This is a draft of a speech I gave at the 2021 Future Business Conference on what value NFTs can bring to artists, musicians, and creators beyond speculation.
It’s no surprise that NFTs are being discussed in the mainstream media for nothing more than how much it’s sold for and how the price has multiplied. Looking at it from a consumer perspective, the fact that a digital file can sell for millions of dollars is indeed eye-catching. While the use of NFTs goes past collecting, anyone who tells you they’ve figured out the future of NFTs would probably be lying.
Globally renowned digital video artists sell their hour-long artwork for less than $18,000 USD, and more than 60% of musicians in the United States claim that their income from music cannot cover their living expenses. Both digital artists and musicians have been struggling in the past decade, and NFTs shed some light as electronic DJs who were no longer able to make money from physical events found a stream of income with NFTs. A large number of digital artists saw a sign of hope as they entered the NFT world, but also fear that one day this bubble will burst.
Here are a few of our thoughts:
NFTs promise a new business model
We can imagine that in the future, NFTs will not just repeat the same business models in the past six months, nor will it be as simple as bringing down the sky-high prices. We’ve seen a lot of different experiments in music around the world, including streaming platforms that give musicians a higher cut, others that turn musicians into visual artists to sell their artwork, and others that focus on solving copyright problems. We think that NFTs will play out to be more like Kevin Kelly’s “1000 true fans” model, making it easier for loyal fans to support the creative energy of musicians and build a more diverse music environment.
What NFTs can do is to give musicians a more consistent and stable source of income.
NFTs should be a medium for imagination
If we look at the history of music, from old records, CDs, to iPod/ iPhones, these mediums all wish to bring music to you anytime and anywhere, whether you’re at home, in the car, or in the toilet. NFTs are also a medium, so where else can NFTs take the music industry to?
The most important feature of NFTs is interoperability. No matter what decentralized application we talk about today, it is all for a decentralized world. What will music look like in a decentralized protocol? What will music look like in a virtual game like Sandbox? Bringing the music of creators to more audiences should be the commitment and mission of NFTs.
NFTs builds a new relationship between artists and fans
In the past, fans usually looked up to celebrities in a relationship of admiration, but we are slowly seeing this change as many celebrities no longer refer to their followers as fans, but instead have deliberately adopted a nickname to bring them closer together. We think the real desire of fans is to be a part of the musician’s or star’s life. Instead of being called a “stan”, which stands for “stalker fan”, the role of an early supporter or even a sponsor seems to be a healthier relationship. After all, who doesn’t want to be friends with their favorite stars? From the musician’s point of view, if they continue to use NFTs to share their most precious musical inspiration with these supporters on their career path, the negative perception of merely using fans to earn money will slowly diminish.
NFTs should promise creators a more long-term and stable source of income to support the infinite creativity of creators, and should also promise to bring creators’ works not only to trading platforms but also to various virtual spaces. Everything comes down to people and relationships, which is why NFTs should be committed to building more meaningful relationships, not just used as speculative and money-making tools.
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