Democritus and NFTs
Democritus was the Greek philosopher who developed atomic theory, which promoted that the smallest, indivisible form of life is the atom. Would our friend be bummed or inspired to hear that two guys split his precious atom on April 14, 1932? From there, the subatomic theory emerged when neutrinos, quarks, and other particles were introduced. No matter your perspective, most theories begin with the fact that bigger things are made of smaller things. One other undeniable truth is the constant search for new boundaries and forms of innovation. NFTs are redefining the potential of creativity and its building blocks in a way that will turn consumers into co-creators, inspire more open collaboration between creators, and build bridges between the physical and digital realms.
NFTs provide a unique capability to draw a virtual border around a digital asset. If we can draw borders around these assets, they could be collected and arranged in new ways. Creativity is the unique arrangement of found elements. With permissions granted by creators and interaction tracked through ever-evolving smart contracts, NFTs offer a new lens into the creative process.
What does this mean for creators?
At the moment, when songwriters partner with other songwriters, it requires a tremendous amount of trust and usually a long-standing relationship that isn’t entered into lightly. It also requires a split sheet, which clearly spells out the allocation of ownership in the future asset. These are usually signed before any songwriting happens. What if a platform existed where songwriters could establish profiles with collaboration rules that automatically apply to any project they work on? Building on that, what if each of their assets or ideas could be encapsulated as a digital asset on the blockchain. Each asset could have permission levels that automatically facilitate collaboration with other writers. These permission levels could include which writers on the platform have access to the asset. The songwriter could open it up to anyone on the platform, or they could offer it up to known entities with verified credentials. Anything created with that asset will be traced back to the original songwriter.
What does this mean for fans?
For centuries, music fans have lived on the consumption side of the music equation. Imagine the asset in the example above as part of a collection of assets organized in mini-libraries by musical elements. Maybe it’s the song key or beats per minute. With permissions granted by the songwriter through the smart contract, fans can access these libraries and create new works of art with ownership tracked back to the original artist. Why would fans even want to do this? Don’t they just want to be music fans? Trends are pointing to elevating hyper-connectivity between artists and fans through participatory experiences.
With blockchain and NFTs, songs alone are no longer the most indivisible form of a music asset. By encapsulating pieces of songs, creators can collaborate more openly and fans can explore their creative side.
