From music and film to art, stories, and characters, intellectual property (IP) is everywhere. These works are valuable emotionally and creatively, and they generate real revenue. Yet until now, they have lacked the financial infrastructure to operate like other assets onchain.
That’s where tokenization comes in.
Why Tokenize IP
Tokenization brings liquidity, transparency, and accessibility to IP. For the first time, cultural works can be treated as investable assets while preserving creator rights. It allows for fractional ownership of an interest in IP, brings IP onchain as liquid tokens backed by real-world value, and creates new markets around cultural mediums.
At Aria, token holders can already hold IP real-world asset (IPRWA) tokens that represent partial income rights to IP and earn royalties associated with these rights. Royalties from cultural IP are especially compelling because they tend to be resilient income streams. In music for example, revenue from DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music, film and TV licensing, and public performance tends to remain steady even in downturns. During COVID, music listening actually increased. Evergreen works follow predictable patterns of longevity, making them stable and attractive.
This is income that most people have never had access to, historically reserved for ultra-high-net-worth individuals or private equity funds with multi-million-dollar entry tickets. Tokenization levels that playing field. For the first time, fans and everyday investors can access yield streams once locked away in institutional vaults.
IP Is Already an Investment
Institutions have long recognized the value of IP. Most recently in 2024, Blackstone acquired Hipgnosis Songs Fund for $1.5B, Concord securitized $850M in music royalties, and Iconic Artists Group secured $1B of capital. Between 2020 and 2024, music royalty securitizations totaled roughly $8B.
IP is already an investable asset class. Tokenization simply brings it onchain, where liquidity, transparency, and accessibility multiply.
IPRWA: The RWA That Thrives Onchain
Not all real-world assets benefit equally from tokenization. Treasuries, for example, often lose liquidity when moved onchain. IP is different. It is often digitally-native, flexible, and global. Onchain, its liquidity and programmability improve dramatically.
This is why Aria is pioneering Intellectual Property Real-World Assets (IPRWAs). With IPRWAs, you gain exposure to cultural IP with intrinsic real-world value. You are not just holding a token, you are holding an interest in something people already know, love, and spend money on.
To prove this model, Aria launched $APL, the first IPRWA on Story.
$APL represents partial income rights to music performed by artists such as Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, BLACKPINK, and BTS. The rights were acquired with $10.95M raised via Stakestone’s LiquidityPad. Today, $APL holders receive real-world music royalties onchain, every day.
This was step one: showing that tokenized IP can deliver transparent, recurring revenue to a broad community of users.
Beyond Income Rights: Programmable IP
The next frontier is programmable IP, where rights are not only tokenized for income but also structured in ways that allow them to be licensed, remixed, and used to create entirely new works, also known as ‘derivative’ works.
Onchain rules make this possible:
Master rights can be accessed, remixed and/or reimagined under clear permissions at scale
Royalties flowing back to rights holders, investors, and creators through ownership of the token
This model is only possible on the Story blockchain enabling registration and licensing, with Aria providing the rails for monetization and a financial economy around it so more people can engage with the IP they love and share in the upside.
Culture Meets Capital
Tokenizing IP is not just about turning creative work into finance. It is about making culture participatory, enabling proliferation and an onchain economy of rights holders, creators and investors to collectively share in the upside.
As more IP comes onchain, financial models will evolve to reflect how people already interact with culture: emotionally, socially, and economically. Aria is building the foundation for that future.
👉 Ready to see what tokenized IP looks like?
Explore $APL and experience how cultural assets can earn yield onchain.
