The music NFT platform Royal closed a $55 million Series A round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
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The round also included Founders Fund of Peter Thiel, Paradigm, CAA, NEA Connect Ventures, Crush Music, and Coinbase Ventures. Investors in the project also included The Chainsmokers, Nas, Logic, Stefflon Don, Kygo and Joyner Lucas & Disclosure.
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Founded by DJ Justin Blau, known as 3LAU, and entrepreneur JD Ross, Royal aims to reshape the relationship between artists and fans by cutting out intermediaries such as record labels. The platform will enable fans to invest in artists and receive a share of the royalties.
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According to a statement, Royal proved its concept in October. In its first engagement with fans on the platform, 3LAU distributed 333 NFTs representing 50% of the streaming rights to his single Worst Case.
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Within two weeks, the song’s potential value exceeded $6 million, half of which belonged to fans. The secondary market for the tokens traded at more than $650,000.
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Royal announced that direct sales of new NFT drops would begin in the coming weeks.
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The raised funds will be used to expand the team and invest in artists partnering with the platform.
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“The Royal team has a bold concept for applying the ideals of Web3 to transform the music industry in a way that expands opportunities for artists and their fans. Music is one of the most exciting unlocks for NFTs,” said Katie Haun, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
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Earlier in August, Founders Fund and Paradigm backed Royal in the seed round of $16 million.
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