Tune.FM Raises $20 Million from LDA Capital
San Francisco, California, January 10th, 2024, Chainwire
TUNE.FM (Tune Media Inc.) is pleased to share that it has received a $20 Million commitment of capital from global investment group LDA Capital, a private alternative investment group specializing in growth investing in mid-cap listed companies and crypto/blockchain projects. LDA Capital joins Tune.fm’s investors including Animoca Brands, Mindfund, The HBAR Foundation, Broad Street Angels, and other notable angel investors including Andy Hertzfeld, the legendary co-creator of the Apple Macintosh.
Tune.FM is a web3 decentralized music streaming platform with an integrated music NFT marketplace, which enables artists to monetize their fanbase directly through streaming royalty micropayments and digital music collectibles with exclusive unlockable experiences, powered by the JAM token ($JAM) utilizing Hedera Hashgraph distributed ledger technology. The Hedera public network is a next generation enterprise-grade layer 1 protocol known for its low fees, speed, and security which is owned and governed by large companies like Google, IBM, Dell, LG, and Boeing.
The music industry has experienced a dramatic transformation over the past decade. As the iPod and CDs have become obsolete, streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have taken center stage. 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. However, a new type of web3 music platform is emerging powered by tokenization, blockchain, and distributed ledger technology.
Tune.FM wants to shake up the current standard by offering artists 90% of their streaming revenue, a staggering tenfold increase compared to traditional streaming services. The project has positioned itself as a conduit for artists seeking greater control and compensation for their creative works, where artists can receive 10 to 100 times more for their music. The platform virtually eliminates intermediaries and empowers artists with greater autonomy, enabling them to monetize and distribute their music directly to their fans.
The platform’s motto is “when the music gets played, the artist gets paid.” Powered by the JAM token, artists on Tune.fm earn streaming royalty micropayments instantly for every second their music is streamed directly from the listener. Artists can even expand their fanbase by promoting their music with JAM so first time listeners can play-to-earn JAM for discovering new promoted music. This allows artists to earn an ROI on their promotion as new fans discover and stream their music again and again.
In addition to streaming, Tune.fm also enables artists to monetize their superfans by providing exclusive access to experiences like backstage passes, meet and greets, VIP packages, merchandise, Facetime or Zoom calls, and limited access to fan clubs and group chats with the artist for news and behind the scenes content. At the heart of this approach is tokenization and digital collectibles like music NFTs. Tune.fm’s multifaceted music NFT marketplace allows artists to mint and sell digital assets and music collectibles with unique unlockable perks featuring immersive exclusive experiences for fans. Tune.fm is essentially modernizing the business model of how artists are monetized and financed.
Tune.FM’s $20 million round
With the $20 million funding commitment by LDA Capital, Tune.fm is on track to revolutionize the music industry through the power of web3. The new infusion of working capital will enable Tune.fm to grow its user base, expand its development team, launch new product offerings, and increase liquidity for the JAM token across international markets.
LDA Capital’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner Anthony Romano expressed excitement about the recent investment, “By embracing the decentralized model and leveraging cutting-edge blockchain technology, Tune.fm empowers artists to take control of their destiny. This investment signifies our commitment to the future of the music industry, one where artists are at the center stage, and their art is valued and rewarded accordingly.”
The $20 million investment commitment underscores the platform’s potential for sustainable growth and impact. With its pay-as-you-go and play-to-earn (P2E) business model, the platform facilitates seamless micropayments for music streaming via its JAM token ($JAM). This model benefits artists and allows fans to discover new music and support their favorite artists, including Beyonce.
What’s next for Tune.FM?
Looking ahead, Tune.fm will soon launch a mobile app on iOS and Android as well as a desktop application for Mac and Windows. Tune.fm is also planning to negotiate licensing deals to onboard the full catalog of major label content typically available on Spotify and Apple Music. Labels and publishers can also leverage Tune.fm’s technology to dramatically increase their earnings for their artists’ music. Part of Tune.fm’s longer term roadmap includes creating a music festival metaverse where fans will be able to attend token-gated virtual live shows.
These plans are part of Tune.fm’s broader mission to create a more equitable and artist-centric music industry. Hopefully, Tune.fm will continue to emerge and create an industry shift that gives artists greater control over their work and the opportunity to create new revenue streams while simultaneously fostering meaningful relationships with fans.
About Tune.FM
Tune.FM is a web3 decentralized music streaming platform with an integrated music NFT marketplace, which enables artists to monetize their fanbase directly through streaming royalty micropayments and digital music collectibles with exclusive unlockable experiences, powered by the JAM token built on Hedera Hashgraph.
The company was cofounded by lifelong musicians and brothers Andrew Antar and Brian Antar, who attended Brown University and University of Pennsylvania respectively. Andrew, a classically-trained violinist, won concerto competitions, toured the world with several orchestras, joined several bands, taught himself to code, founded the first startup accelerator and incubator fund at Brown University, and built large enterprise applications for clients like Bank of America, EY, and Comcast where he was awarded a blockchain patent. Brian, also a classically-trained violinist, was the concertmaster for the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, produced music with local artists at Penn Studios, earned his Masters degree in creative writing at Penn, and ran a successful e-commerce and 3PL fulfillment business generating millions in sales.
About LDA Capital
LDA Capital is a global alternative investment group with expertise in cross-border transactions worldwide. Our team has dedicated their careers to international & cross-border opportunities having collectively executed over 300 transactions in both the public and private middle markets across 43 countries with aggregate transaction values of over US$11 billion.