Social music app LÜM has closed its seed round, bringing the Madison, Wisconsin based startup’s total investment to $1.2 million in less than a year. LÜM has also partnered with concert promoters Frank Productions to explore ways to bridge the difficult divide between live and digital music consumption.
Focusing on emerging artists, LÜM combines discovery with the amplification effects of a social network allowing fans to directly support artists by helping to increase exposure to their music.
Fans can become influencers on the platform by discovering and sharing up-and-coming artists. Artists grow their listener base by leveraging their network of fans for growth. Music on LÜM is freed from the digital algorithms and agendas that bury almost all non-mainstream music.
“Ultimately, we will be the go-to digital application for anyone interested in finding great, emerging music,” said Max Fergus, CEO and co-founder of LÜM. “LÜM is on a mission to create a platform where artists can finally succeed outside traditional streaming models, and fans can be the sole influencers – determining what music trends hit next.”
“The mission of Frank Productions is connecting artists with fans and helping them have fun since 1964,” said Joel Plant, CEO of Frank Productions. “The LÜM app is a tool for both artists and fans to connect with one another and share and discover new music together. We’re very excited about this venture and look forward to what our unique partnership can build for fans and artists.”
As part of the strategic partnership, Dan Polans, Director of Business Intelligence at Frank Productions, joined the LÜM Board of Directors. “The partnership allows us to explore trends and patterns in emerging music to help both the Frank Productions and LÜM teams make better, faster and stronger data-driven decisions,” said Polans.