On Digital Caretaking and Music
One aspect of human nature that is interestingly coupled to the digital economy is the desire to nurture something. Whether it’s a backyard garden, an American Girl doll, a Tamagotchi, or a digital creation like an Axie, humans have a proven affinity to tend to something other than themselves. It’s burned into our genetic code in a way, or else we wouldn’t still be here, right?
How could digital caretaking apply to music in the Metaverse?
Emotional Connectivity plays deeply into the fan-to-music relationship, and Participatory Access continues to emerge as a leading element of utility in NFT experiences. These two aspects of the Open Source Framework for Utility contribute to this digital caretaking thought experiment.
To nurture something is to form a bond with it and have a strong desire to ensure its survival. As parents, we feel that desire because it is our blood, our DNA, and our creation. What if music fans became co-creators? Music fans have nurtured their favorite artists by purchasing their records, going to their shows, and streaming their music. Could there be a way to nurture the music itself?
Axie Infinity allows users to create farms to breed new Axies, and they have over 350k daily active users. Why? One reason is because humans love growing and nurturing something, while another reason involves yield generation or the play-to-earn concept. In this case, users can digitally own something they nurture and use that asset to generate a return. Axie Infinity users can earn the digital currency, SLP by breeding, raising, and battling their Axies in a gaming environment inspired by Pokemon. I guess it doesn’t hurt user adoption to be compensated for nurturing something.
Like a new Axie on a farm in Axie Infinity, what if you could breed music? By selecting pieces created by others, you could arrange a new work with ownership governed by a smart contract including all of the contributors. Ingredients are becoming recognized as acceptable deliverables. Film Supply offers video footage segments and Unsplash offers photographs for creators to use. Timbaland’s Beatclub and Splice have set a similar stage in music by providing song starters for musicians. None of these examples have incorporated smart contracts or blockchain technology. Ingredients with appropriately accounted for ownership details build trust and generate massive opportunities for scale.
I know we are not all musically-inclined, but we are certainly musically-aware, meaning that being a fan of music gives you a perspective to formulate and propagate your musical taste. Aren’t some genres formed this way? It’s likely that more than one person shares your musical taste, at least in part, which means there is a market for your perspective. If creativity is the unique arrangement of found elements, what if the musically-inclined offered the musically-aware a way to nurture music? Technology exists today to make this happen. Is the Metaverse ready for music as potential and crowd co-creation? I hope so. More to come on this thread. Stay tuned.
