Royal (Royal.io) is a US-based platform that sells music rights as limited digital assets.[1] It was founded by Opendoor co-founder JD Ross[2][3] and DJ and electronic music producer Justin "3lau" Blau[4][5][6] It is headquartered in Austin, Texas.[7]
Royal founder 3lau gave away the first tokenized music offering in a contest for 50% of royalties for his song "Worst Case" in 2021.[11] After the giveaway, the song was noted as the world's first fan-owned song.[12][13]
Royal partnered with rapper Nas to sell streaming royalty rights for the songs "Ultra Black" and "Rare" through its platform in January 2022.[14][15] Through this initial sale, Nas became the first artist to sell song rights through Royal.[16][17]
Diplo became the next major artist to sell streaming royalty rights through Royal in March 2022, selling royalty rights to the song "Don't Forget My Love."[18][19][20] Duo Tritonal followed shortly after, selling ownership of their single "Getaway" in April 2022.[21]
In July 2022, they started the first round of royalty payout to the fans.[22]
Other artists who have sold song rights through Royal include Vérité[23] and Ollie.[23]
Services
Royal sells Limited Digital Assets (LDAs), which grant buyers a package of music rights and benefits. Buyers own a portion of a song's streaming royalty rights and earn royalties alongside the music artist.[24] Royal also allows buyers to redeem benefits and rewards chosen by the music artist who created the song they own.[25]
Song rights are divided into three different tiers with separate rewards and ownership percentages.[21]
