Music Distribution Company Ditto Announces DeFi Solution For Artists

Global music distribution and record label services company Ditto has announced a new peer-to-peer platform to help increase artists’ access to capital without the need for traditional institutions such as banks.

Called Opulous, the new peer-to-peer platform claims to be the first-ever decentralized finance (DeFi) offering backed by music as an asset class. The platform will function as a loan pool which artists can borrow from and also contribute to. For those artists looking to borrow money, the loan is guaranteed against the artist’s past streaming revenues with the copyrights they own held as collateral. Meanwhile, artists, and other investors, will also be able to pay into Opulous’ Music Copyright Pools, earning 10% per annum on any contributions they make.

Powered by blockchain technology, Opulous will connect investors with artists needing a loan, driving fresh investment into an industry that is set to double revenues over the next decade. Smart contracts will automate monthly premium and interest repayments and direct profits straight to investors. It will onboard staking from other parties to enable the widest possible backing.

According to Ditto, Opulous is currently in development and is being built on Algorand, an open source public blockchain based on a pure proof-of-stake consensus protocol that supports quick, efficient and secure transactions anywhere in the world. Opulous has already raised $1.5 million in its seed round of funding, including support from Borderless Capital, TrustVerse, Somesing, BASIC, and Kosmos Capital, with Elastos confirmed as one of the first staking partners. A minimal viable product (MVP) is expected in two months.

“Musicians are often largely overlooked when it comes to traditional banking loans, or the terms are so unfavourable it isn’t worth their time,” said Ditto CEO Lee Parsons. “Using De-fi , Opulous cuts out traditional banking, providing musicians a platform with minimal interest payments, while giving investors the chance to stake a claim in one of the most exciting and fastest growing financial industries in the world.”

David Garcia, CEO and Managing Partner of Borderless Capital, said that using blockchain technology to democratize the access to the music’s capital markets is really disruptive and unique.

“We are excited to back the Opulous platform and for the opportunities this is bringing to investors and music artists,” said Garcia. “By building on top of the Algorand blockchain, Opulous platform will perform as one of the first real world DeFi applications.”