The creative industry is being taken by storm by NFTs offering artists ownership, distribution control, and better ways to interact with fans. The biggest names in the music industry have already begun taking advantage of the innovative technology and it’s only a guess who will be next.

How NFTs Are Rapidly Evolving Within The Music Industry

NFTs have been present in the music industry for about half a decade but are just now gaining real adoption, bringing ownership and control back to creators. Through blockchain technology, individual artists can create royalty income, uniquely interact with their community and even share ownership of songs. 

Artist Nas, was one of the earliest to take advantage of this opportunity, selling part ownership in two of his songs. His biggest fans got the chance to be a part of his music and own rights to the song while he was able to enjoy simple royalties off the secondary market. A win-win situation.

Benefits NFTs Bring To Music

NFTs offer many benefits to the music industry, independent artists to major corporations can all use Web3 to elevate their business. Offering better secondary markets, shared ownership and specific distribution, all with very little overhead. 

Secondary markets have grown into a major problem for artists with individuals copying, stealing and inflating prices. NFTs make it easy to verify the authenticity of an original piece and limit fraud, in addition to the price history being transparent. This means inflating prices on NFTs is much more difficult, hopefully putting an end to fraudulent activity.

Shared ownership of music is one of the most revolutionary aspects NFTs bring to the music industry. This allows artists to both raise money for production and marketing while giving a fan the chance to be a part of the process and have ownership of the music they love. Ownership for the fan can come in the form of revenue sharing or other alternatives. 

The real reason artists will utilize NFTs? The quality of interaction with their fanbase. The specific distribution of music and tickets is much simpler on the blockchain, allowing artists to reward their most loyal fans in creative ways. Artists gain much more control over the entire process, creating additional income streams and maximizing community interaction. 

Beyond NFT songs, NFT tickets and passes present a great opportunity to control fraud and secondary markets while providing fans with a convenient experience and lasting memento. Unlike paper tickets that get lost or damaged, NFTs are stored in a digital wallet forever, allowing fans to always cherish the memory. 

Artists Exploring The Space

Popular artist 3LAU raised over eleven million dollars in the beginning of 2021 with his NFT album, Ultraviolet, and was quickly followed by fellow artists, Steve Aoki and Grimes making a few million dollars each, dropping their own NFT collections. 3LAU built off this experience by launching his own NFT music company, later on, named Royal.

Torey Lanez and Nas were two of the first mainstream names to get involved with NFTs. Torey Lanez dropped an album on the blockchain later in 2021, while Nas was the first major artist to launch songs through Justin Blau’s Royal. Royal has gone on work with artists such as Diplo and the Chainsmokers more recently, slowly onboarding the industry into the decentralized space. 

Steve Aoki is one celebrity who took his NFT collection in a distinctive direction, including passes to his shows, merchandise, and a metaverse where fans can hang out. This is a great example of different paths artists can take within Web3, showcasing the unique ways blockchain allows you to interact with your community. 

Artists including Lil Baby, Justin Bieber, Eminem, Post Malone, and many more have entered the Web3 space in terms of purchasing NFTs. Each celebrity purchased their own Bored Ape, spending several thousand dollars on the acquisition. Madonna, JAY-Z, and Future were also among the celebrity names seen buying a Bored Ape for themselves, as the digital monkey project by Yuga Labs exploded in popularity.

Snoop Dogg was recently in the news for the purchase of his old record label, Death Row Records. Once Snoop Dogg received ownership of the company, he declared it an “NFT label” and started exploring the Web3 space intimately. Snoop has now released many songs on the blockchain by partnering with Gala Games and believes the future of music is within NFTs.

Coachella, the popular music festival, attempted its own foray into NFTs. Offering the digital asset that represented lifetime passes to any Coachella event, virtual or in-person, was a big hit. The lowest price one is currently available for right now is one million dollars. This expressed an additional opportunity for the music industry to utilize NFTs as tickets and passes.

Digital asset prices may be down right now, but the adoption and utilization of NFTs in the music industry are only growing. NFTs are disrupting nearly every aspect of the music space and have the attention of some of the biggest names in the world. 

For media, content or writing inquiries please contact Patrick Hagerty at PatrickJHags@gmail.com