|| CRYPTOWAVES || PT 2 — Rewriting the Artistic Paradigm
When we last left off, I had just found the emotional link between music and economics through my avatar, The Orphan, who is born into the Interplanetary File System somewhere in spacetime. Exploring this connection has made me hyper-aware of my own relationship to finance as an independent artist, and the many barriers created by the traditional music industry’s infrastructure.
As an independent artist, you often play multiple roles and end up constantly exhausted. At times I’ve been my own manager, PR, makeup artist, graphic designer and anything you can think of — and if I take a break, my whole world grinds to a halt. This makes it very difficult to see beyond the next project, to really elevate oneself and work towards larger-scale, long-term goals.
On the road, the artist is making money, but often just enough to keep the machine running. The large upfront cost of tour and album productions has resulted in a monopolization of the industry by a select group of large companies such as Live Nation and AEG. Getting paid by these companies is often difficult and takes more time than it should, but this monopolization means there is no alternative.
In addition, there are too many middlemen in the equation providing promotion, ticket sales and other services — this has drastically increased ticket prices without increasing return for the artist.
Cryptowaves is a collaborative experiment between myself and Staxe to try and solve these very problems . Staxe was initially founded as a way to tokenize, finance and invest in live productions via blockchain technology on an automated and secure platform. This allows supporters to become shareholders participating in the success of the production — and now, instead of focusing only on the live production, we are also incorporating the artist’s creations (in the form of NFTs) as part of the investment.
This collaboration rewrites the artist paradigm in several important ways.
Crucially, it gives me access to enhanced production resources, both financial and administrative. I can execute my visions on a larger scale and also have more assistance on the logistics side, freeing me up to create art with renewed energy and focus.
Through the platform, we also open the door for fans to not only invest in the artist, but drive up the potential value of the NFTs with their support and promotion, thereby also increasing their returns.
Our collaboration is the first iteration of the ‘Staxe NFT Launchpad’, which combines an NFT drop with a live performance (via physical concert, streaming or in VR). The Launchpad showcases artists and creatives in a live performance during the final moments of their NFT drop auction, boosting the collection in a highly interactive and unique new way in order to enhance the resulting value captured by an NFT drop with the power of live. This approach has the potential to greatly increase the monetization value of a live stream for the artist.
Together, we hope to simplify the process of securing financial investment in an automated, decentralized fashion, helping to amplify the ability of artists to create outstanding work, expand their visions, and generate greater returns while benefiting their entire community.
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The Cryptowaves release party is in several weeks (date TBC) in Valencia, Spain and will happen simultaneously live, in VR and on live stream to celebrate the end of the first Cryptowaves NFT drop. The VR party will be held on Soundstage.fm with only 10 invites available for the top bidders (selected one day before event). Limited invites will also be available for VIPs in the Valencia area.
The live performance lineup will feature the Cryptowaves avatar, The Orphan Block, along with French-Lebanese producer/artist Luigi Tasso and American producer/visualist ReallyRyan doing live audio-visual sets. Auction updates will be posted live on stream, along with previews of various NFTs for sale and interviews with all of the performing artists.
