NFT Music Platform Royal Secures $55M in Series A Funding From a16z

Royal is a marketplace for music NFTs, advertising its platform as a place where users can purchase shares of songs, then earn royalties on the music they’ve invested in.

article-image

Co-founder of Royal, DJ Justin Blau, also known as 3LAU, performs at a music festival. Photo: Altamira Film

share

key takeaways

  • Royal previously announced a seed round of $16 million in August
  • Other participants in the financing round include Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm, Nas and The Chainsmokers

Royal, a non-fungible token (NFT) music platform, raised $55 million in Series A funding, the startup announced on Monday. 

Royal is a marketplace for music NFTs, allowing users to purchase shares of songs then earn royalties on the music they’ve invested in. 

The platform will use funds “to invest in the growth of its ecosystem,” according to a press release. Royal did immediately respond to Blockworks’ request for further clarification on how the capital will be used.

“The value of music ownership is vastly misrepresented and undervalued today, but it won’t be for too much longer, as more musicians embrace the web3 ecosystem,” co-founder and popular electronic dance music artist Justin Blau said in a recent blog post

The round, which was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), attracted traditional investors such Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm and Crush Music. Other participants include celebrities such as Nas, The Chainsmokers, Disclosure, Logic, Stefflon Don, Kygo and Joyner Lucas. 

“Music is one of the most exciting unlocks for NFTs,” Kathryn Haun, a general partner at a16z, said in a statement. 

Blau, commonly referred to as DJ 3LAU, gave away digital assets worth 50% of streaming ownership in his most recent single last month. The song, “Worst Case,” reached an implied value north of $6 million in two weeks on Royal’s marketplace.

However, as NFT startups like Royal begin dabbling with more complex intellectual property and ownership splits, speculation emerges around how regulators will react in the uncharted legal waters. Blau told TechCrunch that Royal’s team is working with legal counsel to ensure that it is compliant with securities laws.

“A true fan might want to own something way earlier than a speculator would even get wind of it,” Blau said. “Democratizing access to asset classes is a huge part of crypto’s future.”

Royal previously announced a seed round of $16 million in August.


Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Ethena Labs is leaping from its flagship synthetic dollar, USDe, to a full product suite—USDtb, iUSDe, and the Arbitrum-based Converge Chain—designed to marry crypto-native yields with TradFi-grade compliance. Our analysis shows how expanding into CME, ETF options, and tokenized Treasuries could lift protocol revenue from sub-$500 million in a bear case to several billion dollars if favorable regulation and institutional adoption align.

article-image

CEO Mike Silagadze tells Blockworks that the US is “open for business” and why its DeFi bank offering is the first of many

article-image

Doing one thing well and leaving everything else out is often what disruptive technologies do best

article-image

Why an analyst is kicking off COIN coverage with “buy” rating

article-image

“Bitcoin does not require a strong equity rally to move higher,” YouHodler markets chief Ruslan Lienkha said

article-image

President Trump’s comments that he will not look to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell sent stocks higher in after-hours trading Tuesday