How Will NFTs Be Significant for the Music Industry in 2022?

What are NFTs?

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have emerged as one of the latest, fastest-growing markets. Google search trends show that the term NFT has rapidly grown from February 2021 to February 2022. On January 16th, 2022, Google searches for the term “NFT” eclipsed searches for “Crypto” – this popularity difference has remained consistent. The most popular NFT marketplace Opensea.io has grown to 118.4M visits, quickly catching up with one of the largest websites for selling traditional art – eBay, with 277M visits.

NFTs’ rapid growth in popularity spread waves across the internet and media. The large sums of money that artists acquired for their art became a spectacle. Many among the public were amazed as previous, struggling artists, such as Trevor Jones, sold their art pieces for up to $4M on Opensea.io. Thus NFTs entered a period of wonder, where difficult to sell traditional art became sought after as collectables. The financial freedom of DeFi (decentralized finance) also provided artists freedom of expression.

Issues with the music industry

Artists are not the only industry within the creative world to face difficulty in the physical world. Studies exist dictating the issues within the music industry. One criticism is that many artists flock to cities such as Los Angeles where many producers and music labels conduct business. Social media aimed to remedy this but had strict algorithms and rules that resulted in censorship – centralizing creative worth. Ownership is another consistent issue, resulting in Taylor Swift’s record label stealing her music. Meatloaf struggled to get a record deal as no record label accepted his lengthy songs, which made selling and distributing songs impossible. These are but a few examples from critical research in the music industry. Thus, demonstrating how the industry controls the content, stifling creativity with strict restrictions – If an artist can even obtain a record label.

Meteora turns up the volume

Meteora intends to merge the freedom of NFTs with high-quality audio and metaverse possibilities for aspiring musicians, professionals, businesses and listeners. Meteora removes the issues and limitations of the music industry whilst expanding upon the growing NFT market. The journey to enter the Meteora ecosystem starts with purchasing the $MRA token. Investors may use $MRA in three distinct ways for NFT interaction as a manufacturer, a streamer or an auctioneer. These styles work together to create the Meteora ecosystem, simple to understand but expansive enough to lay a foundation for a future metaverse.

• The Manufacturer: Through this interaction, the manufacturer can turn their content into NFTs, known as CDs (chain discs) in the Meteora ecosystem. CDs are mintable en masse, limited copies, unique versions of a track, signed copies, or any variation of supply that suits the creator. CDs can be listened to through the streamer system, or tradeable through the auctioneer system.
• The Streamer: Through this interaction, the creator can access the StageX app and upload their CDs to the streaming platform, known as the jukebox. The streamer can designate the ways listeners will interact with their CDs. Listener interaction is assignable to subscription-only, pay-per-play or even both. The streamer system removes any barrier that exists in the real-world music industry. Accessing and creating music is dependent on purchasing $MRA. Afterwards, the musician can freely choose how to distribute and finance their content. Additionally, AI (artificial intelligence) non-intrusively supports a listener in finding and accessing the content they desire. The AI also provides visibility for aspiring musicians.
• The Auctioneer: Through this interaction, the auctioneer uses the Meteora marketplace app to trade CDs. Musicians will sell their CDs on the marketplace, where a listener will purchase all rights and metadata to get complete ownership. CDs are tradeable as singles or collections. Listeners can also manage their CDs using the marketplace – not just musicians. Due to this, Meteora is the ideal virtual hub for music-related collectables, making ownership automatic and fair.

The freedom within the Meteora ecosystem eliminates the issues that exist inside the music industry. Access is simplified by a creator merely needing to purchase $MRA without requirements, censorship, restrictions or money for marketing. All the tools someone needs to distribute CDs are within the Meteora ecosystem. Meteora expands these tools by supporting artists with Meteora Studio, which helps with vocals, audio mixing and everything needed to make a track. Thinking of the future, Meteora features the ability for developers to create games and collaborate with artists and their CDs. The Meteora ecosystem is accessible, collaborative, engaging and expressive. Stay tuned to the Meteora Twitter page to join the music revolution.