Opulous raises $6.5 Million for NFT's in Music
Ditto Music- the global music distribution company's blockchain project- Opulous, raises $6.5 Million for building a Web3 ecosystem around Music.
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Hi Everyone,
A few weeks ago, I wrote on ‘What’s Hype, What’s Real’ when it comes to NFTs in Music, and American Pop Star Doja Cat launching her own NFT marketplace, in what seemed like the height of a crazy bull run for the Crypto market.
Well, a lot has happened since then.
On 21st May, Crypto markets saw a crazy nosedive, wiping out $1 Trillion of wealth, in a single day.
While the prices for most cryptocurrencies have recovered since then, the looming question around mainstream adoption and viability of Cryptocurrencies seems to be answered well by the numerous projects cropping up.
Back in February, Ditto Music- the UK-based award-winning global music distribution company, which has processed more than $1 Billion in royalty payments till date, announced the launch of their blockchain-based peer-to-peer platform for increasing access for artists to capital without having to approach traditional banks.
Founded back in 2007, Ditto has been credited with supporting the early stage careers of artists such as Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, and more recently- British Hip-Hop artists like Dave and Chance The Rapper 👇🏻
So how does their new project: ‘Opulous’ work?
Opulous uses blockchain technology to connect investors with artists needing a loan, driving fresh investment into the music industry that is projected to double revenues over the next decade, owing to the boom in music streaming.
Smart contracts set up on Opulous, which is being built on the Algorand public blockchain, will automate monthly premium and interest repayments and direct profits straight to investors.
But what problem are they really solving? Opulous explains this 👇🏻
Basically, there are 3 things Opulous is trying to solve with this tool:
💰Artists get quick access to cash when they need it.
💹 Investors can stake their crypto assets and earn risk-free returns.
🎧 Direct Integration with more than 70 music services ensures that repayments are streamlined.
So how do NFT’s come into the picture here?
Opulous is also building out a new exchange for NFT’s, as part of its acceleration into the Web3 ecosystem.
Unlike other NFTs, Opulous tokens offer buyers a share in the music copyrights of various artists. These NFTs generate monthly royalty revenue and increase in value as an artist’s career progresses.
NFT owners can track this passive income and withdraw their earnings directly from their Opulous account. Plus they’ll be tradable on the upcoming Opulous NFT Exchange.
Speaking on the viability of the project, founder Lee Parsons said:
“Obviously, we want the biggest artists out there to start selling NFTs through the Opulous platform, but when it comes to the split-copyright NFTs, we see a real sweet spot here for artists who have, say, 3 million-plus followers on Spotify- artists with the kind of solid fan-base that will actively want to help promote their music to others, and will really value owning a stake, and getting a return, from that music’s success.”
Meanwhile, Opulous this month closed a $6.5 million funding round from a list of backers yet to be announced.
Parsons is being tight-lipped on the names of Opulous’s new backers for now but did confirm that “some of my favorite artists” are investors in the platform.
(Opulous Twitter account reveals that people like famed entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck, as well as a fair few notable music industry types, are following the company closely)
A million dollars of the $6.5 million was raised via a crowd-raise
“We could have raised literally ten times more than that with the level of demand we saw,but right now this is about sensibly taking Opulous to the next level, and bringing on the next wave of artists selling copyright NFTs for the very first time.”
Earlier this month, Opulous inked its partnership with Binance in order to allow artists to sell additional, different types of NFTs – not related to copyrights – via the Binance NFT platform.
Parsons says that Opulous plans to launch a series of exclusive music NFT drops with “major artists” – led by Lil Yachty and Kyle – on Binance NFT, with others to be announced soon.
“NFTs are very lucrative, With our Binance collaboration, artists will be able to sell fan experiences like a day in the studio with themselves, as well as Facetime calls, a day doing extreme sports together – anything.”
Imagine spending the entire day doing extreme sports with your favorite artist. How cool would that be? 🔥
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