AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Lume is crossing the ditch. The innovative New Zealand-based, album-focused music app expands into Australia with a new round of artist releases, official chart status, and a key addition to the team.
Just days after winning the 2026 Australian Music Prize for her sophomore album, Looking For People to Unfollow, Ecca Vandal leads a cast of artists dropping enhanced versions of their LPs on the service. Fellow Aussie acts Ocean Alley, DZ Deathrays, The Rubens, The Tullamarines and others today (Nov. 13) release albums through the platform, which are available to purchase.
In a digital world where singles — the shorter, the better — make so much of the noise, Lume is a music service with a point of difference. Co-founded by NZ music and media professionals Duncan Greive, Tim Harper, Sacha Judd, and Justin Warren, the startup is a hive for album afficionados. A place for fans and superfans. With some LPs, customers can access exclusive video, audio and photography, for what Greive pitches as “the most complete and immersive version of an album available anywhere.”
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Operating with a direct-to-fan ownership model instead of a streaming subscription plan, Lume shells out 80% of revenue directly to artists and rightsholders, reps say.
With that mission, Lume has secured seed investment from a group including including Lorde (real name: Ella Yelich-O’Connor), Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie and Letterboxd’s co-founder and CTO Karl von Randow. “I think Lume is really smart,” remarks Yellich-O’Connor in a statement. “It’s a missing piece in the puzzle of modern album-sharing, giving artists an opportunity for deep intimacy with their core listeners while dictating what their work is truly worth.”
The platform was founded in 2025, launched in July 2026, and this week expands into neighboring Australia. Lume does so after striking an agreement with Brisbane, Australia-based distributor G.Y.R.O., and its inventory is chart eligible with trade body ARIA, joining certification from its New Zealand counterpart RMNZ.
Lume founders. ++TrudyStyle++As Lume muscles up, the business launches its own Substack. On Lume will explore both the artists and the albums featured on the platform, and cover key stories in music, and is led by new recruit Conor Lochrie, the renowned music journalist and former Rolling Stone AU/NZ deputy editor.
“Australia is our closest neighbour and our primary priority market following our NZ launch,” remarks co-CEO Harper. “We have made three trips over in recent months and found substantial interest in what we’re building. We are thrilled to have partnered with so many respected and popular Australian artists already and look forward to expanding our roster in the coming months.” One of those trip was at the 2026 Indie-Con in Adelaide, where a team led by Harper and Greive presented Lume to the independent music community.
Today’s music drop includes the 25th anniversary edition of Fat Freddy’s Drop’s celebrated debut Based on a True Story, plus the complete Flying Nun catalog of beloved NZ outfit The Bats.
The digital box set offering is available worldwide on iOS and Android, and at lumemusic.com.
