Between 2021 and 2022, more than $300 million of venture capital chased the idea that fans would own music through tokens. By 2024 nearly every headline platform was dead — Royal alone burned $71 million before shutting down. The idea wasn't wrong. The instrument was.
What NFTs actually offered
Most music NFTs conferred no royalty rights at all — they were collectibles with a song attached. The few that did promise royalties were still securities under U.S. law, meaning platforms took on securities-law obligations without securities-law protections for buyers. When crypto sentiment turned, there was no cash flow underneath to catch anyone: buyers were speculators, and speculators leave.
What culture assets do differently
Cash flow, not scarcity. A culture asset pays because people stream the song, not because the token is rare. Registration, not workaround. Offerings run under Reg CF and Reg A+ with SEC disclosure, licensed broker-dealers, and audited or reviewed financials. Fans, not flippers. When the buyer already streams the artist daily, holding through volatility is the default, not the exception.
The lesson the market paid for
Ownership of culture was always the right idea — Masterworks proved the regulated fractional model at billion-dollar scale in art while the token platforms burned. The durable version of fan ownership looks boring on the legal layer and thrilling on the human one. That is the design.
Want in early? Encore Markets is building a regulated market where fans own shares of the music they love. Join the waitlist — founding members get first access to offerings.