FEATURE:
A Revolution or a Brief Fad?
IN THIS PHOTO: On 12th March, Halsey (photographed above in 2015) announced she was turning her nightmares into art with the NFT series, People Disappear Here/PHOTO CREDIT: Jake Michaels for The New York Times
The Rise of the NFT (Non-Fungible Token)
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AS a music fan…
IN THIS PHOTO: Doja Cat has launched her own NFT marketplace, Juicy Drops/PHOTO CREDIT: Jamal Peters
I use and rely on a mix of the physical and digital. When it comes to albums, I prefer vinyl and the tactile nature of it. I feel that the fact the vinyl rise continues means people will never completely succumb to digital music. So many artists are paid so little on streaming sites; music fans want to feel like they are buying albums and seeing some of that money going to the artists – even if the label gets quite a big slice. I think many prefer the fact vinyl does not disappear. It is something you keep and can feel like you own. I stream music a lot and feel it is very convenient. The problem comes, apart from streaming payments, with the ephemeral nature; how there is no real connection between listener and artist…or any sense of emotion and the physical. One of my worries is that too many digital routes and listening/buying options will take a way a lot of the soul, sociability and sweetness one gets from buying albums. The NFT (non-fungible token) is a fairly recent breakthrough that many artists and innovators have been keen to get behind. As Music Ally wrote last week, Doja Cat is taking full advantage:
“We’ve been covering the succession of stories about artists selling non-fungible tokens through the various NFT marketplaces that have sprung up in recent months. But Doja Cat is going a step further: she’s launching her own marketplace called Juicy Drops tomorrow (23 April), where she will also be selling her first collection of NFTs.
According to Uproxx, it’s a partnership with NFT startup Intellectable Holdings. “I’m helping to launch my NFT company so that I can actually own and control my art,” is how Doja Cat explained the launch. “I want to be able to make all decisions related to my creative vision and help other artists do the same.”
The first collection will include 3D visuals of “a spinning, metallic Doja image in a gilded frame, as well as an image of her cat Raymus”. Music, NFTs AND cats? Welcome to the internet in 2021…
If you’re following the NFTs space, we highly recommend a newly-published Music NFT Market Update from Water & Music’s Cherie Hu. It’s a 38-page report rounding up the flurry of launches; the money that’s being made; and trends around the marketplaces”.
Whilst a lot of people may be conscious of the fact that NFTs are making their way into music, they may not know what they are and how they work (it is quite a confusing idea). The Verge try to explain the phenomenon in their article:
“Non-fungible token.
That doesn’t make it any clearer.
Right, sorry. “Non-fungible” more or less means that it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin is fungible — trade one for another bitcoin, and you’ll have exactly the same thing. A one-of-a-kind trading card, however, is non-fungible. If you traded it for a different card, you’d have something completely different. You gave up a Squirtle, and got a 1909 T206 Honus Wagner, which StadiumTalk calls “the Mona Lisa of baseball cards.” (I’ll take their word for it.)
How do NFTs work?
At a very high level, most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is a cryptocurrency, like bitcoin or dogecoin, but its blockchain also supports these NFTs, which store extra information that makes them work differently from, say, an ETH coin. It is worth noting that other blockchains can implement their own versions of NFTs. (Some already have.)
What’s worth picking up at the NFT supermarket?
NFTs can really be anything digital (such as drawings, music, your brain downloaded and turned into an AI), but a lot of the current excitement is around using the tech to sell digital art”.
I will come on to the advantages and drawbacks of NFTs but, for me, they are so new that I have not really got my head around whether they will last and whether they are the future of music. I can appreciate that, at a time when streaming companies are under the microscope and many cannot tour and earn money that way, NFTs are providing an interesting and profitable alternative. I want to source from an Uproxx article. They provide a timeline on which artists/people are utilising NFT. In March, a few big names put their name to them:
“Kings Of Leon had a similar approach to Lanez when it comes to NFTs. The veteran group minted their entire LP When You See Yourself, which they referred to as NFT Yourself, as an NFT and sold it alongside a collection of other art. Those who purchased the NFT were able to snag a digital download of the album, as well as limited edition physical vinyl.
While Halsey is known for her music, she’s also an incredibly talented interdisciplinary artist. That’s why she was relatively early to the NFT game. The singer auctioned off a handful of hand-painted characters she created in the collection People Disappear Here. “The characters are all inspired by figures that occurred in a series of sleep paralysis nightmares I had at home during the quarantine,” Halsey said in a statement. “After seven years of bed surfing hotel rooms around the world, adjusting to my own pitch black cave in California had a little bit of a learning curve. From toddler TV programming evil dentists, a child born with massive claws who scratched her way out of the womb, to a woman who stood at the foot of my bed and demanded I watch her masturbate. They were memorable to say the least.”
When Gorillaz announced they would be hopping onto the NFT game, it didn’t go quite as smoothly. While other musicians were welcomed into the world of NFTs, Gorillaz were chastised by their fanbase. The band announced that they would be celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album by teaming up with the toy company Superplastic for a series of toys, collectibles, and, of course, NFTs. Fans weren’t to happy with the news though, and were quick to point out the devastating environmental impact that the sale of a single NFT has. A petition was even created to get the Gorillaz to stop producing NFTs, and it already has over 3,000 signatures”.
IN THIS IMAGE: Gorillaz
I am all for inventions and concepts that are beneficial and inspiring for artists and fans. Whilst I do not feel that the digital revolution can ever replace things like physical music, I can agree that there are good arguments for support NFT. Bringing in a Music Ally article from earlier in the year, it does seem like NFTs are not a short-term or temporary revolution:
“Shara Senderoff, president of music/tech investment firm Raised In Space, thinks we’re going to be hearing a lot more about NFTs in the coming months, sparked by an even bigger trend. “We have a global mistrust in financial systems, and people are questioning motives, questioning agendas, questioning technology as it relates to the finances of individuals and the global economy,” she said.
“What you can see as a trend to come is the rise and the birth of new forms of transaction, and new forms of being able to put your money in places that maybe you can trust more. You’re simply willing to experiment because you have such distrust.” And Senderoff went on to add that this is why she thinks a trend “that is going to blow up” is NFTs and digital collectibles, including for music.
IN THIS PHOTO: Shara Senderoff
“It’s the ability for a fan to purchase an asset that is scarce, that is limited, that is exclusive, and has potential offerings tied to that that make them as a loyal fan feel unique, feel rewarded,” she said. “I am focused heavily on where we’re headed with digital collectibles.”
Senderoff was talking on a panel session about investment and innovation around music/tech. Fellow panelist Suzy Ryoo, president of Q&A, talked about the opportunities for startups who are “replacing the pipes: replacing bad pipes with gold pipes and building new infrastructure for the creator economy”.
“If there are 50,000 songs being uploaded every single day [to streaming services] but there are 100 spots on playlists, what happens to the middle class of artists who are not represented on the master or publishing side by Universal, Warner or Sony?” said Ryoo.
“There is absolutely a huge opportunity to create real case studies around artists and labels and entrepreneurs having an independent mindset that is complementary to the major system, that is not in competition with it… that allows them to preserve their equity in copyright, as opposed to becoming part of a system that does not prioritise them”.
It is interesting reading about the ins and outs of NFTs and what they offer artists. I think a lot of people are asking whether they are sustainable and offer more benefits compared to disadvantages. It has been illuminating researching and discovering various perspectives!
I want to source from an article that spotlighted NFTs and provided some advantages and disadvantages. It seems, at this fairly early stage, there are slightly more advantages:
“Benefits of NFTs
2020 turned the music industry upside down when it eliminated live concerts—a significant income stream for artists and their labels. As the world remains digital, artists are looking for ways to connect and create for their audiences, and NFTs provide a new outlet for them with several benefits.
Convenience
The first significant asset to NFTs is their convenience. Fans just need to create a digital wallet to have the chance to receive the content and then participate in an auction for a chance to win. This makes winning content as easy as online shopping.
No Middlemen
There are a lot of middlemen in the music industry.
When fans buy an album, stream a song, or purchase merchandise—some of that money makes it to the artist, but a lot of it goes to the record company or the streaming platform. The same middlemen are present even when we buy tickets for concerts. Record companies take a portion of ticket sales, and while artists make money there too–COVID-19 shut down the live concert market in 2020.
As a fundamental asset to crypto exchange, NFT transactions are direct transfers between the participants. The artist gets the money, the fan receives the content in their digital wallet.
Unique Content and Experiences
Artists have a lot of flexibility over the items they want to auction off. These tokens can be digital, but they can also be physical. Albums, digital art, sound bites, merchandise, and concert tickets are all forms of non-fungible tokens that artists are exchanging. Fans are happy to receive these rare experiences and are willing to pay for the chance to receive them.
Potential Drawbacks of NFTs
Not all change is good, and there are certainly those who will not benefit from the rise of NFTs. As it stands, it is a growing trend—and only time will tell if it is here to revolutionize the music industry further or die out.
Difficult for New Artists
The demand for a token comes from the market for art from a particular musician. Popular or established acts have no problem putting up tokens for auction and drawing in eager fans. For emerging artists, this demand doesn’t exist yet. Newer artists don’t have as much opportunity to benefit from the latest music trend.
Legal Obligations
Some artists have auctioned off the rights for fans to use sample packs in music. The fan purchases the ownership of the samples for complete creative control. This is one kind of token that can create legal trouble later on for the musician.
Established musicians often agree to a contract when they work with a record label. As the artist creates and releases tokens, they must be careful of violating any terms of these contracts.
Final Thoughts
NFTs are allowing artists to create new possibilities and experiences with their fans. Musicians are continuing to be creative with what they offer to their fan bases. As the situation with NFTs develops, it could completely revolutionize the music industry like how the internet did”.
IMAGE CREDIT: Grimes
By ensuring that creatives have power and there is this form where equity can be established, then I think few can have major disagreements. I wonder whether there are any logistical hindrances or problems that have not been considered – that might be me being sceptical! Since streaming services and how they pays artists has been in the news for a while, many feel that non-major artists are getting the worse deal. There are a few more articles I want to drop in before wrapping up. Earlier this month, The Daily Utah Chronicle provided their perspective on a rising and interesting chapter for music:
“The internet is a wonderful resource for fans of music — platforms like Twitter and Patreon provide intimate and on-demand updates on everything from entertainment to personal details about the artistic process. But what if one-of-a-kind content was accessible for fans to own and consume in a way that benefitted the artists directly?
Most musicians received their revenue from touring, t-shirt and ticket sales prior to the pandemic. Now, NFT’s are being sought out as a means of bridging the divide of earnings that runs rampant in the music industry. Musicians in the top one percent of the industry are benefiting greatly from the growing popularity of streaming services, while others must raise their ticket and merchandise prices to compete.
Pop musician and visual artist Grimes sold a series of digital art pieces as NFT’s. The collection of ten pieces sold for a total of six million dollars — some one-of-a-kind and others produced on a larger scale. In a collaborative effort with digital artist Mac Boucher, several copies of a short video titled “Death of The Old” — set to an original song by Grimes — became the most popular piece from the sale.
The Future
NFT’s have the potential to completely transform the way that the music industry works, putting the power into the hands of the creatives who fuel the industry so tirelessly with their art. Allowing artists to directly put their work up for sale within the blockchain not only removes the need for marketing fees and management dues, but it opens a new avenue for communication between artists and their fans.
Artists have the ability to provide exclusive album art, music videos and behind-the-scenes information about their creative processes — artists can even release records exclusively as NFT albums.
As the music industry continues to rely on streaming services and alternative forms of revenue during a time of change, it seems natural that things should return to a place of equality and fair treatment for artists”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Mick Jagger
Despite some doubts and concerns, NFTs are allowing artists a chance to raise money for worthy corners and causes. Mick Jagger is an example of that. Cointelegraph reported on how Jagger used NFTs to raise money for independent venues:
“The Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger is jumping into the nonfungible token craze to help independent music venues that have been adversely affected by the pandemic.
In an announcement from the music legend on Thursday, Jagger said he had started a 24-hour auction on Nifty Gateway featuring a nonfungible token, or NFT, based on a new song with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. The digital piece designed by artist Oliver Latta, also known as Extraweg, features a loop of a figure running through two human heads, with Grohl and Jagger’s “Eazy Sleazy” song playing in the background.
“The 30-second audio visual piece evokes a surreal essence of breaking through the barriers of the human mind and pushing forward on the brink of social collapse to provide a much needed moment of artistic relief as the world slowly transitions out of lockdown,” said the announcement.
There's a 24hr charity auction on @niftygateway at 6pm BST today for a piece of Eazy Sleazy digital art, created by 3D artist @extraweg - proceeds from this will be going to a few charities picked by myself and Dave Grohl @foofighters - find out more at https://t.co/fmNxlrVjcD pic.twitter.com/CoZEukn5cb
— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) April 15, 2021
According to the NFT’s description on Nifty, the proceeds from the auction will help raise money for independent music venues in the United States and the United Kingdom through local charity groups Music Venue Trust and the National Independent Venue Association. A portion of the proceeds will also go to environmental causes. At the time of publication, the highest bid is for $8,988, with 12 people having made an offer for the NFT.
Many musical artists have become involved in NFTs in the past year. Last month, Crypto.com announced it would be launching an NFT platform featuring work from Snoop Dogg, Boy George, Lionel Richie and others. Major institutions have also been using NFTs to raise money for charity — New York Times columnist Kevin Roose auctioned off one of his articles for more than $550,000, which was donated to the publication’s The Neediest Cases Fund“.
Whilst a lot of good and interest has come from the rise of NFTs and how they are being used, the form is not without its flaws and issues. The final article I want to bring in is from The Guardian. In the same way songwriters, session musicians and producers do not really benefit from streaming and are overlooked, there is a similar issue regarding NFTs. There is uncertainty around how the rights and ownership of songwriters, producers and session musicians apply in sales:
“Despite the clear traceability, there remains enormous uncertainty about just how the rights and ownership of the original creators – from songwriters and producers to session musicians – apply in an NFT sale that includes music. One songwriter behind tracks with tens of millions of streams has found themselves in the middle of this debate.
Speaking anonymously because they are preparing for legal action against the sellers, they said a song they co-wrote was sold as part of an NFT package for reportedly in excess of $10m. Neither they nor their music publisher were informed until the vendor contacted them with the offer of a cash “gift” that worked out at 0.07% of the reported sale. Attached was a contract waiving any future claim on the NFT or share of any re-sales. “Even though I asked repeatedly for them to break down how they got to this calculation, they wouldn’t reveal how much money it had made,” they said.
IN THIS PHOTO: A man browses digital paintings by U.S. artist Beeple at a crypto art exhibition in Beijing titled Virtual Niche: Have You Ever Seen Memes in the Mirror?/PHOTO CREDIT: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images
There is no real precedent. Music sold this way tends to be new pieces specifically for an NFT sale, not preexisting songs that have already been commercially released. Songwriters are increasingly calling for a fairer share of streaming revenues, as well as an end to strong-arm tactics whereby major pop stars take a cut of songwriting royalties they had no involvement in writing: any further grabs on their rights are likely to be seen as callous.
There are people, who are naïve or new to the industry, who would sign immediately
Cliff Fluet is a partner at legal firm Lewis Silkin and does not represent either party. He says the argument of the NFT sellers would probably be that they are not selling the music, but the wider experience. “The sellers may argue until they are blue in the face – and they are probably correct – that the vast majority of the value is not for the music; the vast majority of the value is for the experience, the scarcity of the token and multitude of components and rewards in an NFT.”
The songwriter is concerned that in accepting the “gift” they could be in breach of their publishing agreement whereby the publisher typically needs to be involved in – and get a share of – all commercial and licensing negotiations. They also regard it as tantamount to a buyout as opposed to a licensing agreement. “I would never outright sell a piece of music,” they said. “You can ask for a period of exclusivity but I don’t think any publisher or songwriter would say, ‘Yeah, absolutely, go and take that for ever.’”
They suggest that the timing of this move cannot be discounted given how many musicians are still struggling a year into the global pandemic. “My first reaction when I got the email was thinking how generous this was,” they said. “I haven’t had much work for the past year and this felt like the universe finally delivering something. There are people, who are naïve or new to the industry, who would sign immediately. The sellers are playing on that mentality – that they just need to sign this bit of paper to get paid”.
As more and more people/artists use NFTs and the idea becomes more widely known and trialled will determine whether there is longevity. I think, at a moment in history when a lot of artists and creatives are struggling for revenue and finding that their income is hugely cauterised, NFTs could provide to be advantageous. In an article this week, NME reported how Janet Jackson is the latest artist to capitalise on the NFT trend:
“Janet Jackson is set to drop a range of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as part of the celebrations surrounding the recent 35th anniversary of her solo album ‘Control’.
Released in February 1986, the record included the songs ‘Nasty’, ‘When I Think of You’ and ‘What Have You Done for Me Lately’.
Jackson is now partnering with the gaming and augmented reality company RTFKT to release a number of exclusive NFTs and “augmented experiences” to celebrate the ‘Control’ milestone.
A portion of the proceeds from sales of the ‘Control’ NFTs – details of which are set to be announced soon via her website – will go to the US child sponsorship and Christian humanitarian aid organisation, Compassion International.
“Once again technology through NFTs creates a new lane for artists to express their art in an innovative way throughout the world,” Randy Jackson, founder of The Association Entertainment Corporation, said in a statement. “RTFKT is the leader in this medium. Janet and I are grateful to be working with them.
It is definitely an interesting modern breakthrough that shows no sign of slowing! Despite the fact that NFTs are not perfect and some people will object, it does seem like they will be…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kings of Leon/PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Followill
A real revolution and game-changer.