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• Music Mogul Feedback

Invest in Artists Before Fame

The One Liner

Own a piece of your favorite artist’s rise.

The 140 character tweet (or X) version

What if you could bet on an artist instead of streaming them? A new platform that lets fans invest early and artists keep the upside.

The Longer Story Version

The Problem

Spotify pays artists peanuts. Touring burns them out. Labels take half. Fans? They’re stuck consuming, not participating.

Being a music fan used to mean something. You discovered someone early. You told your friends. You went to the shows. Now? You stream them quietly and move on.

Artists crave deeper fan relationships. Fans want to go beyond likes and playlists. The current system makes that nearly impossible. Everything’s fragmented, transactional, and controlled by middlemen.

We need a new model, one where artists own more, fans get closer, and everyone wins.

The Solution

This is what happens when you mix Web3 rails with music DNA.

Artists launch their “fan equity” on the platform. Could be a token, an NFT, or a smart contract tied to future royalties. Fans get access, ownership, or rewards, whatever the artist wants to offer.

They can:

• Drop exclusive tracks as NFTs

• Run virtual concerts with spatial audio and AR

• Sell limited shares of their earnings

• Reward superfans with IRL perks, custom merch, even fractional vinyls

Fans don’t just listen. They bet on the rise and grow with the artist.

Artists don’t just promote. They build a micro-economy around their creativity.

And the kicker? No middleman required.

How We’d Build It

Stage 1: MVP Hustle (Indie Hacker Mode)

• Use Sound.xyz or Zora for tokenized drops

• Deploy via Manifold for artist ownership + smart contract tooling

• Build the frontend on Typedream or Softr

• Accept crypto via Paper.xyz or fiat via Crossmint

• Host spatial listening rooms with Topia or Skittish

tage 2: Scale with Artist Marketplaces (Operator Mode)

• Build artist storefronts that integrate with royalty tracking

• Add fan analytics: track top buyers, listeners, and engagement

• Create templates for artist drops: tiered perks, airdrops, IRL rewards

• GTM: Partner with indie labels + emerging TikTok stars. Focus on “unsigned but viral”

Stage 3: Full Ecosystem Play (Kingmaker Mode)

• Build a fan-to-fan resale layer (secondary NFT market with royalties baked in)

• Add fan badges / XP (onchain + offchain activity)

• Launch “Fan Index” — a leaderboard of top backers across artists

• On the GTM side: co-release tracks with top creators on YouTube/Twitch with NFT unlocks embedded

Why It Needs to Exist

Music doesn’t need more streams. It needs more stakes.

Spotify made fans passive. This flips the model. Artists raise directly from believers. Fans get real skin in the game. Everyone wins if the artist blows up.

It’s equity meets fandom. Capitalism meets culture.

And the best part? It’s not theoretical. The tools exist. The audience is ready. And the revolution is already humming in the underground.

Let’s bring it mainstream.

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Alt Shark Tank: Music Mogul Edition

We bring you a DJ, a VC, and someone’s cousin who makes beats in their basement to react to this startup.

The Idea (again)

Alright. Imagine a world where fans don’t just stream music, they invest in it.

Instead of praying your favorite artist “makes it,” you own a piece of the rise.

It’s like if Robinhood and Rolling Stone had a baby.

But, is it genius? Or just another NFT-for-music pipe dream?

Let’s find out. We brought together the unlikeliest trio to weigh in (yes we made this all up but still):

• A legit touring DJ 🎧

• A VC who just learned what “drip” means 🧠

• And someone’s cousin who makes beats in his mom’s garage 🎛️

Let’s see what they think.

[DJ – Dead serious]
“Honestly… this is fire. Artists are tired of streaming crumbs. We get 0.003 cents per play. You know how many streams I need to buy a sandwich?

Letting fans invest? That flips the whole model. It’s like Kickstarter but with actual upside.

If my fans had this, I’d never need a label again.”

[VC – Polished but confused]
“So let me get this straight… fans buy tokens that represent potential future revenue?

Interesting. It’s like a pre-seed round for rappers.

Look, the music industry is a nightmare of rights management and middlemen. But this idea? It’s an unbundling of the label.

Can you enforce the contracts? Do fans understand the risk? If yes, this is a multibillion-dollar unlock.”

[Cousin – Wearing a Supreme hoodie in a basement]
“Ayo… this sounds like a scam. Like, respectfully.

But if I could sell 1% of my future beat sales right now for like, $200? I’m in.

Also… wait, can I invest in myself? Like pump my own token? I’m tryna get rich by Thursday.”

Let’s break it down.

What DJ loves:

• Artists get funding without begging labels.

• Fans become part of the journey.

• The vibes are immaculate.

What VC sees:

• Creator economy + ownership = a 2025 goldmine.

• Legal murkiness = big risk, big reward.

• Needs a clean UX or it’s DOA.

What Cousin brings:

• Wild ideas, chaotic good energy.

• Early adopter mindset (and questionable ethics).

• Represents the “long tail” of creators who’d actually use this.

This might sound crazy now, but remember:

• People laughed at Patreon. Now it moves billions.

• Everyone ignored NFTs… until they didn’t.

• And if artists can IPO like startups, the entire music industry changes.

All you need is one breakout story. One unknown artist who lets 500 fans back them before they blow up… and those fans 10x their money.

Then it’s game over.

If you’re building this, good luck. If not, someone else will.

And they’ll probably name it something terrible like FanFi or HarmonIQ. Don’t let that happen. Make it cool.

Find Fans, Partners, & Buyers Fast

Let’s talk about how you’d use Apollo to go to market with this idea.

Apollo’s a partner of NTE, and for good reason it’s one of the most powerful tools out there for turning ideas into traction. Especially when you’re starting small and need to move fast.

So, imagine you're building this platform where fans can invest in rising artists, basically the “IPO for music superfans.”

Here’s how Apollo would fit into your GTM stack for this idea:

🎤 1. Sign Up the First 100 Artists
Use Apollo to build a list of emerging musicians:

• Filter by job title ("artist", "musician", "independent")

• Layer in social metrics or past event appearances

• Target managers too, they’re often the decision-makers

Cold outreach becomes warm when it’s hyper-specific.
Example subject line: “Let your fans invest in your rise”

🔥 2. Find the Power Fans
These aren’t casual listeners. You’re looking for:

• Top Twitter fan accounts

• Superfans on Discord, Reddit, or TikTok

• Indie newsletter or playlist creators

Apollo helps you pinpoint those high-affinity, high-activation folks.

🤝 3. Secure Launch Partnerships
You’ll want to collaborate with:

• Indie record labels

• Creator platforms

• Web3 communities

• Merch brands

Use Apollo’s filtering to find biz dev leads, heads of growth, or community managers. One cold email = one major unlock.

💸 4. Pitch Investors Without Waiting on Intros
Search for VCs investing in music, fan engagement, or creator economy.
Hit them with:

• Clear positioning

• Early traction

• The vision (fan-led music economies)

Apollo gets you directly in their inbox, not in a waitlist of warm intros.

Bottom line:
You don’t need a huge GTM team to go big.
You need tools that give you leverage. Apollo does that.

And as a partner of NTE, they’re offering 50% off for our readers.
👉 Claim the deal here

This idea’s hot. Apollo makes it move.

One More Meme