What does it mean to be a Web 3.0 Music artist?

At the start of 2021, few people outside of a niche tech bubble knew what NFTs were. By the end of 2021, pretty much everyone in music knew what NFTs were (or certainly had heard of them and could at least pretend to know what they were).

The boom in revenues related to NFTs, as well as the boom in the sheer number of them being created and sold in 2021, was what convinced the music business at large that Web3 should be key to its future. The typographical rebranding of Web 3.0 as Web3 over the intervening years gave it a more streamlined feel. While crypto and the blockchain were core to Web3, these were things that the music industry was not necessarily set up to exploit outside of a B2B context (e.g. the multitude of companies racing in to offer royalty tracking solutions on the blockchain).

NFTs, however, allowed the music industry to jump fully into Web3 and make it part of their consumer-facing business. NFTs, as far as the music business is concerned, is basically a digital merchandise play and, therefore, a world it can quickly understand and look to monetize.

It is currently impossible to put precise numbers on what NFTs bring into the music business economy. That is in part because a lot of the headline numbers last year were driven by artists like Grimes, 3LAU, and Deadmau5 and would not necessarily show up on the books of record labels or publishers.

Ready or not, Web3 is here, and it demands our collective attention. The sheer amount of ink spilled over the subject is eclipsed only by the breadth of opinion that Web3 generates. For some, it’s the latest chapter in a late-stage capitalist hellscape, for others, it’s literally going to reshape the universe itself.

With so much polarising talk, it can be hard to separate Web3’s genuine potential from all the hyperbolic promises and FinTech jargon. One thing is for sure: while this may have all started as a strange, pixelated Wall Street, Web3 has increasingly become the space du jour for music makers looking to forge new paths, build communities, and push the limits of high-tech creativity. Which brings us to our topic at hand, what does it really mean to be a Web3 Music artist? Is it dropping NFTs, and talking about how cool the technology is, or pushing the limits of musical innovation? Let’s find out.

NFT Drops

Part of Web3’s attraction is financial. A booming crypto-economy has turned NFTs into a bona fide goldmine, allowing artists such as Grimes and 3LAU to rake in huge sums from their sales. Seeing the writing on the wall, many artists have jumped on the non-fungible bandwagon, and who can blame them? Compared to the ever-shrinking income that most artists make from streaming royalties, NFTs may well be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to profit from the craft of songwriting.

High-profile NFT drops are generating the most buzz but this is not where the true disruptive potential of Web3 lies. The real revolution is taking place in the nitty-gritty of how artists fund, copyright, manage and monetize their work.

Funding for Music Production

What once required major-label backing is now being achieved in DMs and Discord servers. Using direct community engagement, artists are trialing a new style of patronage where fans come together to jointly invest in the creation of new music, like what we are doing here at Staxe with artists like Clemm and Mario Palma from Spain. In return, these fans stand to reap financial benefits should the resulting tunes be commercially successful. This crowdfunding approach is facilitated by what are called ‘smart contracts. Written in computer code and transparently distributed on the blockchain, these self-executing legal agreements can automate essential business transactions, such as royalty payments, between artists and fans.

When it comes to managing ongoing issues or decision-making in musical projects, we’re seeing the increasing use of DAOs — Decentralised Autonomous Organisations. Despite the name, these are intensely human-driven systems that enable groups to collectively make decisions without traditional hierarchies. Instead of retaining sole control, artists are essentially transforming fans into teammates, giving those who supported the music a say in how it’s developed and monetized going forward.

Innovation

Due to the fact that blockchain technology and web3 allow you to develop new business models, use them as creative tools, music artists are taking things to the next level. One of the examples would be something called “blind minting”, a generative, Web3-specific approach to popular music production. The song is made available on all streaming platforms, but once you decide to buy an NFT of the track, a unique collection of instrumental parts will be algorithmically selected, mixed, mastered, and delivered. You’ll even get uniquely generated album art. The key here is that you have no idea what version of the song you’ll end up with, instead getting something truly unique for your payment.

Another interesting concept is the “Verse token”, as a collector purchases the NFT, the NFT gives the buyer/owner the ability to redeem a verse from the artist themself at any time, making it a one of a kind mechanic for collaborative music. This concept is also explored outside of just verses, to instrumental pieces and mixing allowing for a truly automated global collaborative tracks to hit the billboard.

It is very easy for anybody to be overwhelmed by these options, but artists aren’t completely confined to the blockchain. They have been making music long before they started minting it. And in some ways, their goals then are the same as they are now. NFTs are a great means to make internet money and cultivate community, but artists are still aiming to bring their art to a wider stage as a web 3.0 music artist.

If you are interested in decentralized finance and investing in a greater pool of options like cultural events or NFTs, you may want to check out Staxe to find out more. You can join our Discord channel here to get updated about the new investment opportunities for cultural production.

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