As streaming giants and record labels continue to dominate the $30 billion global music market, most artists still earn only pennies per stream while fans never truly “own” the music they love. Finay, a new direct‑to‑fan platform founded by musician‑turned‑entrepreneur Abhi Manapragada, wants to change that equation by removing middlemen altogether. Built with a blockchain backbone but wrapped in an intuitive Web2 interface, Finay lets anyone buy, sell, and resell songs, lessons, virtual concerts, and even music‑therapy sessions with the ease of a credit‑card checkout. The goal: give creators fair compensation, give fans real ownership, and unlock a healthier music economy for the 3 billion‑plus global music lovers who currently have little stake in the industry they bankroll.
The Music Industry’s Broken Economics
Labels still capture roughly 80 percent of every dollar generated by recorded music, while streaming platforms keep another sizable chunk, leaving artists with as little as $4,000 for a million Spotify plays. No wonder 45 percent of listeners say they feel no connection to the people who make their favorite tracks, and 31 percent have already canceled or cut back on subscriptions because they don’t see the value. Add concert‑ticket prices that have risen 74 percent over the past decade, and both artists and fans are looking for a better deal.
A Blockchain Backbone With Web2 Ease
Finay’s answer is a fully built marketplace that hides the complexity of Web3 while delivering its benefits. Users onboard in minutes with email and password, pay in credit card or PayPal, and never see a gas‑fee pop‑up – the platform eats those costs behind the scenes. Ownership of each digital asset is recorded on Polygon, an energy‑efficient blockchain, ensuring provable scarcity and transparent royalties without saddling newcomers with crypto wallets or seed phrases.
Riffs: A Native Currency That Keeps Value in the Community
Every transaction on Finay is powered by Riffs, an in‑platform currency that fans purchase (or earn) and then reuse to unlock songs, exclusive content, live‑stream tickets, or private guitar lessons. Artists receive Riffs instantly and can cash out or reinvest in promotional boosts. Transaction fees are kept to a lean 5 percent – far below the 10‑to‑30 percent charged by competing creator platforms – so more money circulates between the people who create and the people who care.
A Marketplace Beyond Music
Finay’s first‑mover edge is its breadth. In one storefront, fans can collect studio tracks, subscribe to virtual concerts, book one‑on‑one lessons, or purchase certified music‑therapy sessions. All assets are resellable on a secondary market, where creators earn royalties each time a collectible changes hands. These royalties can be shared with collaborators like bandmates, producers, or managers – introducing a flexible, creator-first model the traditional music industry doesn’t offer.
Ready to Scale With Ambassadors and Influencers
The product is finished, the go‑to‑market playbook is finalized, and an ambassador program is already lining up independent artists and super‑fans. The team projects 5,000 new users per month from referrals in its “Opening Act” phase, scaling to 50,000 monthly transactions as Finay expands across the U.S., India, and Europe. Gamified leaderboards and viral incentives encourage early adopters to spread the word—critical in a creator economy that paid out more than $20 billion last year and is hungry for music‑centric solutions.
A Founder on a Mission to Rewire the Industry
Abhi Manapragada studied at Musicians Institute in Hollywood and has shared studio time with rock‑music veterans like Robert Tepper. Experiencing firsthand how little leverage independent musicians have, he designed Finay to be the platform he and his peers always needed. His leadership is backed by a “band” of specialists: CFO Gary Bradshaw (30 years in finance), token‑economy architect Hristo Piyankov, CMO Mike Volkin (influencer‑driven marketing), and Web3 legal partner Benemerito Attorneys at Law.
The Next Verse for Music Ownership
Music NFTs are forecast to 10x in value to $20.8 billion by 2030, and 63 percent of today’s Top‑200 album sales already happen direct‑to‑fan. Finay plans to ride that momentum by raising $10 million on a $30 million pre‑money valuation (priced equity), allocating funds to mobile‑app development, ambassador and influencer programs, and strategic reserves for rapid market shifts. With profitability projected by Year 2 and clear exit paths—IPO, acquisition, or an FNY liquidity event—the company believes early movers can capture meaningful upside while helping rewrite the rules of music commerce.
For the billions who love music and the millions who create it, the industry’s next verse could finally belong to them. Finay is inviting artists, fans, and investors alike to pick up the mic and join the revolution.
Written in partnership with Tom White
