Audius, a music streaming platform built on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, has raised $ 5 million in funding from Katy Perry, Pusha T, Nas, The Chainsmokers, Steve Aoki, Jason Derulo, and more.

The platform is trying to serve as an alternative to mainstream apps like Spotify or Apple Music, managed by AUDIO token holders. The approach aims to eliminate middlemen that have long been a thorn in the side of many musicians.

“I KNOW BLOCKCHAIN WILL CHANGE THE WORLD SINCE I INVESTED IN COINBASE FIVE YEARS AGO, AND I BELIEVE IT MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY EVER TO HIT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY,” SAID NAS, THE RAPPER IN A STATEMENT. AND AN ENTREPRENEUR.

The funding was spearheaded by Blockchange Ventures, an early-stage blockchain venture fund that also invests in Polkadot and Solana. With over six million monthly users, the platform claims to be the largest decentralized consumer product on earth.

“THIS IS A GAME CHANGER,” SAID DJ STEVE AOKI, RECALLING THAT ARTISTS HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATED WITH THE CURRENT BUSINESS MODEL FOR A WHILE.

Aoki said that over the past six months, he has spent more time creating music for his NFT tokens than working on traditional music.

Audius recently announced a partnership with TikTok that will allow artists to directly upload music to the TikTok Sound Kit developer tool.