Hip hop executive producer Frank Nitty joined the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream this week to discuss how blockchain technology and Web 3.0 are transforming the music industry. He was joined by Bryan Daugherty and Gregory Ward of SmartLedger Solutions, telling Kurt Wuckert Jr. how VoltronMusic is about to change the game.
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Frank Nitty calls for a fairer music industry
To long-time hip-hop fans, Frank Nitty needs no introduction. However, for those who don’t know, he’s an actor and legendary producer who “survived the Death Row era. He’s now firmly focused on using blockchain and Web 3.0 technologies to empower hip-hop artists.
Nitty says the labels and streaming platforms have been robbing artists for years. Platforms like Spotify pay 1 cent per stream and collect vast amounts of data. Artists are slowly waking up to this, and they want a fair share of the revenue their creations bring in, as well as some rights over it.
Daugherty points out that when many artists signed deals with labels, they didn’t envisage digital platforms, things like digital twins and versions of themselves, and they could never have predicted how labels might use their images. “They lost the right to themselves,” Daugherty says. These are often lifetime deals; in some cases, the labels maintain rights over their work and images after they die.
How technology is changing the music industry
Wuckert likens these music deals to when people couldn’t read and send letters through agents or managers who could. Nowadays, artists are more informed and savvy, and they have technology which empowers them.
Tech like Napster, which started to break the chokehold the big labels had on the industry, only came out 20 years ago, and the transformation of the industry in that short time has been massive. The creator economy has taken off, and artists can build direct connections with their fan base.
Ward points out that YouTube and other online sources can help demystify the legalese artists often cannot understand. The VoltronMusic platform has AI tools to help artists understand these terms and negotiate better deals. It can also allow everyone involved to have ownership rights, ensuring revenue on an ongoing basis.
More about VoltronMusic
Nitty says VoltronMusic will have a launch party soon. He hints at a ‘Day of the Dead’ launch involving metaverse elements. The metaverse can create experiences like concerts, meet and greets, and parties, all from the comfort of home.
Ward explains that VoltronMusic is an app that gives users a set of cryptographic keys. They can then use these for various purposes, such as signing rights and unlocking unique experiences. It’s all about having fun while using blockchain for utility.
Daugherty highlights how the technology is the communication layer. It unites people, and if Nitty succeeds, a unique culture can remain authentic, and creators can be compensated fairly for the first time.
To learn more about how artists and the music industry respond and whether this can be ported to other kinds of media like movies, check out the live stream via this link.
Watch: Web3 is natural progression of technology
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