A Perth-founded content monetisation platform, backed by American rapper Ice Cube, hopes to take on OnlyFans by offering artists and creators a “clean space” to monetise their work without compromising integrity.
Founded in 2020 by Cody McDowell and James Gillies, MyPremo enables artists and creators of all genres to go direct to the consumer with their content, allowing them to keep 80 per cent of the money earned.
Mr McDowell said the recently-launched MyPremo underscored the urgent need for alternative avenues for creators to capitalise on their content.
“We’re definitely taking on OnlyFans,” he told The West Australian. “A lot of creators on (OnlyFans) don’t want to be putting out content that is normally associated with OnlyFans, which is the adult-type content.”
Creators on OnlyFans can make money in several ways — the main avenue is through subscriptions.
Mr McDowell said MyPremo aimed to address the issue of low royalty rates faced by musicians. Industry estimates put Spotify’s payout rate for recordings at about $US4000 ($6039) per million streams, or less than half a cent per stream.
“There is a shift happening in the market, which is that direct-to-consumer shift, and we hope to be the leader in this space,” Mr McDowell said.
“I think the creator economy was worth a little over $US250 billion last year and that’s only increasing year-over-year.
“People are used to getting their credit cards out now to consume the content that they want to consume.”
Mr McDowell said Ice Cube — or O’Shea Jackson Senior — joined the company in 2023 as a partner and ambassador to help steer product development.
“We need to get our platform into the hands of the biggest creators in the world and to do that, we need to have someone that has access to that calibre of talent,” he said.
“Obviously Ice Cube has got friends at the highest calibre of music . . . to get the Snoop Doggs, the Dr. Dres, the Eminems, the 50 Cents of the world to join the platform is now all very, very achievable.”
Ice Cube said artists and creators needed better tools to go direct to their consumers.
“Let’s create a world where every piece of content finds its true value. Timing is important and there are big changes happening in the music business right now,” he said.
“Direct-to-consumer solutions will be the artists’ biggest earners.”
MyPremo is also aiming to raise $3 million through equity crowdfunding platform Birchal, with expressions of interest due to close May 21. Funds will be used to facilitate MyPremo’s global launch.