Music tech company Serenade, which launched its NFT platform in 2021, has announced a number of high-profile new investors from the music and associated creative industries.
In addition, former YMU MD Iain Watt has been appointed chairman of the Serenade advisory board.
An early investor in the company, artist manager Iain Watt will head a group of fellow experts whose remit will be to help steer Serenade through the international music industry and advise the tech firm on its ongoing commercial and strategic activities.
Iain Watt said: “I have been an enthusiastic supporter since I first met Max Shand and he outlined his vision for the future of NFTs in the music industry. I am delighted to be heading up the Serenade advisory board alongside some exceptionally talented people with whom I will be working to help the company fulfil its amazing potential.”
Max Shand, founder and CEO of Serenade, said, “Iain knows what artists want and has the determination and passion to serve them. There's nothing more important in the world of music NFTs than a genuine love of artists and their work, and the creativity to serve them within a new technology space, and Iain navigates this with clarity and vision."
Among the new round of music industry investors are Damian Christian of Atlantic Records, Reynold D'Silva of Silva Screen Records, Danny Rogers of Lunatic Entertainment, Bernard Fanning of Powderfinger, Paul Piticco and Jessica Ducrou of Splendour In The Grass/Secret Sounds, Jaddan Comerford of Unified Music, Nathan McLay of Future Classic, Dan Rosen of Warner Music Group, David Hancock of Afterpay and Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman.
Founded by Australian tech entrepreneur Max Shand, Serenade aims to enable artists to build closer relationships with fans while creating new revenue streams, and working collaboratively with record companies, music publishers, management companies and trade associations.
Max Shand added: “In the six months since we launched Serenade we have been blown away by the support we’ve received from artists, their representatives and the wider music industry. There is clearly an enthusiastic demand for eco-friendly, easy-to-understand, artist and fan friendly NFTs, and the fact that so many respected music and creative industry professionals have backed us with personal investments is humbling. With their support, guidance and expertise we are very excited about all the possibilities the future holds.”
Serenade, which recently collaborated with the BRITs on the awards’ first ever NFT collection, is an eco-friendly NFT platform producing 1/44,000th of the carbon emitted by a standard NFT (or 1/10th of the energy usage of a tweet,) using a 'Proof of Stake' authentication method.
Purchases are made with a credit or debit card with Serenade arranging the transfer of traditional payments into cryptocurrency.
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