An NFT platform backed by Hollywood star Hugh Jackman and dedicated to music artists, Serenade fetched $6 million in the fundraising round.
The platform founded by Max Shand in 2020 allows music maniacs to mint NFTs belonging to their favorite artists. As per the source, the platform will leverage the fund to expand its NFT offering as well as lock up a new partnership deal to empower its platform in the US, UK, and Australia.
Many notorious faces have participated in the fundraising round including Damian Christian of Atlantic Records, Reynold D’Silva of Silva Screen Records, Danny Rogers of Lunatic Entertainment, Bernard Fanning of Powderfinger, Paul Piticco and Jessica Ducrou of Splendour in the Grass/Secret Sounds, others and obviously Hugh Jackman.
“In the six months since we launched Serenade, we have been blown away by the support we’ve received from artists, their representatives and the wider music industry,” Shand said.
“There is a clearly an enthusiastic demand for eco-friendly, easy-to-understand, artist and fan-friendly NFTs, and the fact that so many respected music and creative industry professionals have backed us with personal investments is humbling.”
People can purchase NFTs of different categories such as digital artwork, digitally signed albums, or one copy of a song released on Serenade exclusively.
To promote music industry-based NFTs, Serenade has recently joined hands with The Brit Awards to launch a collection of this year’s award winners including artists such as Adele winning Mastercard Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Artist of the Year with other winners including Olivia Rodrigo, Little Simz, and Sam Fender.
The platform claims to have an edge over other NFT platforms, such that it has as low as 1/44,000th carbon footprint in comparison to others because of the “proof-of-stake” mechanism. Also, the platform has a facility to convert credit card and debit card payments into cryptocurrency.
Along with the fundraising round, the former managing director of YMU Group Iain Watt has joined the company’s advisory board to lead Serenade’s commercial and strategic direction. YMU is a group of famous artists namely Chet Faker, Blink 182, Steve Aoki, Jane’s Addiction, Common and Friendly Fires.
“I have been an enthusiastic supporter since I first met Max Shand and he outlined his vision for the future of NFTs in the music industry,” Watt said.
“I am delighted to be heading up the Serenade advisory board alongside some exceptionally talented people with whom I will be working to help the company fulfill its amazing potential.”
With the growing demand of music NFTs, many artists and firms are setting up a new NFT marketplace to launch NFTs for famous singers and music artists. Recently, 12-time Grammy-award-winning musician John Legend launched an NFT platform ‘OurSong,’ for musicians and entertainers.
