If you work in the music industry, you have experienced a drastic change in the way it operates in the last decade. The internet has completely altered the way that people acquire, consume, and share music with their friends and even strangers.
A lot of this change is driven by streaming services that offer unlimited streams of music for a low monthly fee. These streaming services have been a major blow to artists who are trying to make money by selling their recordings. Why would people want to pay for music when they can listen directly from their phone or computer for free? Musicians have been left scrambling for ways to monetize their art, and along came NFTs.
An NFT is a non-fungible token. These NFTs exist on Web3 and use the blockchain to let consumers verify ownership. This creates a variety of new opportunities for artists. They can now make 1 of 1 piece of work, creating a special relationship with the fanbase that they couldn’t before. This is because each NFT that is created on the blockchain is completely unique and its code cannot be recreated.
A New Way to Release Music
If music artists want to continue to make money going down the road, it almost going to become a requirement to release their music as NFTs. This helps eliminate the blow created by streaming services that devalue each song placed on the platform. NFTs are an especially advantageous concept for artists with an existing fanbase that is interested in collecting the things they release because of their passion for the band.
Bands Are Already Doing It
While it’s a new concept, bands are already releasing work via NFT. The first example was Kings of Leon. Alongside the typical release of digital and physical copies of their music, the band released their album When You See Yourself as an NFT. On top of the album, the winning bidder gets free front-row tickets to the band’s concerts for life. The strategy paid off to the tune of $2 million dollars, leading other bands to follow suit.
NFTs Create the Opportunity For New Means of Connecting With Fans
It’s not just about albums, NFTs give bands and solo musicians the opportunity to create a vast variety of new ways to connect with their fans. One great example of this is digital concerts many artists have started hosting virtual concerts that people can experience by utilizing the blockchain.
Another great example of this is NFT ticket stubs. These are great because it gives fans a new way to collect ticket stubs in the form of digital artwork. They can then display this artwork anywhere they want on their social media platforms. This basically turns ticket stubs into free advertising for artists in the future, only serving to increase their value.
Honestly, it’s just the beginning for NFTs in general, so it’s hard to predict exactly how the music industry is going to utilize them to create revenue. There are probably new methods that we can’t even predict yet because the technology surrounding them is so fresh. One thing is for sure, all artists should be considering using these NFTs to help their careers.
