This new digital music store could change the way we pay artists

Paolo Fragomeni can play half a dozen instruments and owned around 4,500 LP records and a thousand 45s at the peak of his vinyl collection. When wanderlust took over, he digitized his entire library into about 50,000 portable MP3s that he could take wherever he traveled. The music industry has become increasingly populated by streaming services that offer a similar ability to listen to music anywhere, but the lack of ownership concerns Fragomeni. In the age of Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and Tidal, the self-professed music collector saw an opportunity to cater to listeners like himself who want to own their music.

Alongside co-founder Aprile Elcich, he created Voltra, a digital music player and store that promises artists who sign up...

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