OurSong Raises $7.5M in Seed Funding to Help Artists Build a Community Through NFTs

The blockchain-based platform is a subsidiary of Our Happy Company, which was co-founded by performer John Legend and KKBOX CEO Chris Lin.

Source: Coindesk / Cameron Thompson

Music non-fungible token (NFT) platform OurSong has raised $7.5 million in seed funding led by Infinity Ventures and Animoca Brands, the company announced Thursday.

OurSong is a subsidiary of Our Happy Company, a music company founded by the singer John Legend and Chris Lin, the CEO of popular streaming service KKBOX.

OurSong aims to give musical performers the ability to monetize their content more effectively and to build a community among their fans.

The blockchain-based platform hopes to address a fundamental problem with streaming services that now dominate the music industry by allowing entertainers to connect more directly with the people who admire their work, OurSong co-founder Terry Leong told CoinDesk. At the same time, it will give these audiences the opportunity to own rare collectibles.

“Imagine if you had a CD and it could update itself,” Leong said. “Imagine if you open up the sleeves and then two tickets fall out. You could text and talk to other people just holding that record. … This idea of collecting, building community and engaging with the community is actually really I think it holds a lot of prospects for not just the music industry, but a lot of traditional content industries.”

The mobile app, which launched in early February and has 150,000 users, allows artists to upload and mint their content as an NFT. Users price their assets in OurSong dollar (OSD), the app’s native token, said a press release.

Leong said the app is compatible with Ethereum, Binance Chain, Thundercore and in the coming days, Polygon.

The seed capital will help the company expand its team, establish partnerships and run campaigns to educate artists on NFTs, Leong said.