A group of media and technology leaders have backed a new New Zealand music app aiming to challenge the streaming model and revive the digital album.
Ella Yelich-O'Connor, better known as Lorde, is among a formidable lineup of high-profile investors backing Lume, a digital music platform set to launch in app stores in June.
Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie, Letterboxd co-founder Karl von Randow, and Previously Unavailable's James Hurman have also invested in the company, which was founded by a group of local media, technology, and music industry insiders.
Lume is built around albums instead of songs, playlists, and subscriptions, targeting serious music fans with expanded digital packages. For around the price of a CD, users buy and permanently own ‘Lume editions’ of albums, which contain the core music alongside bonus audio, video, artwork, and photography.
The platform operates on an 80:20 revenue split, with 80% of net revenue going directly to artists and their partners.
