Music Artists Are Investing Into A New Nft Music Platform

When you play a song on major streaming platforms, money doesn’t just zoom straight into an artist’s pocket. But what if it did? That’s how payments are designed to work on Audius, a platform built on a blockchain — yes, the same technological network that NFTs run on.

And this three-year-old San Francisco-based company that employs fewer than 40 crypto-crazed people has officially piqued the interest of some of music’s biggest power players. Audius will announce a $5 million round of strategic funding led by major music celebrities.

Artist investors include Katy Perry, Nas, The Chainsmokers via their Mantis VC, Jason Derulo, Pusha T, Steve Aoki, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, and Disclosure. In total there are over 100+ investors jumping on this opportunity.

The list actually doesn’t end there, but we thought your eyes deserved a mini-break.

The last time a string of heavyweights dropped big dollars into a streaming competitor it was for Jay Z’s Tidal.

Rolling Stone asked the veteran chief executive Bandier, who’s watched the biz hit the highest of highs and lowest of lows in his multi-decade career, what drew him in. “Blockchain, which I understand to be a transparent and immutable ledger of transactions, should benefit songwriters and other creators in a way beyond what the current system permits,” Bandier says “Songwriters need more avenues for revenue, and this model should also help expedite payments for their music as it streams across the world.”

“I believe blockchain might be the most important technology to ever hit the music industry,” Nas says in a statement provided to Rolling Stone. “Everyone who uploads to Audius can be an owner. You can’t say that about any other platform.”