Experts explain how music NFTs will enhance the connection between creators and fans

Monstercat CEO Mike Darlington and Metalink founder Jake Udell chat with Crypto Steez about the future of Web3 and music NFTs.

According to Mike Darlington, the CEO of Monstercat, an electronic music platform, and Jake Udell, the founder of social NFT platform Metalink, bear markets are a time to ideate and build new products. During this week’s episode of NFT Steez, a bi-weekly Twitter Space hosted by Cointelegraph analysts, both Darlington and Udell agreed that the future will be bright for crypto and especially for music NFTs. 

During the interview, Darlington and Udell explained the importance of researching projects with “sustainable teams” that continue to build despite the current market conditions and they encouraged investors to learn from the possibilities created at the height of the bull market.

According to Darlington, music NFTs haven’t necessarily had made it as a “trend” yet, but he is hoping that they cement their space in the next bull cycle. Comparatively, profile pictures (PFP) NFTs are a “monster of their own,” but music NFTs can see similar success to that of photography or art NFTs.

Creators and communities will benefit from music NFTs

For creators looking into experimenting with music NFTs, Darlington suggested that it is first important to discover and understand “why do you want to interact and why do you want to get involved?”

Darlington said some creators have come to “recognize how broken the music industry is for artists” and music NFTs present a possibility that can provide more sustainability for artists and musicians.

While it’s uncertain how sustainable the new landscape will be for artists, the one “resounding truth” and commonality is that creators are not “content with the current model,” there is a willingness to be open to change the status quo but this depends on the “format and the shape that music NFTs will arrive in,” explains Darlington. 

Are music NFTs in a separate genre of their own?

Metalink founder, Jake Udell alluded to how levels of engagement differ between free and pay-to-use platforms with users opting to engage more in platforms they have a stake in. Creators and users who feel they have invested into the product are more likely to “play around with the product more and be more likely to make something of it,” says Udell.

Interestingly, this dichotomy where users are invested and in-turn empowered to experiment opens up for a more dynamic relationship between the listener and the artist instead of listening to music as a “passive” pastime. Whether or not users care about ownership or truly have it matters less in relation to the culture and community created toward the increased value entities are now placing on digital goods.

According to Udell, the amount of attention the NFT space received in the last year alone led the way for a “cult like phenomenon.” Groups are brought together by the common thread of Web3 and while Udell does not believe that “Web3 is necessarily a genre,“ it is another avenue for artists to tap into and successfully grow their audience. 

Interested in learning more about how music NFTs could rule 2023? Don’t miss the full conversation on Twitter spaces! Tune in to NFT Steez on Twitter every other Friday at 12:00 p.m. ET. Make sure to set your notifications and set your alarm!

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