wavWRLD's Weekly Wavs ššš¶ Issue 032 | wavROOM Season 02 Coming to Glass
Your Guide to the Best Emerging Artists & Songs in Music x New Internet
Fred Rikoās Spicy Takes | An opinionated piece š¶ļø
Sometimes itās tough to know how to feel about the music NFT space.
Thereās conviction in the values that we have come to espouse as a community: abundance, diversity, mindfulness, holistic well-being, and more. Weāve had irreplaceable experiences with incredible friendsāboth over the internet and in personāand yet we still see perpetuated around us the same traumas that NFTs were intended to alleviate.
Each of us have stories about how naive we were when we first got involved with web3. We believed in the transformative potential of a decentralized blockchain and how it could connect artists with fans beyond any technology to date. We almost manically paid 0.1+ ETH for an NFT, believing that investment would triple in value ā¦ at least, right?
But the ironies caught up with us one by one. Mint Songs (an early web3 music platform) folded because it couldnāt generate the revenue to support its business. The price of crypto crateredālowering the value of our currency, not to mention our collectibles. To top it all off, more and more artists flooded the space as collectors left, creating an abundance of supply and driving prices lower and lower.
But this is the crazy thing to me: what weāve seen, and what weāre continuing to see in this market, has happened plenty and plenty of times before. In a sense, itās a case study in basic economic theory playing out. An easy example to reference is the Dutch Tulip Craze, or Beanie Babies.
So how did we get so caught up in a trend? Why didnāt we look at each other back in March of 2021 and go āWhoa! Wait, this could potentially tank.ā I mean ā¦ itās not like NFTs didnāt come off as wayyyyy overhyped lol.
Well, there are some incredible collectibles folks dropped during the Mint Songs era. Dreamer by Wayak. Toward the Moon by Marty Gerbsāstill one of my top web3 songs. My man Evaflow was so ahead of the curve when he dropped Goodaz on a custom contract, with both digital and IRL merch. He also made a manga!
We went to Denver, Austin, New York, Miami, and a half dozen other places to perform together and share in our love for music. Where there was no community, a community now existsāand it can be accessed anywhere and by anyone who cares to learn.
Even just this week, thereās more to be optimistic about. AL3C is goated as an artist, collector and tastemaker, so major shouts to him for making the largest sale ever on Sound (though not the largest ever in music NFTs, as noted by NiftySax).
People are realizing it more and more: the issues most of us face in our growth as artists are business issues, not artistic ones. Not so for Sammy Arriaga or Rae Isla, or any of the Nifty Music folkāTheyāve figured out a sustainable business model based on their years of experience working in the music industry. But the magic of this culture is that weāre each trying to find our own path. It doesnāt have to look the same for you or me, nor as it does for them.
So. When we start to look at the past year and a half through a business lens, the broader trends of web3 music become more clear. Sound.xyz has had the most access to collector capital, so it has gotten the mostāand the highest profileāreleases. Artists need that capital, so they flock to where itās most plentiful.Ā
This has two effects:
The first is that as Sound grows and consolidates resources, it will become more difficult for smaller, independent players to compete with it. Unless you figure out a new successful business model for yourself, youāll be reliant on the one that already exists.
The second is that larger companies waiting on the sidelines are going to start looking to enter the market, either via acquisition or by creating a competing platform or service. Theyāre looking to mitigate their own risk by buying into something thatās already been proven. Coincidentally, this makes it easier than it might seem for Sound.xyz to get knocked off the top spot: Thereās always a bigger fish.
But thereās also a timeline for all this to play out. If music NFTs never really catch hold, companies invested in this space may end up churning through their cash, laying off their team, and retreating to the sidelines to wait for the next big idea or new investment. Itās literally what happened with Mint Songs. They were acquired by Napster.
I donāt intend this as a critique of SoundāIām trying to describe the theoretical trends at play. I would say if you were to ask the folks in charge there what their largest concerns were for competition, they might have a similar answer. Theyāre trying to predict the future just like the rest of us. But theyāre at least thinking like a business.
And that gets us to my point. Our space is having trouble growing because weāre trying to work against very well-entrenched systems. The economics are not on our side and weāre fighting an uphill battle. At some point, weāll need some help and we need to learn how to ask for it. Violetta Zironi asks for help every day in Twitter Space after Twitter Space and sheās vocal about how she has transformed her life and the lives of others. She built an ecosystem by giving some of herself to ask for others to give in return.
But thereās a problem. Itās a vulnerable act to ask for help, especially from systems that have power over you. Music NFTs is a community where most of us work every day to create an environment where people can be heard. Every day, we hold space (on Twitter! of all places) for others to share their art, their story, their thoughts, or their feelings. Most folks are supportive, willing to help, vastly intelligent and resourceful, and super creative. It takes a tremendous amount of trust among us to maintain that environment.
Which makes it all the more heartbreaking when it is infringed upon. In the interest of growing our space, in the interest of growing our network, and in the interest of creating opportunities for our friends that deserve it, we placed our trust in Dreams Never Die. We learned once again that existing systems do not share our values and are willing to exploit us for gain. Our own money gets driven into the ground by folks who donāt deserve to spend it, and that draws away from the growth and morale of the space.
The most privileged among us are largely insulated from the negative effects of this cycle. Thatās what privilege enables: support systems and lifelines for when things get too heavy. The shit gets pushed lower down the totem pole and the same people end up eating it. Vulnerability is preyed upon.
These arenāt new realitiesāitās just heartbreaking to realize how difficult it can be to create a reprieve from them. It feels even worse to have new traumas created within our community ā¦ It feels like we blew it.
But Iāll say this: if someone tells me Iām only in web3 because I failed at web2, theyāre exactly right. I set out to be successful on my own terms around people who believe in what Iām trying to build. Itās not always pretty, but thatās the legacy weāre leaving: folks who took on the unassailable to create the opportunity to live out their dreams.
Much love yāall, as always
-Fred Riko fka Spence the Guru
wavNEWS š°
The wavROOM experience Season 02 is coming!! Live performance video NFTs on Glass from the 4 artists that performed at Art Basel 2022 will be released over the next 2 weeks. See wavALPHA below for more info & join the drop party here tomorrow, May 2nd, 5-6pm EST!
As noted above, congrats to AL3C for making the largest sale in Sound.xyz history! He sniped Snoopās golden egg and sold it to one of the many matts for 20 ETH!
Not gonna lie, this is actually super cool and a dream story for all involved. In the face of conversations around value and price, itās great to see growth in the high end of our market. Snobs, unite! Your time is nigh.
Kits, Arpeggi Labsā marketplace, announced that artists can now monetize music they have made with their Kits. Once youāve minted a sample pack and produced your track, you can now upload your track back onto Kits to license and publish your song to Oohlala via the Sound Protocol.
Still wrapping your head around it? Scroll down the twitter feed to see how some artists have used this tool.
Announcing the Creator Storytelling Series, a Decent x CyberConnect x Link3 collaboration intended at empowering creatives to share and amplify their creative stories. Link3 is a community hub powered by CyberConnectāusers can tap into new projects, host events, and tell the world their story on-chain. Could be a great opportunity!
Click here to learn how to enter. Submissions close May 5.
Soundās homepage gets a facelift, complete with new discovery tools and collector leaderboards. They have made it their absolute commitment to stay ahead of the curve and it continues to show. Shippedi-doo-dah.
wavLIST š¶
Fresh wavs & what weāre listening to this week from the WRLD:
Ameet Kanon x Jean Castelās āKeep It Togetherā on Sound. This song was born in Paris and completed in LA. Listen & Mint here.
J.Mackās āOrigin Story (Explicit)ā on Riff x Lens. This is raw spoken poetry, taking a deep dive into self. Listen & Mint here.
Forrest Mortifeeās āWait in Silence [eclipseĀ²pluto] improvisationā on Zora. We are adoring the ethereal, lofi vibe of this one. Listen & Mint here.
Alex Purdyās āsnake the bleachersā on Catalog. The lyrics are about training for basketball, but the meta story is about continuing to believe in her path as a musician despite the heartache. Listen & Mint here.
āAfterlifeā by let me you (anatu & L.A. Rochelle) feat. Papa on Sound. Itās a musical painting of the scene in Gladiator where he waits for his loves in the Elysian fields. Listen & float away here.
wavALPHA š
Upcoming drops & projects that you need to know about:
wavWRLD presents: wavROOM experience Season 02 feat. Fred Riko, KarmaVioletta, Aly fka Lackhoney and FUTRxLGND šš Live performance music video NFTs from the wavROOM at Art Basel 2022 coming to Glass, starting May 2nd, 5-6pm EST š¶š
Fred Riko - May 2nd, 5-6pm EST
KarmaVioletta - May 4th, 5-6pm EST
Aly fka Lackhoney - May 9th, 5-6pm EST
FUTRxLGND - May 11th, 5-6pm EST
Set a reminder for the first drop party space here!
On Wed, May 3rd at 12pm EST, Josh Savage drops his song āBellaā on Sound. It delves on the heart-wrenching emotions that arise when you feel someone you hold dear slipping awayāa bond that, deep down, you know is destined to end. Listen & Mint here.
On Thurs, May 4th at 5pm EST, Vivid Fever Dreams releases his Sound genesis of song āGone Away,ā mix/mastered by Kyle Billings. Itās a poignant and emotional piece that deals with the pain of separation from someone you love. Listen & Mint here.
Collect āCapture the Momentā for FREE here, marking the beginning of the COLORSxSTUDIOS x ZORA onchain journey.
Nvak Collective and Annika Rose partnered with the fam at Lens Protocol and Decent to offer scenes from the āBruisesā music video game to collect for FREE <3 Read more details & collect here.
wavTIPs š”
If you have trouble making decisions, I ask you this: is it trouble with deciding or is it trouble with prioritizing?
Food for thought: youāre trying to pick the dinner spot tonight for you and your friend. Well, right off the bat youāve made the commitment to go out for food. Thatās your first priority.
So where do you pick? Well, do you want something healthy or something fast? Domestic or international? Chain or local? Your tastes determine this, and maybe some dietary restrictions or the opinions of your friend. But that doesnāt always narrow it down ā¦ Sometimes all the options sound goodāor none of them do!
Maybe itās not even a matter of priorities but a resource issue. You were busy with work earlier and didnāt have the time to research the available possibilities! And even if you did search on your phone now, everyoneās competing to get you to go to their restaurant. Maybe youād miss something off the beaten path that could have been perfect all along.
Ay-yay-yay! At the end of the day, you might as well throw darts at a map. Youāve got other priorities to manage, and sometimes itās better to just pick and move on. Plus darts are fun!
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Thanks to our contributing writerĀ Fred RikoĀ & our curator & editor-in-chiefĀ Violetta!
Itās all about the wavs we make with friends along the way.
-wavWRLD ššš±
Disclosure: Writer Fred Riko & Curator/ Editor Violetta Hyland may occasionally own the NFTs of certain artists mentioned & certain platforms/ protocols highlighted. Their wallet holdings & activity can be viewed openly on the blockchain. We prioritize featuring wavWRLD members & contributors.