Lume, the globally ambitious music startup, partners with Daylight

Written by Daylight - June 9, 2026

Backed by Lorde, and a host of heavyweight investors, Lume is rethinking the album experience for the digital age. Partnering with independent creative and technology studio Daylight to develop its brand identity, product strategy and design. 

As streaming platforms have evolved, the full-album experience has become background noise, with singles prioritised through algorithm-driven playlists and surfaced by short-form video.

Lume is a direct response to this – bringing listeners back to an artist’s complete body of work by celebrating the entire world of an album. An idea that challenges industry norms and has received mammoth media attention, including Stuff, RNZ, Breakfast, The Herald, 3 News, and much more over the last few weeks.

Each Lume contains an artist's or band’s core album, accompanied by bonus audio, video, artwork, photography, interviews, and other exclusive content, in a richly designed, interactive digital format. Built with a financial model that puts artists first, with 80% of net revenue going back to them and their partners. 

“Streaming platforms have optimised for speed and scale, often at the expense of depth and intentionality”, says Lume co-founder Tim Harper. “The opportunity with Lume was to create a product that favours the artist and  puts emotional connection and collectability back at the centre of listening.”

Partnering from inception through to launch, Daylight has worked alongside Lume to shape the platform’s brand positioning, visual identity, user experience strategy and product design. 

At the heart of the platform is the idea of entering “the world of an album”, expressed through a core brand symbol that acts as a portal into these rich worlds. This is extended through a navigation system that guides users deeper track by track – creating a sense of discovery throughout the experience. 

"We wanted Lume to feel tactile, immersive and deeply exploratory, like the ritual of opening a vinyl, a CD, a boxset for the first time," says Maddi Cummane, UX Strategy Lead at Daylight. "A big part of our design thinking centred around creating interactions that evoke that same feeling, while holding space for the music and the content to breathe."

Founded by Duncan Greive (The Spinoff, Daylight), Tim Harper (The Great New Zealand Songbook, Glorious), Sacha Judd, fandom expert, and Justin Warren, ex-head of strategy for Universal Music New Zealand, they have been supported by a formidable lineup of investors, including Ella Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde), Hamish McKenzie (co-founder, Substack), Karl von Randow (co-founder, Letterboxd) and James Hurman (Previously Unavailable).

Over the coming weeks, Lumes will be released with iconic Kiwi artists such as Tiki Taane, and Fur Patrol, as well as emerging artists including Geneva AM and Erny Belle. To find out more about Lume, visit Lumemusic.com