How NFTs give freedom to recording artists

Most of the artists have to cooperate with middleman services to make money. Yet, blockchain offers them another model.

In March, 3LAU, an electronic dance music producer, sold more than $11 million worth of tokens redeemable for real-world goods — including music — in addition to a $3 million token holder who bid for the right to collaborate with the artist. Paul Oakenfold, a well-known EDM DJ, announced was going to launch a tokenized album on the Cardano blockchain.

Today, when many concerts are canceled due to the Covid-19, some performers have turned to blockchain technology for alternative solutions. For example, in August, Epic Games’ Fortnite hosted a virtual concert with Ariana Grande and others.

The money that artists can make in the blockchain is incredible, especially when you compare them with the payout rate of streaming platforms. Spotify, for example, pays out on average $0.003 to $0.005 per stream. That equates to around $3,000 to $5,000 for 1 million streams, but 1 million is a large number for an independent artist. Meanwhile, even not very popular artists managed to make tens of thousands of U.S. dollars selling NFTs. The artist Young and Sick, for instance, had only 27,000 followers on Instagram when he sold an NFT for $865,000.

As such a business model proved to be efficient, it seems to be here to stay even after the pandemic. The coexistence of streaming platforms, concerts, and NFTs can create a good environment for nurturing new talents.