Fans May Someday Have a Financial Stake in Their Favorite Artists

A San Francisco company’s trading exchange launched a concept in which fans could buy and sell interests tied to a celebrity’s earnings.

October 07, 2014

Not that Jay Z and Rihanna need another way to make a buck, but now a new company is offering a potential pay day above and beyond album sales or drinks endorsements. According to a story by The Hollywood Reporter, San Francisco-based trading exchange Fantex is providing a platform in which the public can buy and sell interests tied to the income of a celebrity—sort of like investing in a company. So far, Fantax has already have several NFL players on board. Under this model, the participating celebrity would get a fat paycheck up front, while Fantex acquires the star's earnings and offer the shares to stakeholders; meanwhile the star would still have control in his or her career direction without investor interference. "We're premised on the idea that if you forge a financial interest linked to the brand,” Fantex CEO Buck French told The Hollywood Reporter, “then you have not just investors, but advocates."  But of course, there are questions raised by such a venture, as attorney Jill Smith of Kleinberg Lange posed: “What happens when the actor decides to take a couple of years off to have a family? Go on a year-long humanitarian aid trip? Check in to rehab? Or, perish the thought: retire?" All we can think is that it was only a matter of time. 

Posted: October 07, 2014
Fans May Someday Have a Financial Stake in Their Favorite Artists