Questions, answered.

Campfire Music Foundation is a Minnesota-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 88-3475249) building Campfire, a public-benefit music streaming platform that pays artists fairly and transparently while offering fans a more ethical listening experience grounded in music discovery, social connection, and deeper artist-audience relationships. The project was founded in 2022 at Georgetown University and is now based in Minneapolis.

Campfire is built by a team of artists, technologists, and organizers, guided by a board and advisors with backgrounds across music, technology, and nonprofit governance. The project began with student musicians and music fans in 2022 and is led today from Minneapolis. Meet the full team, board, and advisors on the Team page.

Two ways. First, Campfire is a nonprofit: there are no shareholders, and the platform is run as a public cultural good rather than for private gain. Second, Campfire uses a user-centric royalty model: the money you pay is distributed to the artists you actually listen to, rather than pooled across the whole platform. See How Campfire Works and the Royalty Calculator for the full picture.

Your payment is apportioned across the artists and rights holders whose music you personally streamed, after required licensing reserves. Campfire caps its own operational share of revenue, and as a nonprofit, any surplus is reinvested in the mission rather than taken as profit. A full breakdown lives on the Where the Money Goes page.

The Campfire pilot is targeted for Q4 2026. The public waitlist has closed, and pilot access is now by request through the Request Access page, with Minnesota artists and listeners prioritized first.

No. Campfire's catalog is independent by design: music comes directly from artists who own their masters, plus select ethical independent labels, with no major-label catalog. That independence is what makes user-centric payouts and local discovery possible. See For Listeners and Artist Eligibility for more.

Yes. The design principle is simple: listening data exists to serve the listener, not to be sold on. Your listening is not the product. The full Data and Security Statement is being published on the Data and Security page, and in the meantime questions are welcome at johannes@cfmusic.org.

Independent artists who own their masters outright, and ethical independent labels on a case-by-case basis. Artists upload directly and affirm ownership or control of their rights; the license is non-exclusive, so you remain free to distribute your music anywhere else. See Artist Eligibility for details.

No. Campfire does not permit sound recordings that are entirely AI-generated, and artist accounts must represent real people, not synthetic or fictional personas. Artists may use AI-based tools in the creative process, such as mixing or mastering, but the underlying work and final recording must reflect meaningful human authorship.

No. Campfire's license is non-exclusive: you keep your rights and stay free to distribute your music on any other platform. Artists upload directly and affirm ownership or control of their recordings. Artist Eligibility covers exactly what we ask.

Music on Campfire comes only from rights holders: artists affirm they own or control their recordings when they upload. Mechanical and performance royalties, rights holder payments, and clean metadata are treated as core product, not paperwork. The Licensing and Rights page explains the approach, and Get Registered is our free guide to registering with a PRO and the MLC so songwriters get paid what they are owed.

Yes. Campfire Music Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 88-3475249), and your donation is tax-deductible as allowed by law. Our latest financial report is on file with the MN Attorney General, Charities Division, and can be obtained at http://www.ag.state.mn.us/Charities/ or upon request. We provide written acknowledgment for gifts of $250 or more.

Donate, explore Ways to Give for stock, donor-advised fund, and monthly options, request pilot access, or share Campfire with an artist or music lover in your life. Every gift moves us toward proving that music streaming can be fair.

Donations fund building and running the platform and the charitable programs behind it: development, licensing, artist support, and core operations. Campfire publishes what it has raised and how it has been spent since 2022 on the Transparency page, alongside its governance documents.