Tune.fm Secures $50 Million Investment To Enhance Music Streaming Platform

According to Cointelegraph, decentralized music streaming platform Tune.fm has announced a significant investment. On September 12, the protocol revealed it has secured $50 million in capital from Global Emerging Markets, bringing its total funding to $80 million. This new investment will be used to provide liquidity for the platform’s JAM token, which is utilized to reward both artists and users within the ecosystem. Previous investors in Tune.fm include LDA Capital, Alpha Token Capital, Block Alpha, Animoca Brands, The HBAR Foundation, and GDA Capital, among others. Tune.fm offers a unique music streaming service integrated with a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. Artists on the platform receive micropayments for every second their music is streamed, while users can earn tokens by discovering and listening to newly promoted songs. The platform operates on the Hedera blockchain. A spokesperson for Tune.fm stated that users can create an account and start listening to music immediately without needing a third-party wallet. Upon joining, a blockchain wallet is automatically created to simplify the onboarding process for non-crypto users. The intersection of blockchain and entertainment is being explored by similar protocols. For instance, Royal allows fans to co-own music copyrights by purchasing NFTs tied to songs. Backed by venture capital firm a16z, Royal features artists such as rapper Nas, who released NFTs in 2022. Additionally, long-standing digital music platform eMusic introduced its own cryptocurrency, the eMU token, in 2020, promising direct revenue to artists, with claims that artists would earn 50% of their songs’ revenue. The music industry has undergone significant changes, transitioning from CDs to streaming services. According to Statista, the global music streaming market is projected to reach a revenue of approximately $34 billion by 2027. Tune.fm highlighted the issue with major streaming platforms, stating that large corporations take the majority of the profits, leaving artists with a small share. Spotify, the market leader, has a market capitalization of $66.71 billion and reportedly pays artists an average of $0.003 to $0.004 per stream, with earnings starting only after 1,000 streams within a 12-month period.