FUTUREPROOF Web3 Newsletter (A Quickie)

Our thoughts on music NFTs…

By @DepecheNode_

I wish David Bowie could have experienced this time in history.

The music industry is yet again being forced to change with the times. Don’t you just love watching the power of record labels dwindle while artists & fans rise up? Over the last 20 years we’ve seen the business model shift twice, and we’re now entering a 3rd iteration. 

Physical Purchase (CDs) → Digital Purchase (iTunes) → Digital Membership (Spotify) → Digital Ownership (NFTs)  

Each new technology has made life easier and cheaper for the consumer, but it honestly hasn’t changed the relationship much between fans and their favorite artists. Music NFTs offer unlimited opportunities for artists to experiment with their work and enhance the relationship with their fans. So, how do they work? 

Well, how do you want them to work? Do you want to offer full IP rights for the owner? Sure. No IP rights? Sure. Collect a % of royalties? Sure. Access to exclusive concerts & unlockable content? Sure. The beauty of music NFTs is that they empower artists to build and sell whatever they want, while also allowing fans to participate in their success. 

Here are two examples of how Music NFTs are being launched:

A great example for how a music NFT might work can be found on the Royal.io platform. 

Royal.io allows artists and fans to ‘co-own music together.’ The website says it best:

Nas dropped the two titles ‘Ultra Black’ and ‘Rare’ on the Royal.io platform and immediately sold out. How did it work? Nas sold different type of tokens, each representing different tiers of ownership & access. It’s worth noting that each type of token receives a % of royalties earned:

Now what? Now Nas has fans that will make money alongside him while enjoying exclusive access and perks at the same time. What do you think this will do for his fanbase, anon? 

Notables is a highly curated NFT marketplace that has worked with the likes of Klutch sports and Shaquille O’Neal. Friday January 28th, they’ll be launching an exclusive collection of music NFTs from the mystery artist omgkirby. The drop will include 3,000 unique generative lofi tracks, with accompanying hand-drawn animated artwork for each. So what makes this drop interesting? 

Each collector will have full IP rights to their song, including master publishing and recording rights. Imagine being a movie studio and you found a song you just had to put in the film. If it happened to be one of these NFTs you’d literally just need to buy it. No attorneys, no negotiations, no complex royalty agreements. Or, perhaps you think this song would kill it on YouTube and Spotify; if so, feel free to upload and generate streaming revenue. We like the optionality. 

In addition to full rights, each holder of this particular NFT will gain access to the omgkirby DAO that controls the treasury of the project. We’ve now progressed from buying a CD, to buying full ownership rights of a song AND participating in an organization that directs the funds of the project’s proceeds. 

The exciting part about all of this is that we are, in fact, early. There is so much that has yet to be explored when it comes to audio & NFTs. Nobody knows what they’re doing yet, so jump in and do something! In the words of Nas, ‘Save the music y’all.’

*P.S. if you want to learn more about music NFTs, check out this masterpiece by CoopahTroopah

🚨DISCLOSURE: I own NFTs! I own punk #2971 if you’d like to dig around.