Royal, a musical platform that allows users to purchase the right to earn royalties from favorite songs, has closed a $55 million Series A funding round led by a16z. According to 3LAU (Justin Blau) Royal CEO, other investors such as NEA's Connect Ventures, Crush Music, Founders Fund, and Paradigm also participated.
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Blau says the platform will use the funds to invest in the "growth of its ecosystem as thousands of artists, from household names to up-and-comers, have reached out to work with Royal."
"We believe blockchain technology has the ability to transform music ownership the same way the internet has transformed the way music is listened to," said electronic duo The Chainsmoker, which also invested in Royal.
Royal allows users to buy tokens representing their favorite songs and share in the royalties. By funding their careers, artists can also empower fanbase. 3LAU notes the service gives fans access to opportunities that "traditionally have only been available to major labels, hedge funds and highly-connected individuals."
3LAU has long been in the cryptocurrency space. He joined deadmau5, RAC and other artists who published their works on Audius, a decentralized streaming protocol that allows users to distribute, monetize, and stream audio content.
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