Royal partners with musicians to sell NFTs that represent collective ownership and streaming rights in individual songs, positioning itself as an early entrant in NFT use beyond visual art and gaming. The platform is led by EDM artist Justin Blau (3LAU) and JD Ross, co-founder of Opendoor. Royal recently distributed hundreds of NFTs tied to Blau’s latest song that held 50% of its streaming rights and has seen nearly $600,000 in secondary sales for those tokens, implying a $6 million valuation for that single. The company aims to expand the market opportunity of blockchain for music while navigating advertising and securities-law constraints. Naithan Jones joined Royal in September as head of Growth, signaling hires to scale the business. The startup has attracted strong interest from crypto-friendly musicians and investors testing new NFT functionality for music rights. Royal is building a music-rights marketplace that fractionalizes song ownership as NFTs so fans can buy shares and earn royalties as songs gain popularity. The platform aims to sell fractionalized assets representing song rights, though the company has not disclosed a launch date or detailed product plans. Royal plans to leverage co-founder Justin Blau’s profile and music to attract early users and investors; users can sign up for early access on the site. Co-founder JD Ross brings startup experience from Opendoor, and the team says it is working closely with legal counsel to stay compliant amid regulatory scrutiny. The company’s stated mission is to democratize access to music royalties, which are today largely held by labels, private equity groups and hedge funds. Royal faces the challenge of ensuring this access benefits true fans rather than crypto speculators.

Total raised

$71M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Nov 2021