MODA DAO raises $5 million as it prepares for public token launch within music industry

MODA DAO, the first Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) - created to bridge the legacy music industry into the emerging Web3 entertainment world - has announced it has raised $5 million in a private sale of its MODA token, with world renowned musicians Joel Zimmerman (deadmau5) and Richie Hawtin joining the DAO with notable VCs Outlier Ventures, Blocksync, FBG Capital, Double Peak and more.

MODA is bringing DAOs to the music industry by launching a framework through which artists can harness Web3 technology such as NFTs, micro-licensing, DAO governance and DeFi to evolve their music business. With the completion of the $5 million private sale, MODA is releasing the governance token on 10th November  via SushiSwap’s MISO platform.

Created by the newly-established MODA Foundation, MODA DAO is an open and inclusive music industry DAO designed to connect independent artists, leaders in the music industry, and technology innovators to define the future of Web3 music ownership —- something they call Music3. Members of the DAO will collaborate on new ventures, share music catalogues, and leverage their collective influence to introduce new practices around music distribution and licensing. MODA aims to remove the middlemen of traditional streaming services and allow artists to connect more meaningfully with their fans, unlocking new means for value creation shared between creators and community.

DAOs, decentralised autonomous organisations, are the latest innovation out of Web3 to gain traction. DAOs are an alternative to LLCs or corporations, allowing members to pool together resources and make decisions based on smart contract agreements. DAOs create new models for collective ownership and investing and are most prominent in the NFT and DeFi spaces. MODA is also leveraging smart-contract and legal frameworks and expertise previously used by Australian DeFi project Synthetix.

The DAO already has a long list of launch partners, from labels and management companies like ONErpm, mau5trap, AYITA and UNIFIED Music Group, to Web3 start-ups like PIXELYNX, Emanate and CreateSafe. Music hardware company SubPac and Rising Agency also show the breadth and depth of industry involvement at MODA’s early stage. Currently, the MODA DAO partners manage catalogues of music that generate over 10 billion streams per month and a pilot group of these artists are expected to release songs later this year via the new ‘Music3’ blueprint.

Global electronic musician Joel Zimmerman, otherwise known as deadmau5 notes “I look to partner with places where the future is being built with technology as equally as exciting as the music. MODA is mission-driven – buying back power to the hands of musicians.

“The decision to join MODA on their journey to decentralise the future of music was an easy one. I’m excited to contribute and begin working with this group of individuals.”

MODA is set to release over $1 million worth of creative and technical grants over the next two years to individuals and teams who put proposals into the DAO. Applications are already open on the website.

The globally distributed DAO is using their treasury across a research and innovation lab, new Music3 tools and services and by providing creative and technical grants to complimentary projects. Already in development is a unique on-chain audio fingerprinting tool and a cross-chain Audio NFT aggregator that will allow NFTs to replace MP3-downloads and the default way to directly support independent artists.

Sean Gardner, MODA DAO project lead explains “MODA is ready to tackle the bottlenecks and middlemen of the Web2 music space. The big streaming platforms have unintentionally killed the collectability of music, and after years of distraction we are bringing it back. The creative Web3 world has a passion for the power of NFTs and decentralized governance, and we see the focus starting to spread from visual art and profile pictures, to assets like music.”

Want to learn more about MODA DAO? Register at MODA DAO and join the DAO Discord.