Snoop’s NFT plans showcase benefits for musicians — and risks for fans
I miss Doggystyle :(
Wooing musicians
Snoop is perhaps the most prominent web3 proponent in the music industry, but he’s not the only artist to have cashed in on the craze.
Grimes sold almost $6m in NFTs in just 20 minutes last year, whileSteve Aoki estimateshe’s made more money from the tokens than from a decade of album advances.
These earnings are particularly alluring in the Spotify era.Most featured artists earntiny fractions of 1 cent per stream, while session musicians receive nothing at all.
NFTs enable them to bypass streaming services, alongside other pricey intermediaries such as major labels.
”Now artists are able to create content, track it, monetize it, and sell it directly to fans,” Jeff Yasuda, the CEO of music licensing serviceFeed.fm,told TNW.
The potential riches are an obvious attraction to rich and poor artists alike. The impact on consumers, however, appears more mixed.
Dividing fans
NFTs are sometimes described as a new model ofarts patronage, in which the wealthy fundcreatorsand the general public benefits.
This promise can be realized when the music attached to an NFT is made available to all. Yet this often isn’t the case.
Sometimes the tracks are exclusively sold as costly, limited edition NFTs, which deprives many fans of the chance to hear them. This artificial scarcity could restrict the accessibility that’s one of the internet’s biggest benefits.
Those who can afford the NFTs can receive a range of perks, from “free” merchandise to concert tickets.But exclusivity, by definition, isn’t for everyone.
Snoop’s early metaverse moves feel more reminiscent of a major label than an altruistic upstart; more like the realities of web2 than the promise of web3.
The project has also exposed the fragility of music streaming. Personally, I’ve been forcedto spurn the metaverse for something more old-fashioned: my old Death Row CDs.
We’ve asked Death Row for further details on why the label’s albums were removed from streaming services. We’ll update this article if we receive a response.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and government policy.Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and government policy.
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