Coopahtroopa

Posted on Jun 20, 2023Read on Mirror.xyz

Onchain Music

It’s a new era.

Onchain is the new online.

Releasing your music onchain is an acknowledgement to what’s next.

This is what music being onchain means, and why it’s important.

Onchain Music

Music released on DSPs is streamed.

Music released onchain is minted.

Mints are the new streams.

Mint a song to add it to your collection.

Being onchain creates:

  • Permanent

  • Culture

  • Market

Onchain music is defined by having a contract address - or the origin for where a song was minted.

It will commonly look like this 0xb39b20eC770848288a847879f6Bc48a4D5e95a0D with its own title (Reflection) and symbol (REFLECT).

Think of this like an ISRC - where every onchain platform can easily read, index and showcase that song.

nft://1/0xb39b20eC770848288a847879f6Bc48a4D5e95a0D/?showBuying=true&showMeta=true

It’s easy to identify if a song is authentic or not based on the account it was uploaded, or deployed from.

With onchain music - all payouts happen instantly.

There is no delay or royalty accounting necessary. Simply enter splits when uploading and receive earnings in real time as fans collect the song.

Permanent

Onchain music will exist forever.

Even if the platform goes down, it still exists onchain.

Other platforms can read the contract address and showcase that song on their platform.

There is no permission required to show the song, and the song does not need to be reuploaded to a new platform to be collected.

Once a song is minted onchain - it will exist there forever.

This means that a song has a permanent lineage.

Once you upload a song onchain - you never have to upload it again.

Minting a song cements your place as a supporter of the artist.

Cultural

Onchain music represents a new generation of artists.

Being onchain means that you care about owning your music.

It's an acknowledgement that you value the relationship between your fans and that you are in control of your future.

https://twitter.com/CallMeLatasha/status/1671272333452128257?s=20

It’s an opportunity to be on the cutting edge - and to separate yourself from the millions of artists releasing on Spotify every week.

Being onchain is future.

It’s weird, niche and clunky. It feels retro and foreign.

It requires (for now) a new set of language, technology and currency.

Being onchain is culturally significant.

Market

Being onchain creates a market for music.

It allows fans to mint - which means they can buy and sell songs.

With iTunes, fans could buy songs. But they could never sell them.

You can buy and sell vinyls, but not in real-time.

By being onchain - you create an opportunity for fans to buy, sell and trade songs in real-time.

No two markets are the same. And there is no one way to create a market for your song.

On iTunes, a purchase is $0.99

On Spotify, a stream is ~$0.0037

Onchain, a mint is what you decide.

Creating a market for your song allows you to see who really values your music.

And - you can collect multiple copies.

Assuming a song costs $5, a fan can mint one.

But - a larger patron can collect 100. They can spend $500 and get 100 editions.

And why would they want that?

To show off. And to trade it.

Not only did they support the song early, but in the event the song is successful - they can sell a part of their collection at a profit.

This allows them to participate in your ecosystem in a largely net new manner.

Being onchain gives your fans the ability to trade your music online.

Why Now? 

There will only ever be more music onchain.

The new frontier is being onchain - and more artists will start to realize this with each waking day.

https://twitter.com/js_horne/status/1658474783921823745?s=20

In the same way every song is on Spotify, every song will be onchain.

The earlier you are - the larger percentage of the market you have at your disposal.

The market for onchain music will only ever grow.

As more music comes onchain, so too will the unique number of fans and collectors.

This means that you have an unparalleled advantage.

By selling 1000 copies of your song at $10 a piece, you are making the equivalent of ~2.5M streams.

You are paid out instantly, and able to see each and every fan who collected that song.

The next time you release a song, put it onchain.

Or someone else will.