✘ First Web3 music patent for capital distribution + A guide on music mobility funding
And: Black teen girls are the curators of culture; Why 'Super Mario Bros' broke box office records; The next wave of the creator economy; Music habits during Ramadan; AI tech in music mixing workflow
Hi all,
Something a little different today, as there’s two things I want to highlight for you with some special attention. The first is a patent - not boring, hang on - put together by Jason Meinzer, who I first met in Water & Music about two years ago. Basically since then, he’s been working on this patent to enable artists to raise capital in a crowdfund fashion to create a net new revenue stream. This matters, because we need to grow the overall top line of the music industry’s revenue. What’s so great, is that he has deliberately designed the patent so that it can be immediately incorporated into existing music applications built on Web3 rails.
The second is a guide to help artists and their teams navigate the often impenetrable funding systems around Europe for touring artists. It’s not just for artists though, but also of interest to policy makers as it also showcases what various countries can do better or what support they should be providing but are not.
Love, Maarten
🖊️ World's first Web3 music patent for capital distribution (Jason Meinzer)
“As a fan, you should be able to stake capital into a music artist that gives them a new way to raise it by sharing success with you. So, I patented the process to make it happen faster. The process entails using NFTs to crowdfund for a group of artists to generate a net-new revenue stream that artists and fans share. Builders are now able to immediately use this process in web3 music applications. In my opinion patents stimulate innovation , progress and good discourse so I hope readers find value leveraging the patent to do so through the web3 music ecosystem.”
Jason has put this together to start conversations, so feel free to DM him on Twitter.
If you’re keen to learn more about the story of how the patent came about, read Jason’s explainer post here.
If you’re so inclined you can also dig into the patent here.
🚐 Music Mobility Funding Guide - Focus on Europe (Jess Partridge & Marie Fol)
“There are various reasons a user of this guide might seek mobility funding, including that:
They have been selected for a project in a foreign country (collaboration project, artistic residency or songwriting camp, showcasing at a festival, etc.) but have not been provided with funding for their mobility costs.
They have developed a project with an international component and wish to invite foreign musicians and cultural professionals to one or more places/countries for co-production, touring, market development, etc.
They are interested in professional experiences (including training) in a foreign country and are seeking a way to cover their travel costs.”
Download the full report here to find all the funding grants that exist.
Check in with the authors if you want more info or if you want to invite them to talk about the report. Jess Partridge & Marie Fol
LINKS
👧🏿 Black teen girls are the curators of culture (Ife-Ife Okantah)
“Black teenage girls are the invisible tastemakers creating and popularizing some of the biggest trends simply by being their authentic selves. It’s the everyday Black girl, without a platform or the machine of capitalism behind her, who exudes cool without having to try. A tongue-in-cheek line from “Best I Ever Had,” the song that catapulted Drake to the mainstream, is “When my album drop, bitches’ll buy it for the picture, and ni**as’ll buy it too and claim they got it for they sister.” This line encapsulates a pattern in American culture that eventually defines the zeitgeist but is rarely correctly credited.”
✘ Let’s make a concerted effort to better credit the sources of most everything we think is cool.
📽️ Why The Animated ‘Super Mario Bros’ Shattered Box Office Records & The 1993 Pic Failed (Anthony D’Alessandro)
“The movie also needs to be great. As subjective and simple-minded as that sounds, when it comes to the feature take of the ever-popular video game Super Mario Bros, it meant staying faithful to the source material itself: The game. And that’s exactly what Illumination and filmmakers Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic did in this second big screen go-round of the Nintendo game. That all started by teaming with the original Super Mario Bros game architect Shigeru Miyamoto, who was a hands-on producer on the animated film.”
✘ This isn’t about music, but it shows how the marketing campaign for the new Super Mario Bros film panned out. More importantly, it shows how all of that would be in vain if the film didn’t stay true to the lore of the game itself. The same counts for music and triggers us to think about what the lore of each song, album, discography is.
🌊 Reinventing the Renaissance - the next wave of the creator economy (Tyler Scharf, Emon, Maz, F00A)
“The third iteration of the creator economy comes full circle to the Renaissance. These days artists had an esteemed role in society and the ability to focus solely on their passion. Web3 tooling brings the promise of freeing up creators from the busywork of ensuring the viability of their brands and communities whilst enabling them to retain intellectual property rights. Creators will once again be able to focus on what they do best: create.”
✘ Of course, creators would still first need to build up their brand and community, but in this next iteration of the creator economy it looks like they’ll be doing that together more than alone - which is a big win in itself.
🎶 Chill, happy and free: Spotify data shows top moods for music streamed on Ramadan (Music in Africa)
“During Ramadan, the streaming of content such as music, meditative podcasts and yoga playlists peaks at 8am across all the markets analysed, suggesting that listeners use the app to cultivate a sense of calm and mindfulness going into the day. Quran readings are streamed at night or early morning.”
✘ Using Spotify listener data to see the impact of the Ramadan on how people structure their lives in this period is clever. There’s nothing unexpected, but it’s an interesting way to look at how people change their behaviours.
🎛️ Adoption of AI Technology in the Music Mixing Workflow: An Investigation (Soumya Sai Vanka et al)
“The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the music industry is driving a significant change in the way music is being composed, produced and mixed. This study investigates the current state of AI in the mixing workflows and its adoption by different user groups. Through semi-structured interviews, a questionnaire based study, and analyzing web forums, the study confirms three user groups comprising amateurs, pro-ams, and professionals. Our findings show that while AI mixing tools can simplify the process and provide decent results for amateurs, pro-ams seek precise control and customization options, while professionals desire control and customization options in addition to assistive and collaborative technologies. The study provides strategies for designing effective AI mixing tools for different user groups and outlines future directions.”
✘ This is an academic paper, so it might not be to everyone’s taste, but it gives a great overview of the state of AI in this specific niche of music production.
MUSIC
When you love certain people’s music and then you find out they collaborate together is just a beautiful thing. This is what happened here with Alex Roth and Arve Henriksen (and the rest of the band, of course!). This record is picturesque, taking you on a scenic route into a world where time behaves differently and space gets moulded to fit your own being.
Great insights in this one with a beautifully written intro. - thanks!