We at Medallion are building the most powerful direct sales and marketing platform in music. We empower artists to offer their fans premium music products and first access to music, tour presales, merch and more. ↓
THE ARTIST x FAN CONNECTION IS BROKEN — at Medallion we’re building web3 technology to mend this fracture and unlock a new standard of ownership, participation, and creative freedom for the next era of artists. ↓↓↓
⇲ Today we are announcing a $9M+ seed funding round led by The Chernin Group with support from additional leading investors across tech, crypto and music.
As we continue to build the best direct-to-fan platform for music artists, we are thrilled to announce our $13.7 million Series A financing, led by
@dragonfly_xyz
and
@lightspeedvp
@FactionVC
.
How can we empower 𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 ✧
Join us tomorrow at 12:30pm EST for a conversation on 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐲 + 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 with
@Ledger
’s
@iancr
and artist / designer Tycho
@ISO50
Since launching the platform 6 months ago, our Medallion artists' natively owned + operated communities have on average:
⇢ 8% more fans than in Facebook Groups
⇢ 38% more fans than on Reddit
⇢ nearly 3x (182%) more fans than in Discord
Our new + improved – and now UK chart eligible – 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐱𝐞 experience launched last week with
@jungle4eva
's 4th album, VOLCANO, superserving their biggest fans with an immersive digital album format released exclusively to their JFC community 🌋
We launched a brand new product offering with
@PalayeRoyale
for the inaugural digital edition of their popular graphic novel 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖘, selling out all 333 editions in hours + creating an immersive collectible experience for fans extending far beyond the page ↓↓↓
Last month we launched our first festival community for DC's largest music festival
@AllThingsGo
✺
A powerful case study ↯↯↯
⇢ 10k first week signups (over 25% of ticketholders)
⇢ $50k+ in net new revenue generated
⇢ 1k+ posts to community social layer
Major news – last week we launched a brand new multi-track digital record collection format with none other than our day one Medallion artist Tycho
@ISO50
↓↓↓
Introducing: Producer Pass – a collaborative community experience bringing fans into the creative process like never before 𖥞
Our first use case:
@PalayeRoyale
collaborate directly with their community for their new ‘Debilitate’ video ft.
@pussyrrriot
⇲ We are a team of music + tech industry veterans who have built pioneering technology for the biggest artists in the world. Now with the rise of web3, we are helping artists redefine fan connections in the new digital frontier.
For years email, phone and location have been the prevailing artist-owned, non-intermediated fan data. Imagine a platform that allows artists to easily obtain, for the first time, a 360 degree perspective of their fan relationships at the individual level. Welcome to Medallion.
The Jungle x Medallion community playbook – build intentional moments for your fans to engage with ✦
We worked with
@jungle4eva
to execute their vision for a special fan activation at their sold out Mexico City arena headline for their JFC community 🇲🇽
Let’s explore ⇲
⇲ The future of fan communities should feel like being at an artist’s sold out hometown show. True, passionate fans connected with real, verified artists around a level of energy, devotion and fulfillment previously impossible in the current online landscape.
More on our Greta Van Fleet campaign that launched today. Fans of the band were invited to share their listening history to determine which element of The Ether they are and then claim that element as a collectible Medallion to own and display in their Electric Tomb profile 👇
We’re thrilled to be bringing our vision of directly connecting artists and fans to life by partnering with
@ISO50
to launch the Open Source Community. We can’t wait to share everything we’ve been working on with you.
This was the first time
@PalayeRoyale
had made this available digitally, repackaged with never before seen animations 📜
All collectors unlocked an exclusive soundtrack + music video plus the option to have their names printed in the physical pressing of the band's next novel 📕
⇲ What does a world look like where creatives are free to pursue the arts with financial sustainability and can share their art freely + equitably with anyone who feels connected to it? A world where artists can actually identify + engage with their biggest supporters directly?
⇲ With experience in music + tech at companies like Uniswap, Warner Music Group, Instagram, Songkick, Hearst and more, our team is uniquely prepared to seize this opportunity. Join us on the journey to redefine the artist x fan connection ▶︎ ▷ ▶︎
Introducing: 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 – a space within our communities for fans to express themselves by sharing content directly with their favorite artists, building the rails for artists to recognize, reward + engage directly with top fans and creators within their community ✻
Listen to our CEO Matt Jones and
@ISO50
on the Mint Podcast with
@levychain
, where they discuss the creation of Tycho's Open Source community and the ways web3 brings artists and fans closer together.
A lot happening across Medallion this week ⇒ marquee community-exclusive releases from
@ILLENIUM
@SigurRos
@PalayeRoyale
+ Tycho
@ISO50
all on sale now ✸
Honored to be building new fan experiences with some of the world's most innovative artists 🧱
Let’s get into it ↯↯↯
⇲ Medallion empowers artists to build deeper and more fulfilling connections with fans, through interactive digital worlds that expand fan participation, actionable insights and economic potential on their owned and operated properties.
Music fan communities have a rich history of creative output inspired by their favorite artists. From remixes and artwork to bootleg merch, fans often create the most compelling works. What if there was a way for artists + fans to sit on the same side of the table to collaborate?
Introducing: 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬 ✻
A time bound bundle of digital + IRL benefits available exclusively to an artist’s Medallion community members. Bringing subscription models into the next era of fandom ↯↯↯
Dive deeper on our mission to develop new technology to help artists + fans better build on their passions in the latest
@tcg_crypto
report — honored to be working with
@jarroddicker
@gaby_goldberg
+ the amazing team at TCG to bring this vision to life 𖥞
📲 |
@NICKIMINAJ
in the introductory video for the new official Gag City app. (cc:
@kartmaraj
)
— To access the app, you need to attend a show from the
#PinkFriday2
World Tour and scan the QR code displayed on the screens to check-in and create an account.
This immersive content surface can be utilized by artists across multiple formats, creating richer more engaging fan experiences for album releases, graphic novels, lyric sheets, scrapbooks, poetry + more ✻
⚡️⚡️⚡️🇺🇦 Ukrainian Flag. 1/1.
Saturday 12PM EST Feb 26
•AUCTION STARTS x lasts for 72 hours•
Funds go towards civilians who help those suffering from the war, "Come Back Alive", one of the most effective x transparent Ukrainian charitable initiatives
The era of Artist-approved User Generated Content is just getting started. Lines will be blurred between the artist and their fanbase, and this will serve as an exciting catalyst for creative output, revenue and community growth ֎
Artists are expected to deliver ever-increasing levels of virality to compete in today's music industry. At Medallion, we're empowering artists to directly connect with their true fans without having to conform to algorithms at the expense of their creative vision.
Jungle, the renowned electronic sensation, leveraged their Medallion-powered JFC community to orchestrate an exclusive presale for their London O2 show. By targeting their community, the band demonstrated the value of direct-to-fan engagement + commerce:
By offering users a frictionless minting flow + a multitrack listening UX within a single NFT purchase more closely resembling what fans are used to on traditional platforms, we hope to drive adoption of digital assets + bring music collection into the next era of the internet ✻
As streaming growth slows, 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 emerges as one of music’s largest untapped growth areas 💡
Recent industry reports highlight the growing importance of direct-to-fan connection in maximizing superfan value + this unrealized opportunity ✹
Better time than ever to remind artists everywhere we enable you to build your own platforms to engage with your top fans & own those relationships. Our artist platforms are always free to join, and we offer digital commerce products enabling new music and content experiences ✺
So wild to think it’s already been ONE YEAR since we started this new way of communicating and sharing with ONE BIG FAMILY! In this ever-changing world, we are always looking for the best way to stay connected and share music, information, and love.
Music's next decade is about cultivating fans.
It's about creating meaningful relationships between artists & listeners, upgrading the experience for the biggest fans & encouraging paths to fandom.
It’s about building artists. Not just songs.
feel like music industry convos could get a lot more interesting if our main frame of reference for success was not "breaking artists" — an outdated relic of an era where mass media dominated — but rather "sustainability on artists' terms" — a much more open/flexible design space
Can we make a list of all the interesting things music artists are and have been experimenting with using nfts? Help me do this .. really it’s surprising people in rest of nft community don’t know , so let’s do better at communicating it
All purchasers also received a physical commemorative collectors card, as well as access to the ATG Creative Committee to offer input on future lineups plus access Q&As with the festival team + select artists ✦
Experience the community for yourself at ⇢
Honored to be a part of
@Water_And_Music
's inaugural Wavelengths conference 🌊🌊🌊
We'll be speaking on Fandom + Community along with some of our favorite minds in the space May 6th in Brooklyn
#wavelengths2023
Collectors unlock an interactive content surface perfect for liner notes, lyric sheets, BTS videos, photos or archival footage – anything the artist wants to share with fans – plus a social wall for collectors to leave comments within the experience 𖥞
Our new + improved – and now UK chart eligible – 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐱𝐞 experience launched last week with
@jungle4eva
's 4th album, VOLCANO, superserving their biggest fans with an immersive digital album format released exclusively to their JFC community 🌋
Former Billboard editor, current
@FullRateNoCap
maestro
@BillWerde
has always been one of our favorite minds in music so it's an honor to read his lovely words on Medallion and our work with
@MyMorningJacket
in this recent interview 🙏🏻
maybe one of crypto's biggest utilities is the expansion of usefulness of inanimate objects. by pairing on chain, inanimate objects like a purse or ticket or t-shirt now hold perks & purpose beyond the object itself. it can be your discount, your access, your online identity...
Through various fan activations, we were able to create memorable experiences for Jungle’s biggest fans and increase JFC community membership in Mexico by 224% in 4 days ⇪
So how did
@jungle4eva
engage their community?
We are excited to announce the launch of JFC, a Jungle Fan Club that will give us the chance to share unreleased music, videos, special merchandise, ticket pre-sales and deluxe album editions, as well as more exciting things to be announced in due course.
It’s only been 18 months since we launched v1, and we have hundreds of thousands of fans using the platform to get better access, experiences and products from their most loved artists.
With rising costs that make touring prohibitively expensive for all but the biggest of acts, artists will continue to explore the digital space as an avenue to strengthen the connection with their fans
Fans and collectors who bought the open edition digital vinyl gained access to stream the EP + download the uncompressed audio files, with all buyers entered to win one of over 100 golden ticket rewards 🏆
Jungle’s remix activation in the JFC community had fans submit their remix of GOOD TIMES. Thank you to all JFC members that participated and congrats to
@ElephantTalk_uk
. Stream the remix playlist in the JFC community
We asked JFC members to remix GOOD TIMES and it was amazing to hear all your different versions of the track. Huge shout out to
@elephanttalk_uk
whose remix we’ve chosen as our favourite.
Stream the remix on all platforms now.
Many artists aspire to become bonafide superstars—and some will, but the ones who focus on building deeper, lasting relationships with their core fans will find a lifelong career of success, and it will be on their terms.
Ahead of show Jungle, Medallion & Mercadorama launched a giveaway: 500+ JFC members entered to win a limited edition signed poster by Mexico City JFC member + designer
@JNARES
Winners received backstage access to get their posters signed & meet the band
MEXICO CITY! The first ever Jungle Pop-Up Shop is coming to VaVaVa on Saturday and Sunday from 12pm. A collection of merch, as well as 100 numbered special edition Palacio De Los Deportes silkscreen posters by Mexico City artist JNARES will be available to buy. See next tweet...
This person is saying:
"I love music
I want to support artists
I want to identify as a fan & show my support
But I don't "get" vinyl.
Its outdated & offers little value for my money."
Solving this fan's problem.
Give them something better. Something new.
Riding the high of the show, JFC members submitted videos from the show for the chance to be featured in the official recap video. We saw 100+ videos submitted by members in the 24hrs following.
Intermediary platforms prevent artists from understanding and reaching their true fans. The artist-fan connection hinges on direct, unobstructed communication, for which new opportunities are presented in web3.
Great recap thread of our chat on Mint Podcast that dives into how we’re empowering new artist + fan ecosystems for increased access, ownership and participation ↓
Recap 🧢 of S6 E16 of Mint Podcast w/
@levychain
,
@ISO50
aka TYCHO, & Matt Jones, CEO of
@medallionfm
FYI: Emojis for each speaker → 🟠 = TYCHO, 🥇 = Matt ✚ 🧠 for the best interview points
More recaps and content here 👉:
📺🔗:
The music business is broken. We need a music middle class. Music is often made to please an algo. A&Rs are signing Tik Tok creators then feeding them songs. Something needs to change… Web3 can be a solution ⚡️
@Cooopahtroopa
@medallionfm
/
@niftyportal
@_thesignal
Using our 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬 format, ATG bundled a variety of elevated digital + IRL benefits including:
✧ first entry to the festival
✧ private merch shopping before doors
✧ an interactive digital festival zine
✧ purchaser names thanked on festival screens
Season Pass allows artists to bundle benefits + elevated experiences for fans around a specific campaign (album, tour, etc) or bring them behind the scenes into the creative process between cycles, unlocking a more direct connection to their community + biggest supporters 𖥞
➪
@SigurRos
celebrate the 10th anniversary of their seventh album кνєιкυя with a 𝕕𝕚𝕘𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕦𝕩𝕖 release in their Heimr community, unlocking an exclusive кνєιкυя Smábók digital zine 📓
With 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀, we're proud to have helped
@PalayeRoyale
bring their full creative vision to life for their first ever • 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 • music video for forthcoming
@pussyriot
collaboration 'Debilitate' out next month ✺
Watch this space 👀
This new format ushers record collection into the next era of the internet, creating a deeper digital album experience for superfans to go further into the world of records they love ⇢ only available on Medallion 𖥞
Experience it for yourself at
Chainsmokers floor price went up over 2x after this message.
Adding IRL utility to music nfts definitely seems to have value (if you're a stadium-size act, anyway)
Successfully reaching true fans is the key to an artist’s success. At its best, web3 enables direct artist-fan communication to the benefit of both parties.
Blockchain technology will become much like HTTP, IP, TCP. We will all be using it yet many won’t even know it. It strengthens digital relationships, and it will bring people and communities closer together -»¦«-
Crypto's main problem is that its full of nerds who have never (ok its hyperbole) done anything else besides study computer science/economics
Tech & tokens is such a tiny piece of this puzzle. It's time to fund teachers, ngos, ecologists, + . to tell us how to make this useful
Reddit is winning (3m wallets, 99% unique, $100m market cap)
A few things that set Reddit's web3 strategy apart from its peers, and some suggestions for moving forward:
Congrats to Jungle for their first Brit Award nomination 🏆
We’re excited to continue to power their Jungle Fan Club + provide their top fans with first access, special experiences and exclusive opportunities ✺
We are beyond grateful to be nominated for our first Brit Award! 🌴
Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years. Love to all the musicians, dancers, touring crew, our incredible management team and most importantly our wonderful fans - J, T & Lydia ❤️