NFTs(Non-Fungible tokens) are digital collectibles bought and sold using crypto-currency. Already huge in the visual arts world, now the music industry is getting hip to the polarizing trend some advocates call the future of consumerism.
By cutting out a middleman or label, NFT music helps put an artist’s music into the world while allowing the artist to keep the funds from the sale. This could provide revenue to generate in areas that were unavailable to an independent artist through a record label or streaming platform.
Originally used by EDM artists when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, NFT music has begun to develop upward mobility and has generated a lot of buzz with artists like Snoop Dogg helping to further pave the road for the future of NFT music. This past February, Snoop purchased his former record label “Death Row Records” and declared that the label will be the music industry’s first NFT music label. What that means for the future is unclear, but the trends show an NFT market cap expected to reach $80bn by 2025.
According to Billboard’s music publishing reporter Kristin Robinson, “Technology has always been a really big part of the music business, and has really dictated how we make music, how we consume music.”
From Kings of Leon offering the first full NFT album to Grimes, Shawn Mendes, The Weeknd, and Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda all jumping on the NFT music train, this new frontier appears to be popping.
Is it a flash in the pan or the beginnings of a movement? Only time will tell.
