Dealflow | September 22, 2021

Blockchain music streaming service Audius raised $5 million from Nas, Katy Perry and other creators

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, September 22 – Mainstream streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are notorious for stiffing the musicians who drive the platforms’ popularity. Audius launched in 2018 to put musicians and creators back at the center of the music industry.

Artists who upload to the platform get a share of the company and 90% of the take when users play their music. Audius takes a 10% cut to support the platform and community.

Spotify, Apple and Amazon pay artists about a half-penny per stream.

A long roster of big names in the music industry participated in Audius’ $5 million raise, including Nas, Pusha T, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo and former Sony/ATV Music Publishing CEO Martin Bandier, who said the blockchain platform not only can add revenue streams for artists, “but it also allows them to cooperatively own the platform itself.”