(l to r) anotherblock co-founders Sebastian Ljungberg (CTO), Michel D. Traore (CEO), and Filip Strömsten (COO). Photo Credit: anotherblock
Notwithstanding the Web3 space’s well-documented funding falloff, music non-fungible token (NFT) startup anotherblock has announced the close of a €4 million ($4.35 million at the present exchange rate) seed round.
Stockholm-headquartered anotherblock, which revealed a $2.5 million raise last June and officially launched in August, detailed its newest multimillion-dollar round today, via a formal release that was emailed to Digital Music News. Contrasting the seemingly insignificant offerings of many competing NFT platforms, anotherblock’s tokens are according to the company’s website tied to the partial ownership of tracks’ streaming royalties.
To date, the less than year-old “blockchain-based marketplace” appears to have hosted the sale of streaming interests in songs popularized by Rihanna (“Bitch Better Have My Money,” with each token representing 0.0033% of streaming royalties), Offset as well as Metro Boomin (“Ric Flair Drip,” with the tokens each consisting of “0.00075% of the music streaming rights” at hand), and others.
Now, anotherblock intends to use its newest injection of investor capital to “scale up globally” and to “make its product available to a more extensive range of artists, producers, and record companies,” according to execs.
London’s Stride.VC (also a backer of Linktree and Daily Motion) is said to have led anotherblock’s $4.35 million raise, and Axwell (real name Axel Hedfors) joined fellow Swedish House Mafia member Steve Angello, who participated in a prior round, by funding the Web3 operation this time around.
“I have followed anotherblock since the beginning, and it is clear that their work aligns with their vision,” communicated 45-year-old Axwell, whose group sold its back catalog to Björn Ulvaeus-founded Pophouse Entertainment in March of 2022. “Enabling greater rights flexibility is the future of the music industry. It creates a whole new freedom for creators to share the financial incentives with fans, which are the most important thing we have.”
Meanwhile, anotherblock co-founder and CEO Michel D. Traore in remarks of his own elaborated upon the aforementioned expansion plans, specifically disclosing a goal of reaching potential customers outside the crypto sphere. (The business likewise counts as co-founders former NASDAQ senior software developer Sebastian Ljungberg, who doubles as CTO, and former SEB higher-up Filip Strömsten, who’s COO.)
“Our primary focus in the first year was to educate and prove our product, but going forward, it’s about reaching an even wider audience, particularly outside of the crypto space, and enabling even more creators to get involved,” the former Lendo exec Traore said in part. “The blockchain ecosystem currently boasts more active users and greater opportunities to engage them than ever before, opening up endless possibilities for the combination of music rights and technology.”
Shorter term, anotherblock says it’s teeing up an NFT for Mims’ “This is Why I’m Hot” (2006), and the drop is currently set for Wednesday, June 7th. Last week, Swedish “self-serve music licensing platform” Freshsound unveiled an approximately $2.2 million raise of its own.