Nina Protocol to shut down after five years

Nina Protocol is over as we know it. The online music database plans to shut down this summer after running for five years as a streaming, distribution, and commentary platform. Founded by Jack Callahan, Eric Farber, and Mike Powell in 2021 at the tail end of the NFT boom, Nina Protocol began as a blockchain-based alternative to streamers like Spotify, emphasizing direct-to-artist monetary support and non-algorithmic music discovery. Since its inception, Nina Protocol has been a hub for experimental and independent music alike, with its editorial curation a major defining factor in how it operates as a music marketplace. 

An official statement outlined the site’s six-week “Winding down Nina” timeline, which began yesterday and was created for the purpose of helping users offboard and preserve their onsite libraries—whether that’s the catalogs and earnings of artists, or the purchases made by listeners. As of this writing, new uploads and purchases have already been disabled. Users have until June 15 to withdraw funds and export music. After that, the site will cease to be browseable and will only offer offboarding tools. Nina Protocol will totally shut down on July 15.

Nina’s team is currently looking for options to archive Nina Editorial, the site’s in-house music blog, featuring reviews, interviews, and other critical and journalistic music coverage. From Nina Protocol’s shutdown statement:

“We looked at our options for how to fund the platform and continue working on it, and saw no viable paths forward that would allow us to continue developing, or responsibly maintain Nina the way it runs today. We are disappointed at this outcome and our inability to get Nina to long-term stability, as this has been a labor of love for the last 5 years, but remain honored to have played a role in supporting and highlighting incredible corners of the music community.”

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