✖️ The web3's user-friendliness barrier for music
And: Songcamp Elektra NFT crowdfund; TikTok's atmospheric growth; Music NFT sales down 90%; Song registration meltdown; Music subscriber market shares Q1
I was recently asked when decentralized autonomous organisations (DAOs) will feel more like installing an app and there are definitely accessibility hurdles to be overcome for these organisations to become a common phenomenon in music. In this article I outline the usability issues around:
Wallets
Gas costs / network fees
Mobile as an afterthought
I think it will take about 1-2 years to iron all of this out and ready the web3 for mainstream adoption. Find out why in the article.
TECH
🐝 Music NFT market update, Q2 2021: Sales down by over 90%, but artists are still experimenting (Cherie Hu & Brooke Jackson)
Water & Music, led by Cherie Hu, have been diligently tracking the music NFT market. This latest report highlights how classical is now the second-grossing genre in music NFTs, and how:
it’s really independent and unsigned artists who are driving the lion’s share of market activity and continuing to set the standard for everyone else.
The report is paywalled, but well-worth the $6.50 / month, especially considering all the other perks. Plus you get to support the team.
⚡️ Music x Web 3 experiment Songcamp Elektra raises over $50k within hours of opening its NFT-based crowdfund (Songcamp)
Disclosure: I’m one of 42 participants in Songcamp Elektra (here’s why).
Together we are building “Elektra” — an interactive choose-your-own-adventure web3 game with music at its core. To play the game, you need to secure a Portal Ticket NFT in the crowdfund below. The funds raised through this crowdfund will go entirely towards bringing this project to life.
It’s been stunning to see what the camp has been able to create in such a short time (literally 2 weeks). The post also goes into some detail of the DAO mechanics and distribution of value. I highly recommend reading it if you’re interested in building things as a community. The crowdfund is still open until 4pm ET today (July 13) in case you want to grab a ticket. It’s also the first project to leverage Mirror’s new NFT Tiers and NFT Patron Podium tools.
🌐 ‘Green NFT’ firm OneOf teams up with global climate alliance (Stuart Dredge)
“It has been chosen as the ‘preferred NFT partner’ of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, a body that runs events and concerts to raise awareness of climate emergency issues. The deal will involve a portion of OneOf’s revenues being donated to global climate change programs, as well as other ways of working with the alliance.”
Note: not sure about ‘green’ NFT platform, but it uses the Tezos blockchain, which uses a liquid proof-of-stake mechanism, which is more energy efficient than many other blockchains.
🍰 Global music subscriber market shares Q1 2021 (Mark Mulligan)
“Google’s YouTube Music has been the standout story of the music subscriber market for the last couple of years, resonating both in many emerging markets and with younger audiences across the globe. The early signs are that YouTube Music is becoming to Gen Z what Spotify was to Millennials half a decade ago.”
📱 Do App Store rules matter? (Benedict Evans)
“Apple made $7-8bn in commissions from perhaps 5m people spending over $450 a quarter on in-app purchases in games. Apple has started talking a lot about helping you use your iPhone in more healthy ways, but that doesn’t seem to extend to the app store.”
X
🕵️♂️ The Great Song Registration Meltdown of 2020–2021 (Chuck Fishman)
“[While Björn Ulvaeus] is calling for a complete overhaul of today’s music publishing industry and “new royalty model” it would be good to first start with something more pressing: understanding what the other underlying issues are with song registrations and what future problems could pop up given the volume of incoming, new songs and songwriter data.”
📈 TikTok’s atmospheric growth (Chris Stokel-Walker)
“Surprisingly, two-thirds of TikTok’s users worldwide are over the age of 25, which throws cold water on the idea that only young people are driving TikTok’s growth. By expanding beyond the traditional userbases of these kinds of apps, TikTok has managed to maintain its appeal where so many have crashed and burned.”
💰 Hello, content creators. Silicon Valley’s investors want to meet you (Taylor Lorenz & Erin Woo)
“With the lines between venture capital and the creator world blurring, many traditional venture capitalists are also seeking to become creators themselves. Firms like Andreessen Horowitz have leveraged their investment in Clubhouse to promote their staff through the app’s suggested user list. Nait Jones, a partner with Andreessen Horowitz, has amassed over four million followers on Clubhouse and recently signed with the talent agency WME.”
🌍 Picking the brains of 5 African festival directors (Jess White)
“We needed a more direct way to share culture between the continent and the diaspora. We decided Afrochella could be that bridge. Afrochella is a celebration of Africa’s diverse culture and the vibrant work of African creatives and entrepreneurs.”
Abdul Karim Abdullah, Afrochella, Ghana
✈️ UK live music bosses demand ‘cultural quarantine’ passes to ensure international acts can perform (Andrew Trendell)
“At the moment, the expectation is for around 15 to 20 members of their touring party to quarantine for 10 days before the show. That’s just not viable. The music industry finds it very hard to understand why there’s an exemption in place for sporting events and not us.”
Paul Reed, Chief Executive of the Association Of Independent Festivals
MUSIC
I’ve been listening a lot to the misfits 2.0 playlist on Spotify which curates the punkier side of hyperpop. Lots of more familiar names on there like Charli XCX, Grimes, Travis Barker, Pussy Riot and even Nine Inch Nails, but also lots of underground voices (which I personally find way more exciting). Whoever the curator is, they’re doing an excellent job.