TommyD’s vision for a new era of value creation in music, ushered in by Web3 technology.
We are at a crossroads in the history of music, presented with a rare moment in time to reset the balance in the favour of the creatives and their communities.
by TommyD, co-founder of TokenTraxx
Music is the soundtrack to our lives, but in modern times the creatives who produce the music we love are getting a raw deal for the value they create. But this can change, as decentralising technology has created an opportunity to address the problem. In this article I explain why TokenTraxx is not only the solution, but takes to the next level how we create, discover, enjoy and own music.
Music is as essential as the air we breath
Music is more than just entertainment. It builds and defines communities. Our choice of music provides us with an identity. It is a key that unlocks, and then amplifies, a wide spectrum of human emotions. Music is omnipresent in our lives — whether it is playing quietly in the background or being given our undivided attention at gigs and on dancefloors around the world.
Creatives need paying and supporting
My fellow music creatives and I pour our heart and soul into our work. Our music is the product of our emotion, craft and passion.
To undergo this process music creatives need time.
Time to practice instruments, learn techniques, master music theory and technology, build working relationships, research and explore different musical styles. Musicians also need to live life and then put these experiences back into their music.
When fans pay for music, in whatever form, they are supporting musicians. Affording them the time to cultivate their craft and also rewarding them when they achieve greatness
Yet the current system is weighted in the favour of the gatekeepers. It’s a broken situation when those that sell the music are making more than those that make it.
The music industry is broken
Something is not right, and the industry, whether they admit it or not, can sense the discord.
Years of optimisation, driven by profit, has led to a system that doesn’t serve the artists as it should. This can be seen across four areas:
- A consolidation of big players — A handful of labels dominate the landscape supported by the tech giant streaming services. Organised efficiencies between these parties suppresses the revenue that flows back to artists.
- Outdated deal structures and practices — Artist and publishing deals are outdated and one sided, there is unbalanced revenue distribution between songwriter and master rights and often only the label or publisher have a contract release clause.
- Concentration of successful artists — perpetuated by the labels, a small minority of artists take a disproportionate amount of the market share, as opposed to a system that supports a wider range of successful artists.
- Broken rights and royalty systems — the persistence of a lack of transparency with streaming rates, slow and unreliable royalty collection and challenging processes for credit registration.
This has led to the collapse of music creator income. According to the UK Musicians Union, in 2019, 56% of professional musicians earned £20k or less, with 35% needing a second job just to make ends meet.
The situation is untenable, or at least it should be. However with a lack of incentive for the industry to fix these broken systems, the status quo persists.
And artists have been powerless to push back.
Until now.
Welcome to the future
When Bitcoin launched in 2009, it set off a wave of technological innovation that continues to build in momentum to this day. We now have the foundations of a new infrastructure that offers a decentralised and egalitarian future. We call it Web3, the internet upgrade.
Quickly emerging as a crucial component of this new Web3 ecosystem are NFTs, which can be thought of as digital certificates of ownership and authenticity. They are easily transferable, demonstrably unique and, most importantly, programmable through smart contracts, making them a powerful innovation.
Introducing TokenTraxx
TokenTraxx was born from a need to address the challenges of the music industry. It represents a company of people who are passionate about shaking up the status quo. TokenTraxx not only aims to solve the challenges faced by music creatives, but use Web3 technology to forge new value creation streams, facilitating more choice in how the music community control and profit from their intellectual property.
When you respond to the needs of music artists with the capabilities of Web3 tech, you’re presented with with a powerful solution that offers endless possibilities.
- Distributed and community led investment processes for artists creating a broader ecosystem of artists supported directly by their fan bases.
- New markets where fans support emerging talent through NFT purchases, and then share in the success of artists through Web3 value appreciation.
- Credible options for financial freedom where artists can stay truly independent using contracts created on the artist’s terms, built into smart contracts, which could include rights and royalties management.
- Automated payment processes driven by smart contracts to streamline revenue payments which are updated in real time. This could include the incorporation of writers revenue into an NFT sale.
- Whole new revenue streams through NFT collectibles or monetised playlists
The list goes on.
We will always love music
We know that people love music and are engaging with music more than ever. The adoption of streaming services and digital commerce platforms like Patreon show that people are prepared to pay for music, even when given a ‘free’ option. We also know that people love product ownership and want to invest in rarity (vinyl sales increase year on year).
We just need to move the industry back on course to serve those who provide the value on both sides of the coin — creators and those who support them.
Our mission
TokenTraxx’s mission is to be at the centre of the new independent Web3 music creator economy, driven by NFTs, providing a platform that redefines and enhances the value of music, which supports and financially benefits the whole community.
We need music in our lives, but that means supporting the creators. And if the wider community can benefit from this process, even better.
TokenTraxx offers financial independence and creative freedom.
It’s time to truly own your sound.
Check out the Marketplace and TRAXX Studio
If TokenTraxx sounds like the sort of place you want to be, join us on our journey. Visit our website to check out the marketplace or join the conversation on our community channels:
- Website (get on the guest list)
- Twitter (join the conversation)
- Telegram (group chat)
- Discord (collaboration)
