Web3 audio streaming platform Tamago has raised $1 million in its recently-concluded seed funding round.
The funding round received participation from renowned venture capital firms including, Block0, Big Brain Holdings, Daedalus, Human Guild, and Move Capital.
Tamago said in a press release shared with AlexaBlockchain that the amount raised in this round will be used to advance its ‘mission of putting money in artist’s pockets in new and innovative ways’.
Tamago reimagining the audio streaming business in Web3 era
Tamago, a decentralized streaming music platform building on NEAR, is reimagining the audio streaming business model through a mix of Web3 and NFT technology.
The platform allows musicians to receive payment for their streams in a transparent manner. Tamago revealed that its music platform has already issued over $20,000 in payouts between its events, both Metaverse and IRL, and its Top of the Charts liquidity pool which pays out monthly to artists from all over the world.
Within 3 months of its launch, Tamago now boasts over 1000 tracks, with over 700 users and 45,000 minutes of streamed material. Tamago also revealed a slew of exclusive NFTs and music releases coming to the platform this summer, including exclusive content from Felix Da Housecat, Paramida, Tiga, Deep Aztec, and Rose Bonica.
Because of the one-of-a-kind nature of the One of One material, the NFTs are provided as singles or collections of music that users may buy and upload to their profile for other users to listen to and enjoy. Tamago allows buyers to create shareable playlists that they can monetize based on the selling artist’s royalty structure.
Tamago platform is getting popular, reaching underground scenes all over the world. Wolfkop Weekender, an immersive boutique South African music festival, will be uploading their entire back catalogue of live event recordings, including NFT drops from Deep Aztec, a rising Cape Town-based DJ, producer, live act, and record label owner, and Rose Bonica, a live electronic act, music producer, and visual artist.
Tamago told AlexaBlockchain that artist participation on the platform has grown and evolved since the platform’s launch. Visionquest, Desert Hearts, Mioli, Barem’s Fun Records, Mr C, Doc Martin, Desert Hearts, Matthias Meyer, and a slew of other scene heavyweights have already on boarded as seller on the platform.
Prominent artists and labels are all set to join the platform. Montreal born DJ-producer-incipient Teutonic legend Tiga has also committed to an NFT drop this year and his Turbo Records will begin uploading their back catalog to the platform next week.
Chicago house music icon Felix Da Housecat will be releasing a full album exclusively on Tamago in October and plans to do multiple 1 of 1 NFT drops throughout the year on the platform.
Panorama Bar resident Paramida is also set to announce that she will be uploading the entire back catalog of her Love on the Rocks label. She will also be doing an exclusive NFT drop on Tamago in June. The drop will feature an unreleased track bundled with an all access guest pass to all dates on her upcoming sold out US tour.
Team Behind Tamago
The platform is led by Clarian North, an early NFT-music adopter, electronic music producer, and educator. Clarian, Co-founder of Tamago, is a key figure in the Web3 and NFT music communities.
Clarian is well-known in the crypto community for being the first artist to ever issue an NFT record, Whale Shark LP, on OpenSea on March 3rd at Midnight, defeating Kings of Leon. Since then, 85,000 developers have joined in his blockchain courses, which range from how to construct an NFT marketplace on Polygon to the full Solidity Course Zero to Expert.
Clarian is regarded as a pioneer in the realm of underground dance music, having released timeless productions on labels such as Visionquest, Kompakt, Counter, Turbo, Life And Death, and Rumors, as well as working as an engineer for Grammy winners and underground giants.
Commenting on the platform, Clarian said:
“It’s no secret that the music industry suffers from an unacceptable lack of transparency in digital revenue that goes back to artists from giant streaming solutions such as Spotify.”
“Independent artists are also suffocating from a gross oversaturation of platform advertisements and private data siphoning which fuel poorly thought-out monetization models,” Clarian said.
Tamago and NEAR
Tamago has partnered with NEAR Protocol, to become the blockchain’s official music streaming solution.
Last month, the platform successfully integrated the NEAR wallet into the app, allowing artists to charge whatever they want for downloading content ranging from tracks to limited edition edits, samples, and other exclusive items.
According to Tamago, NEAR’s low gas fee and quick transaction speeds make it the ideal blockchain for high-speed streaming.
Jeff Gold, Tamago’s co-founder and co-founder of the NearHub Metaverse, has been working closely with Clarian to deploy Tama Island, a virtual version of Tamago that offers weekly livestreams and events from artists all over the world, NFT treasure hunts and proof of attendance, and much more.
Tamago also revealed that the future version of the platform will allow users to trade, purchase, and sell their tracks and NFTs on the app and in 3D on Tama Island. Users will also be able to conduct virtual record fairs on TAMA Island, stream exclusive performances, and participate in social community events with interoperable social features.
Tamago represents a path ahead for independent musicians in the Web3 era, intertwined with the cultural tenants that have made underground music a global force.
Read Also: Subtrack Launches A New NFT Platform For Underground Music Lovers
Updates: The latest data for total number of tracks on the platform has been updated. “Tamago now boasts over 1000 tracks“. (8:48 AM; Thursday, 26 May 2022 (GMT-7))