Hype has been building around the launch of Jkbx (“Jukebox”) for some time, but on Tuesday the exchange (guess we can call it that?) opened. It’s not actually selling any royalty shares yet, but people can “make a reservation” to buy later. There are 94 listings on the site, offering shares in the royalties for compositions and sound recordings. For example, 50724 shares are being offered in Ryan Tedder’s share of Halo (famously recorded by Beyoncé), with a listing price of $28.61 – making a market cap of $1.5M. On the launch, mega-exec Cohen said: “We have no contractual obligation with the artists. We’re just saying that it’s the right thing to do. If people are trading in music, shouldn’t we find another way to include the songwriters and the recording artists?” Fascinating to see where this goes, though some contracts might be... handy?
