By now you may have heard of NFTs. Non-fungible tokens are a cryptographic digital or virtual item that represents something unique, as we saw in a previous article. Projects related to NFTs and the metaverse are springing up everywhere. And digital music also has its space to develop new ideas and innovate in the musical field.
First of all, if we do an online search, we will find that there are already spaces that unite digital music and NFT. Online markets such as AirNFTs or OpenSea already have specific spaces for music. Come on, you can acquire, through cryptocurrencies, musical NFT content. The question is, what does a musical NFT consist of?
Using blockchain or block chain technology, an artist can turn a song or video clip into a music NFT and put it up for sale. And as with other NFT content, it is still not entirely clear what that NFT consists of and what it is for, apart from creating, selling or buying it. Let’s see what a musical NFT is and what possibilities it offers to the world of music.
From NFT streaming, to musica evolucion
The online marketplace for NFTs AirNFTs explains it very well. “The music industry has seen many transformations over the years.” Although he forgets live music and concerts, he remembers the changes in the music market at the format level, from cassettes to compact discs. Currently, we all consume music through music platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music or Movistar Musica. Music on all your devices over the Internet.
The NFT stands as an evolution of music. Or rather, as one more alternative for musicians and singers to have an additional source of financing. In addition to the records themselves, streams, concerts, merchandising, and/or appearances on television, fiction, or video games, music can be purchased in the form of NFTs that give the buyer a unique digital element. Returning to the words of AirNFTs, “in the world of music, artists manage to sell limited digital content to their fans who pay through cryptocurrencies. Any musical content that cannot be faked can now be produced.”
There are several examples of what NFT brings to digital music . For starters, release limited editions of music albums. Each edition is an NFT, a limited copy for sale online and with exclusive content. But there is more. Physical or virtual merchandising, musical rights to a specific song or piece… In short, any virtual element that can be manipulated and seen or heard is likely to give rise to an NFT that will be sold and resold in the markets or marketplaces of the crypto ecosystem. .
Examples of music on the NFT market
One of the most important news related to digital music and NFT occurred in February of this year. Coachella , one of the most innovative music festivals and with the greatest demand today, announced tickets for its festival in NFT format. And not tickets for just one festival. Tickets for life. 11,010 NFTs divided into three collections that were equivalent to festival tickets, unique experiences once inside the festival and/or other gifts and exclusivities. A way of selling alternative tickets that bypasses the usual intermediaries, so criticized in recent years for overpricing and/or problems accessing purchase platforms.
The rights or royalties on digital music are another of the great outputs of the NFT. One of the most recent cases is that of the hiphop singer Nas . Two of his latest hits, awarded Grammys in 2022 and 2021, were released as NFTs. In total, 760 tokens that gave the right to own the reproduction of those songs on streaming platforms. Based on the token purchased, the owner receives a percentage of the royalties . A very small portion in percentage but that supposes to “own” songs as reproduced as Ultra Black or Rare. In practice, it is one more way to contribute to a group or singer that we like beyond going to their concerts or buying their music .
Other NFTs play on exclusivity. In late 2021, a previously unreleased song by Whitney Houston was released as an NFT. An exclusive song that corresponded to an audition that the singer did at the age of 17. The ideal NFT for collectors and fans of the singer. The song, accompanied by an exclusive video clip, sold for nearly US$1,000. Of course, this time the money went to the singer’s foundation.
In short, the NFT opens the doors to digital music to create new ways of interacting with the public. A twist to what the singer or musician can offer their unconditional fans and an alternative to finance new albums and projects without going through the major record companies. And it is still for all that the NFT can give of itself in music and other audiovisual and content creation sectors.
