Blokur, led several music industry veterans, has raided a $1.2 million seed round to bring blockchain technology to music and other creative arts. But Blokur faces steep competition, as well as, the age-old problem of getting the music industry on the same page… about anything.
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Blockchain is seen by some as the solution to many of the music industry’s problems and ny others as just the latest buzzword driven tech fad. The truth is actually the former, if – and it’s a huge if – all the parties involved could get on the same page.
Into that maelstrom jumps Blokur. The UK based startup recently raised a $1.2 million seed round of funding from Digital Currency Group, Ascension Ventures, media entrepreneur Remy Minute and InnovateUK. The funding will allow the startup to double the size of its team.
Blokur’s stated goal is to reduce costs and increase revenue for music publishers and others through automation and better data, enabled by blockchain technology and machine learning. That’s a lofty goal, but the startup’s team does have some experience.
Founder and CEO Phil Barry led the team that released Radiohead frontman Tom Yorke’s solo album ‘Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes’ using BitTorrent. “The following year, I took Ujo – a prototype blockchain music platform – from a mad idea to the release of the Grammy-winning artist Imogen Heap’s single Tiny Human, featured by BBC News, CNN, Forbes and The Guardian,” writes Barry “In 2016, I founded Blokur to scale those ideas for the real world.”
CTO Andres Martin-Lopez is a former senior project manager for global music corporation Universal Music Group. The startup is currently hiring.