Labelcoin strives to end artist poverty with a new artist-centric music investment app that fuses Web3, securities law, and Wall Street-like trading.
Labelcoin is gearing up for their app launch, ready to address a centuries-old problem: how can hard-working musicians earn a living from their music? With the launch of their new app and song investment platform, Labelcoin will help thousands of musicians quit their second jobs and create consistent income streams without giving up control of their masters.
The majority of artists supporting themselves through music don’t have a sustainable and consistent flow of funds each month. They likely have a big check, from a tour or an advance, and then they don’t see new funds for months. Thousands more artists are only earning enough to pay their producers, leaving them to pick up second jobs or delivery gigs to pay essential bills and delay their dreams. Through Labelcoin, artists bring years of future income forward, with fan-supported investment in their songs. Artists can sell portions of the streaming royalties of their songs, called Notes, and fans start earning regular dividends from future streams.
When artists place their songs on Labelcoin, they retain full control and legal rights over their music and career, and unlike current music catalog sales, artists continue to earn revenue every time their Notes are traded in the future.
Fans can invest in artists they already love, or new music they discover through the Labelcoin platform. As Songholders, they earn streaming royalties alongside the artist, and can help that revenue grow by sharing the songs with their friends and network.
Labelcoin is backed by a passionate team of artists and investment professionals who understand the financial struggles that artists face. “I’ve been there,” says CEO and Co-founder, Mark Miller. “I once spent an entire summer making hand-made ceramic mugs to fulfill Kickstarter orders. I found odd jobs filing medical records and worked as an audio engineer part time, then I would go out for a week at a time playing shows and hope to break even. It was eight years into my career before we actually had a positive income we could live on solely from music. That’s why Labelcoin is needed. We’re creating a pathway for artists to make a living now, not eight years down the road if they can just hang on.”
Labelcoin’s product is rooted in its co-founders' genuine drive to help artists in need of a reliable income before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-founder Mark Miller toured for a decade, the last five years of which were spent with his wife as indie pop duo, So Long Solo. After building a six-figure annual income as an artist, he left the road to help other artists succeed, founding Brave Enough Entertainment in 2016. “We signed a lot of artists off of shows like The Voice and American Idol - artists with huge potential and way more talent and followers than [So Long Solo]. I was shocked to discover that we were out-earning nearly all of them with our small base of 3,000 followers, and so I threw myself into figuring out how to help these artists use everything we learned - set that as their new floor - and smash their previous ceiling.” Brave Enough Entertainment won the Association For The Promotion Of Campus Activities’ Agency of the Year award in 2019.
“Once COVID hit, we quickly realized a big change was needed for our artists, and the industry as a whole,” adds Miller. Miller met former Wall Street investment pro and VC investor Chad Petterson, who had also seen challenges arise for artists during the COVID pandemic. Petterson started a charity in Nashville called HOPE-20 as a result. HOPE-20, now called HOPE FORWARD, has helped musicians and entertainment professionals affected during and after the pandemic. To date, HOPE FORWARD has paid $150,000 of housing and utility bills, supplied over 10,000 pounds of groceries and fresh produce, provided over 100 live and online courses and given mental, emotional and spiritual support to struggling artists and entertainment professionals.
As venues opened back up, Miller and Petterson looked for new ways to support artists, one of these being Labelcoin, which channeled each of their strengths and similar passions to reduce artist poverty. They are deeply committed to the middle class artist’s journey, having compiled additional materials and resources to aid artist growth and visibility in music, including marketing and networking tools to help artists amplify their songs on the platform.
“Labelcoin is a great place for artists and fans who may not be familiar with investing, Web3, or even trends in the music industry,” says Chad Petterson. “We make it super easy for anyone to support these growing artists and invest in their success.” To accomplish this, Labelcoin has created a marketplace where investors can easily track individual song and overall portfolio profitability as well as numerous other performance and financial metrics.
Artists trust Labelcoin for its team’s continued dedication to helping artists, keeping the artists’ best interests at its core. Because of this, Labelcoin has had an overwhelmingly positive response in signing up artists for its platform. Over 250 artists, with over 52 million followers and over 2.2 billion streams, have been waiting to get their songs onto the platform. Artists include Megan Davies, Jonah Baker, Kirsten Collins, Ari Herstand, and many more. These songs will be available for investment post-launch.
This launch aligns with the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas from March 13th-18th. Labelcoin will be hosting numerous events during the festival. To view a list of Labelcoin events, please visit www.labelcoin.io.