Today, Royal, co-founded by Justin Blau, aka musician and producer 3LAU, has revealed that one of those backers, hip-hop legend Nas, will be the first artist to let fans invest in his music on the platform.
On January 11, fans will be able to invest in Nas’s music by buying shares in the royalties earned from streaming for two of his tracks: Ultra Black, the lead single from his 2021 Grammy Award winning-album King’s Disease, and Rare, a single from follow-up 2022 Grammy Award-nominated album, King’s Disease II.
Fans can invest by buying ‘limited digital assets’ (Royal’s extended version of an NFT) in the form of “Gold”, “Platinum” and “Diamond” digital tokens for each single, and the owners of the tokens will receive a share of royalties every time the track is streamed. If you wanted to invest in Rare, for example, buying one of 700 available Gold tokens at $99 will get you a 0.0133% share in what the track earns from music streaming. Platinum tokens for Rare, of which there are 400 available, will be sold at $499 for a 0.0658% share and buyers will also get access to exclusive merch, plus all Gold Perks. Only 10 Diamond tokens for the single will be sold at a cost of $9,999 each, in exchange for a 1.5789% share, in addition to two VIP concert tickets, exclusive signed vinyl, a video conversation with Hit-Boy, plus all Gold and Platinum Perks. Ultra Black’s Gold, Platinum and Diamond tier tokens cost $50, $250, and $4,999, respectively, for a 0.0143%, 0.0857%, and 2.1400% share of what the single earns from streaming, respectively.
The Ultra Black tokens come with the same perks as those attached to Rare’s tokens, and there are 500 Gold, 250 Platinum and 10 Diamond tokens available for the single.
Royal claims to have “proved its concept in its initial interaction on the platform” in October 2021, after 3LAU gave away 333 limited digital assets (Royal’s extended version of an NFT) representing 50% streaming ownership in his single, Worst Case.
Royal reports that the song “has already reached an implied value of close to $12 million, with fans holding half of that value”. Royal adds that the tokens have seen $1 million in secondary market trading volume.
#STW sees that this is an oppty for artists to do a large money grab based on their own popularity and fan base. Streaming royalties have to be split amongst ALL the songwriters and producers and any publishers on the song. So, when they are paid out for a single you can imagine that they don't amount to much. Certainly not $12 million dollars for an average song. No hate though. If you can get this to work for you, by all means, you should!
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