NFT music platform Royal announced a $55 Million Series A investment round led by legendary venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The Series A funding round followed a seed round held in August, which collected over $16 million from investors. This brings up the total funding of Royal to accelerate the NFT music scene to $71 Million.
Founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz (known as “a16z”) is a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. The firm made early bets on companies that are household names today. So it’s a major win for Royal to win the VC’s support and approval. Its investment portfolio includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Airbnb, Stripe and Github. Additionally, it invested in the play-to-earn gaming guild Yield Guild Games (YGG).
What is the Royal NFT Platform trying to build?
Founded by 3LAU and his college best friend JD Ross, Royal is a new platform aiming to navigate the world of copyrights and music. Particularly how to enable fractional music ownership. So through Royal, fans can buy NFTs, which will give them rights to the music of their favorite artists. As a result, they will also earn from royalties and any other cash flow generated by the music.
Aside from a16z, prominent musicians also participated in the investment round. For example, the Chainsmokers, Nas, Logic, Kygo and Stefflon Don. Royal also attracted companies such as CAA and NEA’s Connect Ventures, Crush Music Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund and Paradigm.
The platform plans to use the fresh funds to build its legal and engineering infrastructure, expand its team, and invest in artists who sign up for Royal.
Testing Royal’s concept, 3LAU distributed 50% of the ownership rights of his latest single, “Worst Case,” to 333 fans. Those fans will receive part of the royalties whenever the song is streamed on Spotify and Apple Music. The experiment was a massive success. As of press time, the tokens are now worth more than $6 million and have traded over $600,000 in the secondary market.
Understanding 3LAU’s Vision for the Music Industry
The partners are convinced that 3LAU’s Royal NFT Platform will completely transform the music industry. Prior to NFTs, artists are only a portion of the income because control lies in the music labels. NFT technology allows artists to be their own distribution channel and enjoy the full commercial benefits of their work.
In a tweet, JD Ross said they are “making it possible for artists to share ownership in their music directly with fans and earn royalties alongside each other, sidestepping traditional middlemen.”
On the other hand, 3lau recognizes how NFTs do not just represent property but new types of fan engagement and experience. Other music artists feel the same way. For example, Kings of Leon was one of the first artists to embrace NFT technology. Meanwhile, OneOf, the Tezos-backed NFT Platform of Quincy Jones, will offer NFT collections of icons like Whitney Houston and John Legend.
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This article is educational material.
As always, make your own research prior to making any kind of investment.
