Interviews: Alex Landenburg (Founder of ROKK)

In an era where streaming services dominate music consumption, independent and niche genres often struggle to receive fair treatment. That’s where ROKK comes in. Founded by longtime friends and music enthusiasts, ROKK is a streaming platform dedicated to rock and metal, designed to put artists first and ensure fair compensation for their work.

We had the opportunity to speak with one of ROKK’s co-founders about the challenges, vision, and future of the platform. From overcoming technical hurdles to fostering a passionate community, ROKK aims to change the way we experience heavy music. Read on to learn more about how ROKK is shaking up the streaming industry.

1. What was the turning point when you and Peter Moog decided to create ROKK?

It all clicked in early 2021. We realized that, with live shows off the table for the time being, the entire music ecosystem was suffering—and not just in rock and metal. Peter and I, long-time friends since our teenage years, saw that artists were being shortchanged by the existing streaming model. That “aha” moment drove us to create a platform to help change that and bring fairness to the streaming game.

2. What challenges did you face during the four years of developing the platform?

We faced many challenges. Technically, we had to ensure high sound quality on one hand, but smooth playback on the other, and all of that with a growing catalogue of over 60 million songs. We also had to work with incomplete artwork and metadata at launch—all while operating with a small, passionate team. Every obstacle helped us learn and improve though.

But to be fully transparent, there will be the occasional glitch and it will also take a while until we fill some gaps in the content. But we’re on it!

3. How has the metal community responded to ROKK so far?

The response has been amazing. Rock and metal fans have embraced ROKK with open arms. They’re excited about a platform that not only curates music with genuine passion but also puts fairness at its core. The feedback from social media and direct messages has been very encouraging.

4. Fair compensation for artists is a core principle of ROKK. Can you explain how the Direct Artist Support model works and how it differs from other streaming platforms?

Sure thing. With our Direct Artist Support feature, you can allocate a percentage of your monthly subscription directly to your favourite band or artist, or the one you are currently listening to the most. It’s completely up to you. Also, artists have the option to work with us and get their personal voucher codes, which then ensures a higher percentage of the subscription, 10% in this case, to go to them for an entire year for every fan that uses that code upon registration.

This ensures that more money goes exactly where it matters, to the artists themselves.

5. Have you received support or feedback from bands and record labels since announcing ROKK?

Absolutely. We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response from both bands and record labels. Many artists have reached out to share their excitement about finally having a platform that puts them first—one that offers the potential for fairer payouts.

I would like to take the chance to personally thank all of the bands who signed up immediately. We are actually still finishing the artist section, but soon all of you will be able to see your stats and edit your personal pages.

6. How do you plan to balance the platform’s financial sustainability with the goal of paying musicians more fairly?

By catering specifically to rock and metal fans, we avoid the mass consumption of the typical “Spotify Top 10” that skews payouts on mainstream platforms, where your subscription fee is pooled together and divided based solely on total streams—often favoring these mainstream pop acts. Based on that, we are expecting to be able to payout 3 times as much as the main competition per stream.

With our lean team and smart, efficient operations, we can run cost-effectivel,y which also enables us to give a share of each subscription directly to the artists.

7. ROKK already hosts over 60 million songs and continues to grow. What can users expect in terms of catalog expansion and exclusive content in the future?

Users can look forward to a steadily expanding catalog. Which is also super important. Because in the end, even if we host 60+ million songs, if you can’t find your favourite music, that’s just not good. So we encourage everyone to get in touch with us about missing releases or artists and we’ll try our best to fill these gaps as soon as possible.

Exclusive content is something we will have specifically through our own upload platform.

Many underground artists feel abandoned by the larger platforms and have resorted to physical only for a while. I can already see that a lot of them are willing to upload exclusively on ROKK.

Another thing is exclusive podcasts, but that will realistically take a while.

8. You mentioned that some details, such as artwork and metadata, might not be complete at launch. How do you plan to improve this aspect with community involvement?

Yes, so we know that a few elements might be a bit rough around the edges at first. That’s why we’re inviting the community to help us polish them. Soon, you’ll be able to suggest corrections and enhancements to artwork, metadata, and more. Think of it as a collaborative effort—ROKK is built by fans and for fans, and your input will play a key role in perfecting the experience over time. It’s what we call our “Rokkpedia”.

9. Rokkpedia sounds like an innovative concept. How will it work, and what role will the community play in its development?

Rokkpedia is envisioned as a comprehensive, wiki-like resource for all things rock and metal—covering artist histories, album details, and more. The community will be at the heart of it, contributing insights, corrections, and knowledge that keep the content accurate and vibrant. In essence, it’s a living resource that grows and evolves with the passion and knowledge of true music fans.

10. ROKK is currently available in Europe and the UK. Do you have an estimated launch date for other regions, such as North America or Asia?

We’re focused on Europe and the UK at the moment, but of course we would love to roll out in other markets as well, especially in North and South America and also Asia and Australia.

There’s no set timeline for that though, as it really depends on if and how we can grow in Europe.

11. How do you manage technological and infrastructure costs with a smaller team compared to major streaming platforms?

We are fans ourselves and by knowing our audience and having a clear target audience we avoid the unnecessary overhead that larger platforms have, especially in terms of advertising. Others need to pay billions for sponsoring of football teams or celebrity podcasts, we give the money rather to our artists as Direct Support.

The other thing is that Peter comes from a strong tech background and we were able to build some things extremely efficiently.

12. How would you define success for ROKK in its first year?

At a very basic level, it’s a huge success for us to have actually launched ROKK. Not only did we build the platform, we also managed to get the 3 majors, Warner, Universal, and Sony to work with us, plus some of the biggest co-called Indies before we even launched.

For ROKK success means building a loyal, engaged community of rock and metal fans. It also means that our artists see a real, positive change in their earnings. When fans love the listening experience and actively support the bands they admire, we will know we’ve made a difference.

13. What advice would you give to other musicians looking to venture into the tech world like you are with ROKK?

That’s not easy to answer. To be honest, I’ve had many moments over the past 4 years where the problems that come along with tech and especially with gigantic masses of data, were a bit overwhelming.

But I would never discourage someone who has a vision and wants to do something, especially something that might better other people's lives along the way.

My advice would definitely be to check your expectations and know that most things are more difficult than they look on the surface, and take longer than expected, but at the s timeame, they can be done.

14. Lastly, what message would you like to send to rock and metal fans to encourage them to try ROKK and support this initiative?

To all the rock and metal fans out there—this is your platform. ROKK is built by fans, for fans, with a deep commitment to making sure that the music you love is celebrated and that the artists receive fair pay. We’re passionate about delivering a listening experience that’s as authentic as it is high quality. Give ROKK a try, spread the word, and let’s rock the streaming world together! And please, especially for the first few months, be a little more forgiving if something is a bit glitchy and just help us by letting us know about it. We’ll fix it.