Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT): Guide For Small Artists

By now, you are used to hearing and seeing the word "Non-Fungible Tokens," as everyone around you won't stop mentioning it. Billboard music termed NFTs as a gold rush, while RollingStone thinks of it's a revolutionary concept. It has gone from being an unknown catchphrase to being a buzzword.  NFTs: Non-Fungible Tokens has taken the music industry by storm; music artists and executives alike are in a race to understand and take advantage of this new concept. It's nobody's fault actually to want a piece of the NFT cake.   When Beeple's Everyday – The First 5000 Days went on to break records at a sum of $69,346,250, it's like overdrive activated. While this is not an impossibility, the fact that the artwork does not exist physically makes it interesting; it's only a Non-Fungible Token.   In no time, the number of times NFT was searched on Google and other search engines increased exponentially. That's because every artist, musician, tech, and business people are interested in hitting the jackpot also. Elon Musk wanted to sell a song about NFT as an NFT. Jack Dorsey of Twitter wanted to sell his first tweet as an NFT.   Let's talk numbers a bit to give you a clearer perspective; in 2019, the total worth of NFT transactions stood at $62,862,687. The figure jumped to a quarter of a million dollars in 2020. In the first quarter of 2021 alone, the value of just 39 NFTs skyrocketed to about $22.5 billion based on CoinMarketCap valuations.  

Is NFT Just About Artwork and Tech? 

The King of Leon recently released an album, When You See Yourself as an NFT. While this may be the first, there will be many more to come.   As an independent artist, you'll be interested in where you stand as a creative. That's the focus of this piece. As easy as possible, this will serve as an NFT guide for small music artists.   There have been reports that the music industry is where NFTs are headed. Therefore, you need to be prepared and informed about how you and your music can be ready for the NFT Mania.   For a start, let's make you understand something; Non-Fungible Tokens may sound like rocket science or something sort of a trip to Mars on Perseverance Rover. It's not that serious or techy. It's just a matter of creating NFT (your music) on your preferred blockchain. You may have to understand a Blockchain and its relationship with NFTs.  

How to Take Advantage of Non-Fungible Tokens as a Small Artist 

Right from time, trends in the music industry have not always favored upcoming artists and indie artists. Remember how they were schemed out of things with the boom of record labels of the 90s and 2000s.   The scenario repeated itself with the growth of music streaming, where many independent music artists and unknown artists require thousands of streams to make minimum wage. This was why we started Disctopia, to return power and financial freedom to creatives.   With the current gold rush, the question on the minds of many artists will be how NFT can be to their advantage. For a fact, NFT aligns with our intent at Disctopia.   Scattered all over the internet and forums are these questions on NFT by creatives 

• Can NFT help market my music? 
• Will NFT help drive ticket sales and fan engagements? 
• Will NFT provide me with sustainable income? 
• What happens when I collaborate with other artists? 

We believe that NFT can bridge the divide in the following ways;  

1. Higher Profits For Indie Artists 

Unlike every other tool in the music industry's history, NFT allows artists to directly sell and reach their audience. It does not matter if you are listened to by a million or just a few thousand—no hustle for labels or streaming platforms.   Without go-betweens, what you have to yourself is what your music is worth.  

2. Passive Income Generator For Musicians 

NFT is a true game-changer for indie artists; you can earn royalty on your music forever. With NFT, you are a digital creator, and whenever your work changes hands or gets into a new hand, you get a cut.   Imagine if your music appreciates about 200X; that's how much your income will also grow.  

3. A Rare Opportunity For Upcoming Artists To Grow 

For every trend, a new set of trendsetters emerge. The internet created its own, not to forget what the radio also did. There's no better time to pitch your tent with NFT than now.   That's precisely what King of Leon aims to achieve by releasing their first album in 5 years as Non-Fungible Tokens.  

4. Being Able to Determine What To Giveaway 

Even outside of the NFT mania, copyrights are always a complicated transaction for creatives. This can be fixed by NFT, however, as creatives can determine what to sell as copyright.   

How To Create NFT For Your Music 

Music NFT is on the rise, and it'll even grow even further. NFT can assume the form of music artwork, concert tickets, unreleased songs, and more. When Mike Shinoda sold a 37 seconds teaser of an unreleased song, it created a buzz for the $30,000 it generated.   In a Twitter thread, Shinoda noted that he would not have gotten close to $10,000 after sorting out the cost of marketing, DSPs, and other fees. You see, NFTs is being able to monetize your works and eliminate intermediaries shortchanging your revenue, especially as an upcoming indie artist.   The first step is knowing where to create your NFT. It will be on any of these Blockchains;  

• Polkadot 
• Cosmos 
• Binance Smart Chain 
• Trons 
• EOS
• Flow by Dapper Labs 
• WAX 
• Tezos 

Step-by-Step Guide on Creating Non-Fungible Tokens

• Prepare The Music 

As a music artist, decide whether you are creating an album, mixtape, or EP into Non-Fungible Tokens.  

• Decide on the Blockchain 

There are close to a dozen blockchain where you can use. Note that these Blockchains have standalone NFT Token protocols, marketplaces, and wallet services.   That means that by creating music NFT on Tezos, you'll only be able to sell on Tezos compliant platforms. That means you cannot sell on Mintable or OpenSea, being Ethereum based. For this guide, we'll rely on Binance Smart Chain (BSC).  

• Connect Your Wallet 

Aside from the blockchain, the other essential need will be a wallet. You will require a wallet to access any NFT Marketplace. To save yourself stress, use TrustWallet.   Make use of the in-built DApp browser to connect your wallet to the NFT marketplace.  

• Fund The Wallet 

If on the BSC, fund your wallet with atleast 0.03 BNB.  

• Mint Your Music 

Go to "Mint Artwork" on the BSC Artist section and fill in your music details. Upload your music and check the agreement section and approve the transaction.  

• Review Price 

You'll find your music in your Trust Wallet dashboard. With time, your NFT will be approved, and you'll set the price. Voila! You just published your first NFT.  

Where Are Music NFTs Marketplaces?

Truly, NFTs are fast establishing themselves as the future of music. In 2021, NFTs accounted for about $25 billion in sales with a valuation of $40 billion and rising. While a lot of people think of digital pictures or bored apes when NFT is mentioned forgetting music NFTs, one of the fastest-growing in the NFT ecosystem. As of today, OpenSea remains the biggest NFT marketplace with a carved niche for music NFTs. Nonetheless, there are music-specific NFT marketplaces. Here are a few such marketplaces;

1. Catalog

This is one of the niche-specific marketplaces for music artists. Catalog has the intent of revolutionizing the music industry, relying on NFTs. The marketplace is built on the Zora Protocol, as artists have sold about $2 million in music NFTs.

2. Royal

Royal is led by a music artist, Justin Blau, and the marketplace aims to wed music rights with NFTs. What the platform aims to do is restore value to music creators. The main goal of Royal is to allow fans to co-own the music of their favorite artists.

3. Nifty Gateway

For a NFT marketplace that has hosted Grimes, The Weekend, and Eminem, Nifty Gateway is fast gaining the attention of artists. Nifty Gateway is a marketplace of choice for those interested in a very curated selection of music NFTs.

Final Thoughts 

Let's say, what's the future like for upcoming artists as regards Non-Fungible Token (NFT). Please don't accept the opinions of naysayers who think it's too early to consider NFT for your music. If you want to get into it, you had better start right away.   NFT is indeed a form of digital collectible, one that can open you up to a new world of possibilities—giving struggling artists the due recognition they deserve.