Music NFT Startup ‘Sound’ Bags $20 Million in Funding, Snoop Dogg and a16z Pour Millions

The NFT market, despite the recent ups and downs, has managed to contain the steam in the relatively volatile digital assets sector. Sound, a music NFT platform, has managed to raise $20 million (roughly Rs. 164 crore) with investments from biggies of the NFT community, including pop artist Snoop Dogg. Venture capital firm a16z led this investment round along with Palm Tree Crew, A Capital, Sound Ventures, and Collab + Currency among others also having participated in the funding round.

Sound, as a platform, offers tools to artists that lets them upload and stream their music in the form of NFTs. Without an infringement from any third party, Sound also lets artists monetise their content and earn from their work.

Artists using Sound will be able to retain 95 percent of the proceeds from the sale and streaming of their music. A ten percent resale value is also given to the artists, while they also get to keep ownership and publishing rights.

Snoop Dogg, 51, has been investing in many such Web3 platforms, that are aimed at helping artists get the renumeration for sharing their work with people around the world.

Previously, apps like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter did provide a platform for the artists to showcase their talent to people around the world, but the artists still would not make sure that they would be able to earn money out of it. This is why turning music into NFTs has seemingly gained heat in the recent past.

In October 2022, Snoop teamed up with country rock veteran Billy Ray Cyrus to announce the launch of their NFT collection titled 'A Hard Working Man'.

In March this year, Snoop also co-founded ‘Shiller', that lets creators token-gate their content, share products from commerce sites, and promote popular NFTs.

The impact that Web3 and NFTs could have on the music industry and the overall creator economy has enticed many notable artists to take the sector seriously. Eminem, Justin Bieber, DJ Khalid, and Madonna are among other music artists who have dabbled in the digital assets sector.

The sales of NFTs meanwhile, rose by a massive 117 percent in February 2023. Around March, the valuation of the global NFT market climbed to its nine-month high since June last year to over $2 billion (roughly Rs. 17,200 crore).

In more recent months however, the NFT sector seems to have taken a hit due to the market volatility. Dapper Labs, a blockchain-based video games firm for instance, reportedly announced lay-offs in its team citing the current slowdown in market momentum.