Many are now wondering what’s the next step for this industry that always does a fantastic job at reinventing itself. And NFTs might be the answer.
Let’s analyze the main ways in which NFTs can bring further innovation to the music industry for both creators and listeners.
Benefits of NFT adoption in the music industry
1) Enhanced engagement with fans
Tokenizing music helps artists forge a stronger and more direct connection with fans. With NFTs, musicians can offer fans memorable and engaging experiences to create an intimate, direct relationship with them.
For example, they can offer NFT holders special perks such as meet and greets, online chats, or exclusive merchandise, fostering a vibrant, supportive, and closely-knit community.
2) No intermediaries
One of the key benefits of music NFTs is that they allow artists to get rid of intermediaries and better monetize their work. Traditional music streaming services typically pay artists a tiny percentage of the total revenue they generate with their hard work. Record labels, in turn, take a huge chunk of royalties, leaving artists with very little profit.
But music NFTs enable musicians to sell their music directly to fans in a secure and transparent way. That way, artists can retain a greater revenue share and be adequately compensated for their work.
3) More creative freedom
Having no intermediaries also means more creative freedom. It’s no secret that many record labels and producers have pressured artists to create and play only a specific type of music.
By getting rid of these third parties, bands and singers can reclaim their creative freedom and produce the kind of music they want, reinventing themselves as often as they wish and offering fresh tunes to fans.
4) Piracy prevention
Finally, since NFTs are powered by blockchain technology, they are a robust tool to reduce piracy, which has haunted the music industry for decades.
NFTs are unique and cannot be replicated. So, copying and distributing music illegally becomes a lot harder —if not impossible. This gives artists much more control over their work and copyrights.
Final Thoughts
Music NFTs have the potential to boost artist revenues, reduce piracy, eliminate third-party intervention in the production process, and create a solid and supportive bond between musicians and fans.
And many artists have started leveraging those benefits: The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, Grimes, Steve Aoki, and Snoop Dogg are only a few of the many musicians at the forefront of NFT adoption in the industry.
On top of that, new platforms are now emerging with a major focus on trading and minting music NFTs, providing artists and fans with a safe space to make the best of this technology. Royal, Audius, and Sound.xyz are some of the most ambitious new platforms helping musicians monetize their music via NFTs.
With all these benefits and a lot of untapped potential, music NFTs are setting the stage for the next big revolution in the music industry.