Tuned Global has partnered with Sona, a new artist-centric streaming platform.
The B2B streaming media services provider will help launch the streaming music service and marketplace, sona.stream. Tuned Global will provide content delivery, tools and reporting services for Sona.
“We are always working to find and support innovative models that accomplish our customers’ goals, which in this case are to offer more ways to support artists directly, not just through the usual streaming royalty payouts,” said Con Raso, managing director of Tuned Global. ”Sona offers a particularly exciting opportunity, combining blockchain and traditional music streaming on a single platform. It’s a first, and it’s brought together some of Tuned Global’s most exciting technical capabilities.”
Co-founded by Grammy-nominated artist and producer Tokimonsta (Jennifer Lee), Sona allows fans to stream music for free without subscriptions or ads, but also to buy Sonas – digital twins of specific songs that share future streaming rewards with their owners.
Artists can choose which songs to auction as Sonas, while superfans can purchase their favourite songs as Sonas to earn 70% of that song’s future streaming rewards on Sona.
The hybrid model is designed to maximise social discovery of new music for emerging artists and curators.
“We’re tilting broken streaming economics in favour of artists and making the industry more fair, equitable and rewarding for both artists and fans,” said Sona co-founder and CEO, technologist and decentralised community expert Laura Jaramillo. “We’re redesigning the system by which music is created, collected and consumed so that artists can own what they do and create without compromise.”
Sona operates alongside the existing models, allowing both labels and independent artists to opt in.
From next year, users will also be able to create playlists and launch radio stations based on their favourite artists. Tuned Global will also ensure Sona can report its usage to rights-holders while creating a new market for both signed and independent artists.
“Though they are pioneering a new model, Sona knew they needed to harmonise with the existing music industry and its needs,” said Raso. “We were here to make sure they could accomplish this efficiently and cost effectively, so that they could bring Sona to market faster.”
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