NFTs in the Music Industry

In an industry where entities like record labels and streaming services take a large cut of profits from musical artists, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are being increasingly adopted as a new and independent revenue stream for musicians. Music-focused NFTs are providing a new avenue for artists to go independent (indie) and monetize their work on the blockchain, without the need for a third party.
How Do Audio NFTs Work?
NFTs thus far are mostly associated with an image or video. This still holds true in most cases for musical artists as well. Most musicians experimenting with NFTs thus far have released an image or video set to an audio pairing that loops in tandem. You can think of the image or video pairing as an album cover of sorts; it’s an original image that is inextricably linked to the music.
Even this early iteration of music NFT MUSIC PLATFORM has opened up a whole new opportunity for musical and visual artists to work together to create unique collaborations. Many musical artists seek out visual artists as collaborators to create their NFTs. Each NFT can be programmatically made with different specifications using smart contracts, but for illustrative purposes.
For an example of what this process might look like, let’s take a look at Kings of Leon’s NFT release of the album “When You See Yourself.” In this particular case, the band released the album through traditional methods like iTunes and Spotify, and released an exclusive NFT version that included a digital download of the music. It was bundled with special perks like a limited edition vinyl version of the album, digital artwork, and a token that proves ownership of the asset.
Artists can release rare one of a kind NFTs via auction, have a limited sale of a predetermined number of NFTs released at a fixed price, or have an open release where an unlimited number of NFTs can be minted for a predetermined period. In this instance, Kings of Leon held an open release and placed their NFT album on sale for only two weeks, after which no more were produced and those in circulation became collectible items.
In addition to the standard NFT versions of their album, Kings of Leon also released a very limited number of “golden ticket” NFTs with exciting perks for fans such as front-row tickets to any concert on any of the band’s tours, for life. Whoever holds these NFTs can access those benefits, which are easily and transparently transferable using NFT standards, should a holder ever wish to sell their NFT. In this way, NFTs can be creatively crafted to forge special relationships between artists and their fans.