This New Crowdfunding Platform Lets Fans Invest in Music Artists' Success | Entrepreneur (2024)

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Become an active stakeholder in your favorite artist's success. That's the promise of TapTape, a new funding platform that allows music fans to invest in groups they believe in and get a share of future profits.

TapTape tailors to up-and-coming bands that have already started to establish themselves in the industry and fans who want to actively participate in their success. TapTape bets on fans to be the most knowledgeable and passionate investors.

"At the end of a crowdfunding campaign, the artist says to the fans "thanks for your support,'" says CEO and co-founder Christopher Nolte. "Our goal would be that at the end of a TapTape campaign, the fans say "thank you for letting me be a part of this,'"

Related: 5 Keys to Achieving Crowdfunding Success

TapTape lets you help finance your favorite bands in exchange for classic crowdfunding goodies, but more important, a cut of future profits in the form of "TapCoins," the company's virtual currency.

In that sense, TapTape resembles an equity crowdfunding platform in its logic, but without the selling of securities.

The recent approval by the SEC of final rules for Title III of the JOBS Act on Oct. 30, opening up equity crowdfunding to anyone who wishes to invest even small amounts of money, might change that for TapTape users in the future.

But until then, they are currently "the first ones who will be able to prove this model out before the new rules go into effect," Nolte says.

According to business and crowdfunding attorney Kendall Almerico, "Title III will eventually spawn many niche funding portals" and "TapTape is exploring one of those potential niche areas that could prosper for a platform: music."

After picking a music group, fans can invest as little as $1 to as much as $5,000. Bands usually use the money to cover production costs, distribution and publicity, and to rent tour buses, buy studio time or whatever other needs they have to keep rising. TapTape takes a 5 percent cut of the money raised and backers are only charged if and when the campaign they launched on TapTape is successful.

TapTape and the artists work together to set goals and a funding deadline. Backers make an initial payment, and if the artists make a profit, fans get a proportional cut from it in TapCoins, as well as bonuses such as free albums or other material rewards whenever the TapTape goals are reached.

Related: Everyone Pays to Raise Money

With TapCoins, users can reinvest in other bands on the platform or purchase limited edition merch from artists, get access to early releases and other music-related benefits. The idea is also to keep these funds focused on the music industry and make sure the investment stays in the music ecosystem.

When TapTape launched in public beta on Oct. 5, it chose to start with the San Francisco-based band, K Theory, which has performed around the country and amassed a strong following. K Theory has more than 70,000 SoundCloud subscribers and 120,000 Facebook followers.

"TapTape is all about empowering musicians through their biggest asset, their fans, and K Theory loves that," says the group's manager, Dustin Claretto.

K Theory has always tried to be close to its supporters, through free shows, free remixes, pizza party meet-ups before gigs and other perks, Claretto says. "TapTape was a way to do this on an entirely different level as the fans could actually share in K Theory's success."

Originally launched when Nolte was doing his MBA at MIT, the startup won the Creative Arts Prize in the MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competition, as well as the SXSW 2015 MBA Business Plan Competition. TapTape is also backed by former head of Def Jam and Warner Music labels, Lyor Cohen.

Both co-founders are musicians. Nolte grew up playing piano, saxophone and guitar and Jared van Fleet started his career by going on tour with well­-known indie bands such as Beirut and Voxtrot.

Artists wouldn't be successful without fans and that's what TapTape wants to reward, Nolte says. "The goal is to have a significant impact on the way artists are compensated."

Related: Why This New Form of Funding Has the Music Industry Amped Up

This New Crowdfunding Platform Lets Fans Invest in Music Artists' Success | Entrepreneur (2024)

FAQs

This New Crowdfunding Platform Lets Fans Invest in Music Artists' Success | Entrepreneur? ›

That's the promise of TapTape, a new funding platform that allows music fans to invest in groups they believe in and get a share of future profits. TapTape tailors to up-and-coming bands that have already started to establish themselves in the industry and fans who want to actively participate in their success.

Is there a way to invest in music artists? ›

Invest in Music Royalty Funds

There are a few music royalty funds that are open to investors. For example, Hipgnosis Songs Fund and Mills Music Trust are two publicly traded funds that own song royalties and distribute dividends to shareholders.

What is the app that invests in music artists? ›

As listeners invest, BaseNote collects the cash and distributes it to the artist. Instead of waiting years for royalties to accrue, artists can immediately use the money to record new music, go on tour, film music videos, and more.

Do you pay back crowdfunding? ›

There are four kinds of crowdfunding campaigns you can use for your business. With donation-based funding, contributors give money without receiving anything in return. In equity funding, backers get shares of the business. For debt-based funding, donors are repaid with interest.

Is crowd funding a good investment? ›

You Could Earn Above-Average Returns

Although its track record is relatively short, crowdfunding has the potential to be a lucrative bet for investors. Depending on the type of investment involved, it's possible to match the market or even beat it.

Where to invest money in music? ›

How to Invest in Music IP?
  • Record labels and publishers.
  • Music royalty funds.
  • Direct purchases of music IP assets.

How to invest in music rights? ›

How Can I Invest in Music Royalties?
  1. Public Companies / Public Investment Firms. Investing in public entities is one of the most accessible ways to gain access to music royalties. ...
  2. Royalty Platforms. ...
  3. Private Royalty Investment Funds. ...
  4. Complexity and Opacity. ...
  5. Pricing and Valuation. ...
  6. Interest Rate Risk. ...
  7. Read more:
Apr 28, 2023

What is the best crowdfunding platform for musicians? ›

Kickstarter: Best all-around crowdfunding platform, highest success rates. Indiegogo: Most flexible crowdfunding platform, keep the funds you raise. ArtistShare: Best for audience targeting. Patreon: Best for recurring income; not raising for one specific project.

What platform gives musicians the most money? ›

Napster offers the highest PPS rate among all music streaming platforms! On average it pays around $0.019 per one stream, 1$ per 59 streams, $100 per 5,945 streams, and $1000 per 59,453 streams. Estimate your earnings with an online music streaming calculator.

Which music platform pays artists the most? ›

TIDAL ranks higher than both Spotify and Apple Music in terms of royalty rate and the direct artist payouts available on the platform. It's definitely worth weighing up your options when deciding which DSP(s) to upload your music to.

What are the negatives to crowdfunding? ›

Compare crowdfunding pros and cons
Pros of crowdfundingCons of crowdfunding
Funds often come from many investorsFees can be steep
Build a customer base earlyYour business idea may get swiped
Likely no credit checkTime requirements may be significant
Possible feedback channelYou may not have as much guidance
5 more rows
May 22, 2023

How much money do you need for crowdfunding? ›

At first, only accredited investors were allowed to get involved. However, in 2016, anyone could start accessing platforms to invest in new business, thanks to so-called Title III rules. 1 Now, you can take $100 to an investment crowdfunding platform and invest money in the hopes that you will see a return.

What happens to money if crowdfunding fails? ›

In summary, if a Kickstarter marketing project fails then:

The pledges stay with its backers. Refunds are returned automatically back to backers' debit/credit cards.

What is the most successful crowdfunding ever? ›

2. The most successful equity crowdfunding campaigns of all time
  • Pebble Time - $20.3 million. ...
  • Star Citizen - $34 million. ...
  • Exploding Kittens - $8.7 million. ...
  • The Veronica Mars Movie Project - $5.7 million. ...
  • OUYA - $8.6 million. ...
  • 8. Coolest Cooler - $13 million. ...
  • Pebble 2 + Time 2 - $12.8 million. ...
  • Flow Hive - $12.2 million.
Mar 22, 2023

How do you get the money from crowdfunding? ›

Funds are available to withdraw 14 days after launching your page. To withdraw what you've raised so far, all you need to do is head to the 'Funds' tab on your Page. It takes 4-6 working days for the funds to reach you after requesting a withdrawal.

Who is eligible for crowdfunding? ›

Anyone can invest in a Regulation Crowdfunding offering. Because of the risks involved with this type of investing, however, you are limited in how much you can invest during any 12-month period in these transactions. The limitation on how much you can invest depends on your net worth and annual income.

Why should we invest in music? ›

For the fund, it boils down to a simple diversification story. Music rights provide steady cash flows through time and are uncorrelated with traditional asset classes such as fixed income or equity. Moreover, they may offer the additional advantage of being intellectual property and, thus, intangible assets.

Why invest in music rights? ›

Investing in music royalties offers several potential advantages over traditional asset classes, including: Long-term residual income stream: Music royalties can provide a steady stream of cash flow that can last for many years, even after a song has been recorded.

How do people get money from music? ›

Musicians who focus on performance earn money from advances, merchandise, royalties, licensing fees and playing live music. If the artist works with a record label, they pay a share of their money to others involved, such as managers, agents, promoters, PR teams and sound engineers.

How much do you pay for music rights? ›

A license with BMI can range from $250 to $400 per year, but larger businesses might pay upward of $2,000 per year.

Can I invest in royalties? ›

Investors can acquire rights to royalty income by purchasing shares of royalty trusts or bidding on royalty auction exchanges. If you're thinking about investing in royalty income, you may want to speak with a financial advisor first. SmartAsset's free tool can match you with advisors that serve your area.

How can I sell my music for money? ›

Where to sell your music online
  1. Your own website. As a first step in selling your music online, make a website for your music. ...
  2. Digital music stores. ...
  3. Bandcamp. ...
  4. SoundCloud. ...
  5. Streaming platforms. ...
  6. Create a strategy to sell your music. ...
  7. Engage your fans. ...
  8. Create a crowdfunding campaign.
Feb 9, 2022

How do artists use crowdfunding? ›

Basics of crowdfunding

Artists run “campaigns” that offer “rewards” in return for these pledges of financial support for their projects. You usually commit to raising a certain amount of money for your project by a deadline. If you don't meet your funding target, the money gets returned to your project supporters.

What is music crowdfunding? ›

Music crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter formalise the fan-funding process. Fans are asked to contribute to the project through the artist or band's website and social media presence. Musicians retain their rights and the website charges a commission once the agreed target has been raised.

What is crowdfunding for musicians? ›

Fans of music have the option to donate and collectively raise money with the goal of jump-starting the career of a given musical artist. The fan-funding of music occurs primarily through web-based services using a business model for crowdfunding. Fans are typically given rewards based on their monetary contributions.

How do music platforms pay artists? ›

Deezer - User Centric Payment System (UCPS)

Who is paid: "Music streaming services usually do not pay artists directly. In most cases, they pay the artist's record labels, publishers, distributors or collecting societies which then pay the artists according to their individual agreements.

What music program do most artists use? ›

Best Music Making Software of 2022
  1. Ableton. Based in Germany and California, Ableton is an industry stalwart that's extremely popular with recording artists. ...
  2. Avid Pro Tools. ...
  3. PreSonus Studio One. ...
  4. Audacity. ...
  5. Waveform Pro & Free. ...
  6. Steinberg Cubase. ...
  7. Reaper. ...
  8. iZotope Music Production Suite.
Mar 28, 2022

How much does Spotify pay for $1 billion streams? ›

How much money did 'Here Comes the Sun' generate on Spotify? Music distribution company Ditto Music, headquartered in Liverpool and New York, estimates that "Here Comes The Sun" has generated about $4.37 million from 1 billion Spotify streams, based on U.S. streaming rates.

Who benefits from crowdfunding? ›

Crowdfunding is a way of raising money to finance projects and businesses. It enables fundraisers to collect money from a large number of people via online platforms. Crowdfunding is most often used by startup companies or growing businesses as a way of accessing alternative funds.

How effective is crowdfunding? ›

22.4% is the average success rate of crowdfunding campaigns. In fact, not even a quarter of crowdfunding campaigns reach their goals. According to The Crowdfunding Center, the average success rate of crowdfunding campaigns is a scant 22.4%.

What is the biggest challenge with crowdfunding? ›

One of the challenges every entrepreneur faces when it comes to raising capital via crowdfunding is figuring out how much money they should raise. While you might think this is just a simple matter of deciding how much money you need to invest in your startup, other things also come into play.

What are the 4 types of crowdfunding? ›

There are four main types of crowdfunding, including donation, reward, equity, and debt crowdfunding options.

How long does it take to get money from crowdfunding? ›

Crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter and Indiegogo can be as long as 60 days, but we recommend you plan for a campaign that's 30-40 days at most. If you work on building a mailing list and testing your product in the time before you hit the launch button you should expect to hit your goal fairly quickly.

What are the rules for crowdfunding? ›

The SEC limits the dollar amount an individual investor can invest across all crowdfunding offerings within 12 months. Securities purchased in a crowdfunding transaction generally cannot be resold for one year. Regulated crowdfunding offerings are subject to "bad actor" disqualification provisions.

What are two crowdfunding mistakes to avoid? ›

4 Crowdfunding Mistakes to Avoid
  • Forgetting Your Pre-Launch. ...
  • Ignoring Your Video. ...
  • Neglecting Your Backers. ...
  • Overpromising Your Audience.
Mar 24, 2022

What percentage of crowdfunding is successful? ›

What's the average success rate of crowdfunding campaigns? The average success rate of crowdfunding operations is 22.4%. However, many campaigns do get financed, even if unsuccessful. In total, 38.92% of crowdfunding projects are fully funded.

Can I buy stock in an artist? ›

Buying shares of art 🖼

By and large, art investment platforms work in fairly similar ways. Some buy an individual artwork themselves, then create and list shares that other investors can buy – making money by charging a fee for managing the process, as well as for storing and insuring the art on investors' behalf.

What artists are good to invest in? ›

8 Contemporary Artists You Should Invest in Right Now
  • Alex Da Corte. Alex Da Corte is an American multimedia artist, known for his site-specific installations, photography, video and sculptures. ...
  • Michael Dotson. ...
  • Chad Kouri. ...
  • Matt Lambert. ...
  • Katherine Bernhardt. ...
  • Trudy Benson. ...
  • Nathan James. ...
  • Cui Jie.

What are music investors called? ›

Angel Investors

Angel investing is present in the music industry. They are private music investors who look for investments in the very early phases of business development.

Can you buy stock in music? ›

NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTES), Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI), Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG), and Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) are some top music stocks according to hedge funds.

How do artists find investors? ›

The most obvious routes to finding an investor for your music are: your local music scene - ask other artists and promoters. your local business community, including local Chambers of Commerce, business development organisations, business networks and local councils.

Is it better to invest in art or stocks? ›

A long-term reliable investment

One of the main reasons why art is a good investment is because it holds its value over time. Unlike stocks or other investments, art does not tend to go up and down in value based on market fluctuations.

Who are the top upcoming artists to invest in? ›

Emerging Artists Who Will Shape the Contemporary Art World
  • Shara Hughes.
  • Hilary Pecis.
  • Issy Wood.
  • Tomokazu Matsuyama.
  • Xinyi Cheng.
  • Salman Toor.
  • Rafa Macarrón.
Apr 6, 2022

How can artists raise money? ›

Sell your art or design products

Selling is a foolproof way of earning some money, and means that the individual who is parting with their cash gets something in return. Take a look at your body of work and choose work to put up for sale. This can be done through your artist website, Instagram account or Etsy shop.

How do successful artists make money? ›

You can sell digital copies of your art or have options for shipping your products to your customers. If you're a performance artist or musician, consider selling recordings of your work online. You may also want to create a digital portfolio of your works as a way of attracting potential customers.

What are the 3 types of investors? ›

The three types of investors in a business are pre-investors, passive investors, and active investors. Pre-investors are those that are not professional investors. These include friends and family that are able to commit a small amount of capital towards your business.

Do royalties expire? ›

The musician receives a royalty on songs after putting copyright protection on the music. The royalties on this song last over the period that the copyright protection of the song lasts.

Who pays out royalties? ›

Composition: Songwriters often sign with publishers in what's called a publishing deal. The publisher takes ownership of the copyright and in return has the task of licensing the composition and collecting royalties. Royalties generated are typically split 50/50 between songwriter and publisher.

How much do royalties cost? ›

Generally, the standard royalty rates for authors is under 10% for traditional publishing and up to 70% with self-publishing. That's right. In the example above, self-published authors make over $24,000 more than traditional authors for the same number of books sold.

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