Direct artist-to-fan platform Medallion has closed $13.7 million of series A funding.
The round was co-led by Dragonfly and Lightspeed Faction, alongside technology investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Infinite Capital, J17, The Chernin Group, Third Prime and Zeal Capital, as well as music industry investors including Bill Silva Entertainment, Black Squirrel, Guy Lawrence of Disclosure, Foundations Artist Management, Jungle, Mt Joy, Method, Tiga and TAG Music.
The company plans to use the capital to accelerate a technical roadmap in order to deliver new revenue opportunities for artists, as well as immersive experiences for community members.
Since launching in 2022, Medallion’s technology has enabled artists to launch community-driven digital environments and target their biggest fans to deliver exclusive access to drops, merchandise and experiences.
Medallion said that its communities became artists' fastest-growing channels when compared to other platforms including social media.
“While streaming has opened up access to music and social media and created new channels for direct distribution, the full potential of direct artist-to-fan connections has not been realised,” said a statement. “Medallion’s artist-centric approach and emphasis on digitally native fan experiences is helping usher in a new, transformative period for artists.”
Medallion’s most recent product release is Digital Deluxe, a chart-eligible format in the UK, Australia and Germany. The premium product integrates exclusive audio and visual content to tell the story behind the music.
Jungle’s most recent album, Volcano, landed at No.3 on the UK charts, propelled in part by launching an experiential Digital Deluxe version of the album within their Medallion community. The format offers fans a premium digital alternative with immersive content straight from the artist.
Medallion is building the infrastructure to enable artists to directly interact with their highest intent customers through new and exclusive products and experiences
Rob Hadick
Artists hosting their communities on Medallion include Tycho, Jungle, Sigur Ros, Santigold, Greta Van Fleet, My Morning Jacket and Tiga, as well as the music festival All Things Go Boomfy's Besties.
“Artists owning direct access to their fans is critical, but they also need more ways to deliver value for it to drive impact,” said Matt Jones, CEO of Medallion.
“Artists are starting to understand they are not just content creators, but brands themselves, and as a result are building multimodal businesses that go beyond simply music and content,” said Rob Hadick, general partner at Dragonfly. “Medallion is building the infrastructure to enable artists to directly interact with their highest intent customers through new and exclusive products and experiences, while simultaneously owning the customer relationship themselves and driving net new revenue opportunities around their IP. We believe this paradigm shift will permeate across the entirety of the creator economy.”
“Artists only have direct relationships with a fraction of their fanbase,” said Will Leas at Lightspeed Faction. “Medallion solves this problem by unlocking direct artist-to-fan connection. The team has a history of building pioneering technology for the world’s biggest artists, and we are thrilled to back them on this journey."
Medallion is led by technology, e-commerce and music industry veterans from Songkick, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, Grailed, Warner Music Group and Live Nation.
Prior to the series A round, the company raised more than $9 million of seed funding in 2022 from investors including The Chernin Group, Polygon Ventures, Mike Shinoda, Betaworks, Red Light Ventures and Noise DAO, along with current Medallion artists Illennium and Tycho.
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