Decentralized music streaming platform Tune.fm has a new investor. According to a Sept. 12 announcement, the protocol has received $50 million in capital from Global Emerging Markets, bringing its total funding to date to $80 million.
The new investment will be allocated to provide liquidity for the protocol’s JAM token (JAM), used within the platform to reward artists and users. Prior investors in Tune.fm include LDA Capital, Alpha Token Capital, Block Alpha, Animoca Brands, The HBAR Foundation and GDA Capital, among others.
The platform offers music streaming services with an integrated non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. Artists receive micropayments for every second their music is streamed, while users can earn tokens by discovering and listening to newly promoted songs. The platform is powered by the Hedera blockchain.
“Users can create an account and start listening to music immediately; no third-party wallet is required beforehand,” a spokesperson told Cointelegraph. Upon joining the platform, a blockchain wallet is automatically created. This process is aimed at simplifying onboarding for non-crypto users.
Similar protocols have been exploring the intersection of blockchain and entertainment. Royal, for instance, allows fans to co-own music copyrights by purchasing NFTs tied to songs. Backed by venture capital firm a16z, the platform is home to artists such as rapper Nas who released NFTs in 2022.
The space has also welcomed industry veterans. Long-standing digital music platform eMusic introduced its own cryptocurrency, the eMU token, in 2020, promising direct revenue to artists. At the time, the company advertised that artists would earn 50% of their songs’ revenue.
From CDs to streaming services, the music industry has experienced a dramatic shift. According to Statista, the global music streaming market is projected to reach a revenue of roughly $34 billion by 2027.
“The problem with today’s major streaming platforms is that large corporations reap the lion’s share of the profits leaving artists with a small piece of the pie,” Tune.fm said in a statement.
Spotify, the market leader, has a market capitalization of $66.71 billion at the time of writing. The company reportedly pays artists an average between $0.003 and $0.004 per single stream. In addition, earning starts only after 1,000 streams in a 12 month-period.
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