If you're wondering why the music industry is talking about NFTs, beyond cryptocurrency apps, beyond "democratization of patronage" is one simple, glaringly obvious fact:
Music is worth WAY more than it's current price in the modern world and corporations are strangling artists.
Music is worth WAY more than it's current price in the modern world and corporations are strangling artists.
Musicians currently only get 12% of all revenue in the music business. That's it. The rest go to middlemen (labels, streaming services, publishers).
This system both undervalues music AND benefits corporations at the expense of artists.
NFTs have the potential to change this.
This system both undervalues music AND benefits corporations at the expense of artists.
NFTs have the potential to change this.
Music has been undervalued (mispriced) for a very long time. Basically after Napster disrupted the CD-based music economy in 2002, streaming services rushed to fill the void by artificially lowering the price of music so they could still control it.
All an NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is is a unique digital work of art. So if we compared to the fine art world: an MP3 is like a Picasso postcard. It's cheap and mass-produced.
An NFT is like owning your own Picasso. It's original and one of kind (or limited like a numbered print).
An NFT is like owning your own Picasso. It's original and one of kind (or limited like a numbered print).
So one of the ways NFTs can disrupt the current music industry is by allowing musicians to sell works of fine art to patrons (fans) who want it.
What would you pay to own the original unique edition of, say, "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, tied to a piece of visual art she made?
What would you pay to own the original unique edition of, say, "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, tied to a piece of visual art she made?
You might say, "well I can listen to it any time I want." True. But you can also look at a Picasso postcard anytime you want. And if you were a fan of Lady Gaga, even if you didn't have much means you might think, "Oh, I guess I'd pay a hundred bucks for that, just for fun."
Now, the second you've decided you would pay $100 for it, someone else says they'd pay $150. The larger the audience, the more that value is increased. We come to understand that this particular work of art is now worth what the market bears. Let's say it lands at $10,000.
Now Lady Gaga has $10,000 more in her pocket. That's just the one NFT. Let's say she does it again with some unreleased track, or a collector's edition of a new track which contains a hidden verse. Eventually you can imagine a world where she has basically doubled her income.
All bc she decided to participate in selling NFTs.
That is why every single person in the music industry is talking about this.
And I'd argue, it isn't just about this idea of patronage and collectibles, it's about the fact that music has WAY MORE VALUE than it currently earns.
That is why every single person in the music industry is talking about this.
And I'd argue, it isn't just about this idea of patronage and collectibles, it's about the fact that music has WAY MORE VALUE than it currently earns.
How many times has a song felt like most important thing in the world? Like the artist understands something and you want to just be in their world?
THAT value is not expressed in the 0.3 cents/stream Spotify pays an artist to maximize SPOTIFY's profits. That is a fucking crime.
THAT value is not expressed in the 0.3 cents/stream Spotify pays an artist to maximize SPOTIFY's profits. That is a fucking crime.
It's also an opportunity. For artists, for fans, to circumvent the blood lust greed of music corporations which reap 88% of profits in a dated model that is dated precisely because IT ALLOWS THEM TO CONTROL IT.
The artists should control it. They made it.
The artists should control it. They made it.
I think it's unclear exactly how NFTs are going to disrupt music. It might be by tying physical objects to NFT tokens (limited edition vinyl, eg) or experiences close to artists (backstage passes, eg) or by simply allowing the transaction of a stream to go directly to an artist.
The point is the model in the current music industry is broken. And it leans heavily toward corporate, not artist, interests. This is a major inefficiency and what is, I think, underlying what's happening w NFTs.
We undervalue this thing which changes our lives.
We undervalue this thing which changes our lives.
One final note: 70% of artists' income comes from live performances.
As someone who had to cancel *70 dates* last year due to covid, I can tell you, artists everywhere are feeling the pain.
Incidentally, during this time, Spotify profits went UP.
As someone who had to cancel *70 dates* last year due to covid, I can tell you, artists everywhere are feeling the pain.
Incidentally, during this time, Spotify profits went UP.
This is so obviously a backwards and broken system, I think experimenting w new models is good. Change is coming.
There's a reason each of us fell in love with music and anything which brings us closer to that moment is not only good for the market, it's good for the soul.
/end
There's a reason each of us fell in love with music and anything which brings us closer to that moment is not only good for the market, it's good for the soul.
/end
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
