Metallica surprised fans when it was among the investors in a $13.7M funding round for the artist-to-fans foundation medal

Guy Lawrence of Disclosure, Bill Silva Entertainment, Mt. Joy, TAG Music, and Foundations Artist Management are among the other investors.

The firm announced on Thursday (Dec. 21) that Medallion, a direct-to-consumer platform that assists musicians in fostering connections with their fans, has secured $13.7 million in Series A investment. The company’s statement claimed that with the money, Medallion, run by former Songkick CEO Matt Jones, would be able “to accelerate an ambitious technical roadmap.”

Along with Coinbase Ventures, Infinite Capital, J17, Third Prime, Zeal Capital, and prior investor The Chernin Group, the round was co-led by Dragonfly and Lightspeed Faction. A number of other music industry investors participated in the round, including Bill Silva Entertainment, Guy Lawrence of Disclosure, Foundations Artist Management, DJ and producer Tiga, the band Mt. Joy, producer duo Jungle, Black Squirrel Partners of Metallica, and TAG Music, a collaboration between Gabe Saporta and Atlantic Records.

This is Metallica’s third significant Black Squirrel investment of 2023. The band bought Alexandria, Virginia-based Furnace Record Pressing, a vinyl maker, in March. Then, in August, Jeff Price, the creator of TuneCore, founded Word Collections, a publishing administration company, and Black Squirrel was the main investor in a $5 million investment round for the company.

Medallion, which launched in 2022, gives artists a white-label platform to build online communities that supply their followers experiences and merchandise. Artists including My Morning Jacket, Sigur Ros, Tycho, Greta Van Fleet, and two of its investors, Mt. Joy and Jungle, are among its clientele.

General partner at Dragonfly Rob Hadick believes that Medallion is a change in perspective on giving fans something more than just music and material. “In addition to owning the customer relationship themselves and creating net new revenue opportunities around their intellectual property, Medallion is building the infrastructure to enable artists to directly interact with their highest intent customers through new and exclusive products and experiences,” Hadick said in a statement. “We think the entire creator economy will be affected by this paradigm shift.”

Only a small portion of an artist’s fan base is directly connected to them. Medallion unlocks direct artist-to-fan communication, which resolves this issue, according to a statement from Lightspeed Faction’s Will Leas. The group has a track record of developing cutting-edge technology for the greatest musicians in the world, and we are excited to support them on this endeavor.

Prior to this, Medallion secured $9 million in initial money from Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Tycho, Betaworks, POAP Ventures, Polygon Ventures, The Chernin Group, and Red Light Ventures.