While music commerce today is dominated by streaming giants, Sona is learning to unlock the promises of Web3.
Co-founded by TOKiMONSTA, this new entrant into the sector just closed a capital raise of $6.9 million on the back of a compelling narrative: bringing a revolutionary approach to music streaming and artist compensation.
In contrast to the traditional models of Spotify and its Big Tech counterparts, Sona is integrating NFTs into its ecosystem, providing tools to creators for content-streaming and direct artist-to-fan interactions. The company’s digital marketplace allows fans to purchase “SONAs,” or digital copies of songs, making them stakeholders in the music they love.
The platform’s unique business model not only affords artists a revenue stream that did not exist previously, but also augments the consumer experience by eliminating the need for ads or subscriptions. The core of Sona’s mission is a desire to improve the relationship between artist and fan, per Music Business Worldwide.
“The artist and rightsholders retain 100% ownership of the original song [on Sona] — so that’s a bit different and why we don’t really see ourselves as a music NFT platform,” TOKiMONSTA said. “We’re focused on the relationships between artists and fans.”
Today the Sona platform currently hosts over five million tracks and counting. Meanwhile, the marketplace’s inaugural auction took place on December 7th with the tokenized sale of TOKiMONSTA’s “Rouge.”
Ross Laurence
In other TOKiMONSTA news, the Grammy-nominated artist joined forces with Suzi Analogue to release a new “mini-album,” Analogue Monsta: BOOM. Initially distrubuted in limited quantities exclusively on vinyl in 2012, the 11-track project has now hit streaming platforms via TOKiMONSTA’s own label, Young Art Records.
“The Analogue Monsta project was truly ahead of its time,” Suzi Analogue said in a statement. “We felt a strong calling to propel it into the future, recognizing the trailblazing potential it held. It provided a vital space for femme-identifying producers and songwriters to fearlessly explore beats, lyrics and tempos with us. This experimental journey not only influenced the current musical landscape but is poised to leave a lasting mark on the soundscape of the future.”
Listen to Analogue Monsta: BOOM below and pre-order limited edition vinyl here.
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Spotify: spoti.fi/3gZKLD6