Daniel Love: I'm a collector who became a fan

Collector Daniel Love shares why he’s betting big on the future of music.

Owning music rights has historically been a privilege of record labels, private equity funds, hedge funds, and highly connected people with wealth. Now, for the first time, anyone can own music and earn royalties.

Royal lets fans participate in music ownership while giving artists a way to power their careers and keep creative control. This idea appealed to Daniel Love, an ex-producer living in Los Angeles. He created an account as soon as he heard about Royal’s mission and bought his first token this spring.

Today, he holds 24 Royal tokens. Two of these are one-of-one diamond tokens for Jacob Lee’s “Break My Heart Again” and Cartoon’s “No Halo (feat. Asena)”. And for Daniel, it’s not only about the royalties his music collection generates—it’s also about supporting artists and partnering with them in new ways.

Investing in the future of music

Creating a world where artists and fans co-own music together immediately resonated with Daniel, and he decided to get involved. “Royal is helping music go back to the way it’s supposed to be,” Love said.

“As one of Royal’s first users, I’m helping pioneer change in the music industry.”

When you buy music through Royal, you become a rightsholder of the track or album and earn royalties as the music streams. Platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal pay out royalties on a quarterly or biannual basis, and you can claim the royalties straight from your Royal dashboard.

“When I saw the possibility of how this model could disrupt the industry, I decided to put my money where my mouth is,” Love said.

Check out his collection below.

Gaining exclusive access to artists

By partnering with 13 artists through Royal, Love has unlocked access to multiple artist communities and token extras. These extras are handpicked by the artists—they can be anything from merch to private listening parties, meet & greets, and more.

So far, Daniel has attended a Royce da 5’9” listening event and received signed merch from Big Boi. He’s also scheduled his virtual studio session with Cartoon, an exclusive extra attached to his diamond token, for January 2023.

Royce da 5'9" hosts a virtual listening party for platinum and diamond token holders.

“Jacob Lee reached out to me on Instagram, which was really cool,” Love said. “I have the most laughs in Vérité’s Discord. It’s cool to see how down to earth she is and how she reaches out to the community for merch ideas and shows.”

This proximity to artists on Royal has shifted Love’s perspective on what it means to invest in music.

“If I’m really happy with the relationship I have with the artist, I’m going to keep supporting them by going to shows and buying their merch, because I want them to make it,” Love explained. “We’re partners now.”

Love also noted that, while he gets offers to sell his tokens often, it’s hard to part with them once he engages with the artist directly.

“I’m going to a Vérité show, a Jacob Lee show, and a Tritonal show… 3 artists I hadn’t even heard of before Royal,” Love said. “I’m a collector who became a fan.”

Empowering artists to keep ownership

Today, artists only receive a small portion of the revenue generated by the music industry. Royal is working to change that through the power of collective ownership, and it’s one of Love’s favorite parts of Royal’s platform.

“I used to own a production company,” Love said. “You learn very quickly how hard it is for small artists to make it in the music industry without having to give up ownership to a record label at some point.”

By allowing artists to sell a portion of their streaming royalty rights to fans but maintain full control over their copyrights and performance rights, Royal creates a win-win scenario. Artists collect 10+ years of streaming revenue upfront, and fans get royalty payouts that can grow with a song’s popularity.

“I know for smaller artists that are trying to blow up, having liquidity right then and there is huge,” Love said. “And then I’ll be able to say, hey, I believed in you, and here’s why I bought your tokens.”

“The music industry is something in dire need of change. I love that Royal is creating a safe space for artists and fans.” 💎