoreConsent management tool provider enabling users to manage cookie consents and data processing preferences. Handles GDPR compliance for consent collection and storage for advertising, analytics, and tracking technologies.
- Content Pass GmbHminorContent pass offers premium ad-free and tracking-free subscription access to the laut.de platform. Partners with LAUT AG to provide this subscription service to users willing to pay for an enhanced, privacy-focused browsing experience.
- SEITENBAU GmbHcoreParent company of LAUT AG. SEITENBAU GmbH is a web development and technology company based in Konstanz, Germany that owns and operates the LAUT AG subsidiary and its laut.de music portal.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights8 records
laut.de competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- NME: NME is a long-running music publication offering news, reviews, interviews, and concert listings in a format highly comparable to laut.de. It shares the same editorial journalism model with regional (UK/international) focus and a similar digital-first transition trajectory.
- AllMusic: AllMusic is a comprehensive music database and editorial site offering album reviews, artist biographies, and genre guides — comparable to laut.de's artist profile pages, album review functionality, and genre encyclopedia features.
- Songkick: Songkick specializes in concert listings and ticket discovery with extensive tour date databases — comparable to laut.de's concert and festival listing functionality, with a broader international scope but similar ticketing/information model.
- Pitchfork: Pitchfork is one of the most prominent online music magazines globally, offering album reviews, news, interviews, and features — directly comparable to laut.de's editorial format, dual rating systems, and concert coverage. It serves as the closest international analog in the music journalism category.
- Resident Advisor: Resident Advisor combines music journalism with comprehensive event/concert listings and is widely recognized in the electronic music space — directly comparable to laut.de's combination of editorial reviews, artist profiles, and city-based concert discovery.
- Musikexpress: Musikexpress is a long-established German music magazine covering news, reviews, interviews, and concerts — the most direct German-market peer to laut.de with overlapping editorial coverage of rock, pop, and alternative music for German-speaking audiences.
- Stereogum: Stereogum is an online music publication covering news, reviews, interviews, and concert coverage, with similar editorial scope to laut.de. Comparable in audience focus (indie/alternative/rock-leaning music enthusiasts) and in its content-led digital publishing model.
- Plattentests.de: Plattentests is a German online music review platform providing album reviews with rating systems and editorial coverage — directly comparable to laut.de's album review functionality, dual rating (editorial + reader) approach, and German-language editorial focus.
- Intro Magazine: Intro is a German online music and culture magazine covering music news, reviews, interviews, and concert listings — a direct German-market peer with similar editorial structure, music journalism focus, and DACH audience.
Broad incumbents
- Last.fm: Last.fm is a large-scale music platform combining scrobbling, recommendations, artist biographies, and editorial content — a broader incumbent that overlaps with laut.de on artist information and music discovery, though operating at significantly larger scale and with a wider feature set.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
laut.de social profiles
Digital presencelaut.de compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
laut.de financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
laut.de leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
laut.de funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
laut.de M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about laut.de
What does laut.de do?
Laut.de is a German-language online music magazine delivering daily music journalism including news, album reviews with reader and editorial ratings, artist profiles and interviews, concert and festival listings across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, concert photography galleries, music videos, and a genre encyclopedia. Additionally, LAUT AG operates as a content service provider (Content-Dienstleister) licensing editorial music content to renowned partner portals in the DACH region, and offers a premium ad-free subscription through contentpass.
Is laut.de a public or private company?
laut.de is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was laut.de founded?
laut.de was founded in 1998. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is laut.de based?
laut.de is headquartered in Konstanz, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does laut.de make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Digital Advertising is the primary driver. The others are subscription Service (contentpass) and content Licensing to Third-Party Portals.
Who are laut.de's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are NME, AllMusic, Songkick, Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, Musikexpress, Stereogum, Plattentests.de and Intro Magazine. Last.fm is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does laut.de have an API?
No public API is recorded for laut.de.