SonX is a community platform that allows superfans to subscribe to their favourite musicians via a montly membership fee unlocking a ‘digital backstage’ experience, exclusive content and rewards.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
The idea for SonX originally came during the pandemic. I saw a lot of signed artists saying they had no money on social media and I couldn’t really understand why as I had never worked in music before Sony Music Entertainment, only fashion and entertainment.
I knew live performances had gone away but I still couldn’t fully understand how artists with 500,000 streams had no money – streams must mean something. After doing research, I realised that 500,000 streams is only £2,000 and if you are signed to a label, you’re giving 85% of that away, and the 15% that you keep, you’re paying your band, manager, make up artists etc. and then when you look at your hands you’re only looking at £5, so I felt like there could be something that can be created that’s a little bit sexier and artists can get what they deserve.
I feel like some of the options that were out there didn’t solve many of the issues that musicians were having and I’m the kind of person that is quite impulsive so I was like “why don’t I just go for it” and that is how I started SonX.
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How has the idea of the company evolved since it came to fruition?
The idea for SonX certainly evolved when Lewis Donovan, my co-founder and CTO joined (ex, lead Developer at Sony Music Entertainment). Until then I was incredibly focused on how I can create more value for the artist.
He really brought in a focus for for fans, how would they experience the platform, why would they want to subscribe to their favourite artist and we have answered by using web3 elements on the platform – allowing the fan to be seen by the artist as an individual, allowing fan to receive rewards for their engagement and earn from the platform so they can have IRL experiences with their favourite artist.
What can we hope to see from SonX in the future?
Hopefully wherever fandom lives, SonX will exist.