NFT and VR are Revolutionizing the Music Industry
By combining technology and music, artists avoid sales agents and improve interaction with their fans.
Technology giant Apple has reportedly offered artist Kanye West $ 100 million for the exclusive release of Donda 2 on the Apple Music streaming platform.
West refused this generous amount because he decided to free artists from the 'oppressive music system'. Instead of offering the album to one of the music platforms, he launched the innovative player Stem, which he sells for around $ 200.
In addition to listening to the album in a conventional way, Kanye's team from Yeezy Tech also introduced the ability to 'cut' songs into 'stems' (clips) and listen to certain elements - bass, vocals or drums and add special effects.
Kanye West boasted that in just one day he sold ten thousand Stem players that brought him revenue of $ 2.2 million.
But it wasn’t just Kanye West fans who quickly adopted new technology for music listening. There is a real revolution in the music industry that, more than ever, combines technology with music and thus enables better interaction between artists and end users.
Everyone is crazy about NFTs
As the executive director of the Swedish company Moodelizer, Mathias Rosenqvist, explained to Hypebeast, streaming is static, does not offer any interaction between the artist and his fan base, and West's innovation relies on the trend of 'reactive music'.
– The format of reactive music allows users and artists to control audio material in real time - Rosenqvist explained, adding that social platforms, TikTok and Instagram, are already finding ways to bring the concept of audio engineering closer to fans and creators.
Some other artists like Grimes, Jacques Greene or Kings of Leon avoid streaming platforms by launching their music as NFT’s.
The pioneer of such sales is the group Kings of Leon, which in April last year became the first rock band to tokenize their work.
In the NFT Yourself campaign, they sold tokens on Ethereum for $ 50 per piece, and customers received their new album and additional exclusive materials for that.
In half a month, the NFTs earned $ 2.2 million, and the Kings of Leon fought for independence in that way. Music NFTs, in fact, allow artists to make a profit without the mediation of other players in the chain, and this can be a very lucrative business for them.
Virtual Environment
Popular DJ Steve Aoki also launched his own token system and gathered a community of fans in the metaspace - AOK1VERS. Fans or, as the artist calls them, passport holders, change tokens for virtual performances, tickets for live concerts and NFTs.
That this virtual adventure paid off, the DJ confirmed to Business Insider reporters, saying that he earned more from the sale of NFTs than from the music rights for the six albums he recorded in the last ten years.
In addition to reactive music and NFTs, Hypebeast states that many musicians have hooked on the trend of using VR technology.
After the Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses were launched, artists began to ‘pair’ their music with a hyper-realistic virtual environment.
Six years ago, The Weeknd recorded a VR music video for a remix of The Hills featuring rapper Eminem, and DJ Marshmello launched a series of what he called ‘virtual experiences’ that accompany his dance hits.
In late 2017, Gorillaz broke the YouTube record with the VR video Saturn Barnz, and artist Bjork ‘put together’ the entire VR album Vulnicura.
While the application of technological innovation is the future of the music industry, Hypebeast warns that artists should by no means lose sight of fans.
Of course, new trends should be tried, but not because they are popular at a certain moment, there is hype around them, but because they allow artists to better interact with the fan base. They must be able to follow them in their musical experiments.
PS: Nothing in this post is financial advice, and all information is provided for educational purposes. You alone are responsible for your financial decisions.