Greg Oakford, co-founder of NFT Fest Australia, is your guide to the world of NFTs from a collector’s and fan’s perspective.
With Sound’s recent $20 million raise, music collectibles have reignited a spark in my mind. While music really hasn’t had its moment in the sun, as has the art market and the PFP mania of 2021–2022, collectible on-chain music feels inevitable.
Collecting music is not new. It’s had many iterations, from vinyl to cassettes to CDs to mp3s (remember that thing called Napster?) to $0.99 tracks on iTunes.
My dad collects blues vinyl yet doesn’t have a record player anymore. He streams music on Spotify, so why buy the vinyl? Why did so many opt to pay $0.99 for songs or $10 to $15 for albums on a centralized digital music marketplace like iTunes when, in reality, getting music for free was pretty accessible?
People collect music for a variety of reasons, including nostalgia, supporting artists financially, social signaling to their friends and followers, and showcasing their personality through their taste in music.
Enter on-chain music: the next major platform in a rich history of formats through which we’ve collected and consumed music.
Most people think crypto is dead.
Most crypto people think nfts are dead.
Most nft people think music nfts are stupid.
But I see the most inspiring small corner of the internet that no-one has noticed yet.
— musicben.eth 🎧 (@musicben_eth) July 25, 2023
Does this mean your favorite streaming service is going away? Most likely not — certainly not anytime soon — but putting music on-chain can open up a whole range of new opportunities for musicians and collectors alike.
In a recent Twitter thread, the online music market Sound stated that its hypothesis is that “the true value of music can be unlocked if we give fans the power to support artists directly.” Since its launch in 2022, it claims to have made over $5 million for artists.
The streaming era has been convenient for consumers, but…
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