As artists look for ways to nab the biggest bucks for their work, streaming platform LÜM is gaining popularity with music makers and fans alike and has a star backer with industry knowledge.
Max Fergus, LÜM co-founder, said the allure of the platform lies in its ability to make connections between music lovers and creators, like singer and songwriter Ne-Yo, who is now partnering with the company.
"LÜM's a social music community for the next generation of artists and fans. Effectively, the LÜM platform combines music streaming and music discovery with a social media platform," Fergus told Cheddar.
While the year has been a struggle for many industries, last month LÜM closed a $3 million Series II funding round and gained a notable partner in Ne-Yo. A staunch advocate for artists, particularly independent artists, Ne-Yo told Cheddar the partnership is ideal as he navigates ways to help artists better reap the benefits of their work.
"Taking nothing away from the other streaming sites, but they're kind of designed to be in the favor of people that kind of have this big machine push behind them, that allows them to be in higher places on these playlists that are so important. That's not so much the case with an independent artist," Ne-Yo said.
The advantage for artists joining LÜM, according to Fergus, is that it not only helps with playlist placement and music discovery but when compared to other streaming platforms, LÜM's payouts are "8 times as much." While the platform doesn't pay music royalties, artists are able to generate income from direct fan gifting.
"Outside of being the future of music in the platform, about six months ago, LÜM became the first platform to allow fans to directly monetarily support artists on a music streaming platform through virtual gifting technology," Fergus said.
For Ne-Yo, fan engagement on LÜM was also a driving factor in his decision to get on board, he noted. Today's method of music consumption is vastly different than even 5 or 10 years ago; fans now rarely have opportunities to interact with artists at events like in-store meet and greets.
"I feel like LÜM is kind of trying to help bring back the importance of the relationship between the fan and the artist," he said.
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