Medallion serves as a dedicated digital platform for artists, providing them with a centralized space to promote album releases, tour dates, merchandise drops, and the sale of digital collectibles. The company recently secured $13.7 million in Series A funding, co-led by Dragonfly and Lightspeed Faction.
In an industry where musicians are increasingly seeking direct ownership within their communities, Medallion aims to bridge the gap by empowering artists to establish direct connections with their fans. The platform plans to utilize the new capital to introduce enhanced fan experiences, such as early access opportunities, exclusive content, and the sale of limited-edition digital collectibles, including NFTs like poster bundles and trading cards.
Medallion, built on blockchain technology, operates as a white-label platform, allowing artists to customize their digital space. Fans who create accounts receive a unique digital collectible or membership card known as a “Medallion,” granting them free access to the community. The platform is currently free for artists to use, with revenue generated through a percentage of sales on the platform.
The company has introduced “Digital Deluxe” as a revenue opportunity for artists in the U.K., Australia, and Germany, enabling them to sell digital versions of music albums with embedded players and downloadable content. Physical items can also be sold through an integration with Shopify.
Medallion boasts a roster of 20 artists, including Jungle, Greta Van Fleet, Illenium, Disclosure, Tiga, Mt. Joy, Tycho, My Morning Jacket, Girl in Red, and Sigur Rós, among others. The platform facilitates artist-fan communication through social media posts and encourages fan participation by allowing submissions, such as concert footage and photos, to be shared within the community.
The company, led by CEO Matt Jones and a team of industry veterans, plans to expand platform availability to a few hundred more artists in 2024 and aims for wider availability in 2025 or later. Medallion has raised a total of $22 million to date, with investors including Coinbase Ventures, Infinite Capital, J17, The Chernin Group, Third Prime, Zeal Capital, and music industry investors like Bill Silva Entertainment, Black Squirrel, Foundations Artist Management, Method, and TAG Music. The platform aligns with the evolving understanding among artists that they are not just content creators but brands, leading to the development of multimodal businesses beyond music and content.
