He said his music was going to be in the metaverse. He was telling the truth.
Death Row Session: Vol. was released on 4-20. There are 2 non-fungible token on the platform Sound.xyz. All 1,000 copies of the book sold out in a single day for over $300,000.
Web3 is a name for a distributed version of the internet that relies on the technology of the internet. He has created many of his own digital assets in the past. He has previously released music and a music video as NFTs. He did something different this time. He included four musicians who paved the way for artists in Web3: Iman Europe, MoRuf Adewunmi, Black Dave, and Heno.
Many celebrities have promoted their own collections or new investments recently. Up-and-coming musicians are increasingly turning to the space as a more appealing way to earn a living than the options they may have in the traditional music industry.
Artists can control their pricing, earn royalties in secondary market sales, and connect with their community with the help of the technology in the form of a ledger. Web3 is seen as the future by artists like Europe, MoRuf, Black Dave, and Heno.
MoRuf told Fortune that Web3 is a real thing and gave them a chance to live off their art. That's power.
Europe, MoRuf, Black Dave, and Heno have all been selling music on the web for a long time. Black Dave started making other kinds of NFTs in December 2020.
They got into Web3 for a variety of reasons, including better pay opportunities, access to community, and appreciation for the tech underpinning NFTs, all of which are related to their experience in the traditional music industry.
Europe, based in Los Angeles, has been in the music industry for more than 10 years, and began selling NFTs of her songs in November 2021. She says that artistic freedom is what drew her to Web3.
She said she enjoys being able to release the music she wants, when she wants, and how she wants.
Her songs and albums are listed as NFTs by Europe. She earned around $60,000.
He referred to Web3 as a place to be free when he started making his music. The tech underpinning NFTs was appealing to him in the beginning.
He was interested in experimenting with new ways to release content.
There is a transparent way for artists to be paid.
MoRuf has been doing this music thing for a decade, but started creating music after getting tired of the traditional formula.
MoRuf, who is based in New York, dropped over 16 NFTs in about eight months and is able to support himself and his family with the money he made. MoRuf makes more money per drop than he does from streams on a traditional service.
MoRuf explains that streaming services pay artists less than a penny per stream, which doesn't make sense for the independent artist.
Heno told Fortune that pay with NFTs is immediate rather than waiting for a royalty check or not being paid at all. Artists can make their own smart contracts or collections of code that carry out instructions on the blockchain. Artists can use smart contracts to ensure that they are paid appropriately for their work as it is sold and resells, and deploy it when they release their NFTs.
Web3 redefines what artists can do. MoRuf said that it was beyond innovative.
Europe, MoRuf, Black Dave, and Heno have all been able to earn thousands of dollars per NFT drop, and additional royalties from sales in the secondary market.
This place is special. It is not a utopia. It is not perfect. MoRuf quit his job a year ago to be able to support himself and his family. That is the ultimate goal.
The Death Row Session: Vol. 1 was the first drop. The 2 NFT music releases sold for a total of 100 Ether.
Artists Europe, MoRuf, Black Dave, and Heno each earned 1% of the initial sale, and in the secondary market, they will each make a 10% royalty on their earnings share, David Greenstein told Fortune.
The idea of getting paid $3,300 for a song on a mix by a celebrity is not something that is commonplace in today's world. Greenstein said that it wouldn't happen.
All of the artists featured on the project agree that they can make more money with NFTs than they can with streaming services.
Europe told Fortune that one ETH is the equivalent of almost 1 million music streams. She said that she made that in two minutes. A complete paradigm shift.
The ability to split payment through smart contracts is a major driver of the interest in the NFT space.
My fans have never had the chance to make money off of my music. It has always been a problem to distribute payments to my team from my songs because there is no transparency with these record labels. It's easy as that.
The old way doesn't work for anyone, so we always try to do it differently over here.
NFTs and Web3 are used for music. Europe, MoRuf, Black Dave, and Heno are early pioneers in the space, but many other up-and-coming artists have also used the tech.
Sound.xyz and OneOf are Web3 platforms that artists can use to release their own music. Songs, albums, and music videos can be listed in the popular NFT marketplaces, like OpenSea, Nifty Gateway, and SuperRare.
There is a growing market for music NFTs. Water & Music says that in the year 2021, there was over $83 million in primary sales of music NFTs. The digital assets became mainstream around March 2021 after Mike Winkelmann, though it's unlikely that the entire sum went to artists, as platforms charge fees and collaborations split revenue, it's substantial considering NFTs have only jumped in popularity recently.
Greenstein said that the cap for how much you can value music is removed in Web3. People can play with each other.
Europe, MoRuf, Black Dave, and Heno all think that the future of music in Web3 is bright.
The decision to collaborate with Heno and MoRuf was huge because of their early Web3 work. They hope that this will lead to more major artists entering the space.
Heno said that this was a big moment for Web3 and for Black artists.
Europe said that highlighting and uplifting Black artists in Web3 is extremely important to push this space forward.
Black Dave thinks that we will see more and more of a push into a digital lifestyle.
Being in the traditional music industry, I've spent a lot of time and energy working with people that didn't serve me or appreciate me the way I know I'm worth.
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