3 music opportunities in web3
In a post we shared a few weeks ago, we shared our view about what we believe music NFT technology should be used for. As music NFTs keep growing in popularity, new concepts and opportunities appear in the horizon.
In this post, we’ll briefly explore, with a slightly positive and hopeful tone, three key concepts that can bring real value to the music NFT space.
The concept of “web3 labels”
We find the term “web3 label” conflicting but for the purpose of today’s post, we’ll stay with it.
There’s a plethora of new startups and NFT projects building web3 labels. The idea is simple: record labels that support artists to build careers in web3. This is a great approach as long as the support extends to other areas outside NFTs.
Record labels do great work. Not all of them are bad — not all of them are good. Labels support with marketing & PR, artistic development, branding opportunities, sync… the list is endless.
The idea of record labels having a web3 mindset sounds innovative and like a great approach to adapting to a change that seems inevitable. As long as these projects have their eye in offering full artist support, web3 labels are something to look out for.
Real-time royalties
Ah! The dream. Imagine hearing your song on the radio and getting the payment almost in real time. Sounds great, right?
The royalty system has not evolved much even though technology could make it almost instant for artists & rights holders to get paid.
Would you go to a supermarket, buy food, and tell the staff that you’ll pay them in 12 months? What would you say to your employer if they said your salary is paid every 6 to 18 months?
“That’s mad! I wouldn’t work for anyone like that” — would a hypothetical sane reader say.
So, why do we assume it is normal for a music maker to wait so long to get paid?
We’re very proud of working with web3 tech to completely change this issue. The reality of fast royalty payments for artists is closer than we all think and current tests are showing great promise. More news about this in the next few days!
Curation & “music NFT influencers”
A question we’ve been asking on Twitter Spaces & irl conferences is: “what are music NFT collections missing to attract hype and excitement?”
We’ve all seen users on Twitter spending fortunes on NFT projects but that level of engagement is missing in music. We all thought at the start that if celebrity artists joined the space, their releases would attract users and interest.
A recent example is Muse’s “Will Of The People” drop a few weeks ago. Having sold out on mint date, the collection is struggling to attract new fans and the total volume of transactions has stalled (c.$15k based on data at the time of writing).
A key driver for the success of NFTs is the engagement with influencers. And here’s where rewards for music NFT curators and influencers will be key. Offering token or utility rewards to users who successfully promote and drive traffic towards music collections will be paramount for the long term growth of music NFTs.
A closing thought
We don’t have the answer to everything and won’t pretend we do. We’re working hard to resolve the legacy issues of music royalties and we really encourage music projects to think outside the box and find solutions beyond just selling music NFTs.
Where can you get the best of us?
Twitter: For regular updates, data, interviews (Twitter spaces twice a week)
https://twitter.com/soundpickr
Reddit: In-depth discussions, music conversations
https://www.reddit.com/user/soundpickr
Blog: General music industry analysis & music NFT insights
https://blog.soundpickr.com/blog/
Medium: Regular & detailed updates about Soundpickr
https://soundpickr.medium.com/
Discord: For community and support queries
https://discord.gg/4ByPgFeEYw
