A trend that’s been growing over the past couple of years is one of investing in music and art as alternative asset classes for diversification in one’s portfolio – alongside other established categories like fine wines, rare automobiles, exotic watches, precious metals, and real estate. It seems stressful economic times often underscore the appeal of alternative assets like these. There’s a reason for this influx of late: music royalties and intellectual property (IP) have become desirable investment targets given royalty payments often remain steady over time despite fluctuations in the stock market. For buyers, artists’ catalogs are commodities that can be traded like gold or oil. “If the investment is good, if you’re investing in proven back catalogs, they tend to perform really well independent of any stock movements,” music business writer Cherie Hu. “If you’re investing in a tech stock, a lot of the bigger tech stocks move in the same direction a lot of the time. Investing in music royalties escapes that co-dependence. It’s pure passive income. You’ll make money in your sleep from it. It doesn’t require any proactiveness.” While it may seem odd to think of songs as investment assets, Goldman Sachs has predicted music revenues will more than double to about $131B by 2030 so putting money in songs could prove a pretty wise strategy to diversify a stock portfolio. Read More ▼
One of my clients is a new entrant in this space, AmplifyX. AmplifyX is a platform that enables people to invest directly in both established and emerging artists and their songs. In an industry that has long been impenetrable for outside investors, CEO Adam Cowherd notes that the time has never been more ripe for a surge in music investment. “The younger generation is more financially active than ever before,” he notes. “Due to smartphones, it’s just as easy to buy a stock as it is to listen to music.” AmplifyX opens possibilities for direct artist-investor relations based on transparency, trust, and consumer confidence. In addition to being registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA, AmplifyX evaluates emerging artists for a baseline number of online listeners, social media followers, and a core management team — metrics that tend to indicate the likelihood of quality investments. AmplifyX’s platform crunches detailed analytics of each potential investment, including play numbers, listener counts & trends, and catalog insights so that investors are well-informed and are therefore able to make better choices about which artists they elect to invest in with greater confidence. Effectively, AmplifyX democratizes access to the music industry, and in turn gives artists an alternative way to raise funds beyond necessarily needing to sign with a record label. For the artists it can prove a better model as they’re able to retain more control over their IP, creative freedom, and retain up to 90% of their royalties.
AmplifyX’s well-regulated artist investment ecosystem carries the promise of empowerment and control, and offers a bright future for artists, investors and music lovers alike. Now those fans who love specific artists have the chance to buy into the potential of being part of an artist’s growth and share in the proceeds of songs that take off as the artist’s career rises. If you’re curious to learn more, I encourage you to visit the site at www.amplifyx.com