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Can This Super App Be the ‘Gen Z Sears Catalog’ for Tickets and Artist Merch?

OpenWav, co-founded by Jaeson Ma, gives artists tools to stream, create and sell merch, with K-pop star Kevin Woo putting it to use to go independent.

In a music business where few artists can make a living from streaming revenue alone, and must tour, sell merch and develop sizable loyal fanbases to buy their products, “superfan” has become a gold-rush buzzword. “This started out several years ago with Patreon, and we learned that for premium content, fans will pay if you create something valuable,” says Dan Tsurif, vp of digital marketing for 10th Street Entertainment, Ice Nine Kills’ management company. Woo says OpenWav allows him access to all his sales data and analytics — he has used it, for example, to discern that he has a surprisingly large listener base in Austin, Texas, leading him to a recent South by Southwest showcase.

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