A new Austin startup hopes to bring an artist-centric model to streaming by connecting musicians with sponsors and giving them better access to their data.

"I've consistently seen how artists are underpaid, unprotected, and overlooked, even as they build the very culture that others profit from," Lauren Bruno said in an Instagram post to announce the launch of Prosper XO in early May.

Streaming music platforms like Spotify pay less than a penny per stream.

" To even make minimum wage, you have to have 800,000 streams a month," Bruno said.

She said she hopes to provide an answer to the problems artists face from streaming through her new platform.

A desire to help

Soon after Bruno moved to Austin in 2009, a friend died in a house fire. Bruno hosted shows in her backyard to raise mon

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