Major Record Labels Better Watch Their Backs

TL;DR

• Bolero's​ 'Song Share' allows music artists to sell shares of their song’s royalties to fans (via ​NFTs​).

• Bolero collects all of the revenue earned from streaming, downloads and video platforms, converts it to crypto, then disperses it to the relevant NFT holder.

• Record labels will often front a new artist a bit of cash for a single ($500-$2,500) and then take - wait for it - 80% of the track's royalties in perpetuity.

• With Bolero, artists can raise money from their fans, side step the legacy label system, find success on their own and retain all their royalties.

Full Story

Well this is spooky.

Just yesterday we were wondering if a service like ​Bolero's​ 'Song Share' existed…and now it pops up in our news feed.

Basically, the Song Share feature allows music artists to sell shares of their song’s royalties to fans (via ​NFTs​).

This ain’t a new concept - but the fact that Bolero collects all of the revenue earned from streaming, downloads and video platforms, converts it to crypto, then disperses it to the relevant NFT holder?

We haven’t heard of anything like that before.

Here’s why we love this idea:

Record labels will often front a new artist a bit of cash for a single ($500-$2,500) and then take - wait for it - 80% of the track's royalties in perpetuity.

And to add insult to injury...

Labels will often take 100% of royalties until the promotional and studio costs are recouped.

These deals are so darn predatory - we’re surprised Chris Hansen isn’t knocking on their door.

But here’s thing:

A great many artists are writing and producing music from their own home studios these days.

…and the wealth of promotional power now lies in organic (unpaid) reach - via platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

Which means with a small amount of funding, artists can side step the legacy label system and find success on their own.

Bolero allows artists to source that ‘small amount of funding’ from their fans - and reward that support with a manageable cut of royalty fees.

It’s a helluva concept!