Sony Bank has launched a digital security targeted at consumers that allows them to indirectly invest in music catalog assets alongside Sony Music Group. One of the notable features of the security tokens is that the digital bank is targeting Japanese investors, but the tokens are denominated in dollars with a minimum investment of $1,000 and a total $10 million issuance. It is a one year investment offering an expected dividend rate of 3.5%.
Like most Japanese digital securities, the tokens represent trust beneficiary rights in a trust managed by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SuMi TRUST). Investors’ funds are lent to Sony Bank, which in turn invests them in investment partnerships in music catalog assets in which Sony Music Group participates. Investors will also qualify for a lottery to select 25 pairs (50 people) to attend an event involving a talk by an analyst and a live performance of traditional Japanese music.
While it is an appealing idea, consumers might find it more motivating to invest in rights relating to a particular artist, which does not seem to be the case here. The concept of tokenized music investment has been tried before, by the likes of Deutsche Börse-backed 360X, which was probably too early. In Korea, Musicow has built a successful business in fractional music ownership and has also experimented with tokenization. Earlier this year SBI Digital Markets arranged a bond tokenization linked to music performance rights.
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