- James: Some NFTs arenāt
just meant to be hit records - there can be a variation/spectrum of releases. Being in Songcamp, vibe is very DIY culture. Not that it overshadows the quality of music, itās the talent of connecting people. Thereās a balance: we do need to make sure the music is better, but we fully understand that we create community. Who will make great music, but be assholes? Community engagement is a big element of it. - Pat: Agreed. For me, community is not just a buzz word for me. Iāve been about community before web3 - doing life with people. I have an incredible team behind me, but theyāre all my homies. We check in on each other, and weāre there for each other when people need to talk/vent/cheer each other on. But we also are here to keep it real. If weāre going to talk about community in web3, how can we be an authentic community if weāre not willing to be critiqued constructively, but between people you build with, but I donāt want web3 be a participation trophy place. Youāre right: the records that you mint donāt have to be hit records. They can be deep cuts, or B-sides. But there is such thing as good deep cuts or good B-sides, and quality. Or even, people minting demos, but theyāre actually good. Weāve seen that in web2, where thereās a ādemoā on album which isnāt mixed upto par, but itās all about the feeling. But you can still feel it and it still feels good. Thatās where Iām at with it. The record doesnāt have to be a smash record hit, but I want it to be good. How can we say web3 is community, and people are high-fiving each other because the record isnāt actually good? But we high-five that?
- Kizzie: for the fine art aspect of it, it has the connection to collectors. The whole approach of like, getting a collector, having it at a gallery aka protocol has something to do with the fine art aspect of it. Agreed with James and Pat - people approach life differently. People might want experimental or bangers or whatever - it depends on the person [and their intentions].
- Outlaw The Artist - first of all, the perspective of what a deep cut means ā so this is a song that on an album that serves the story that Iām trying to create, and might not bethe single not literally a banger that goes #1 like a hit, but I can still make an amazing album cut. we should strive for that in general, whether we mint or not, but the culture is like people are making 1/2 singles and put fluff around it and calling it an album. So maybe letās start making great work and doing something deep cuts - but I always ask, what do I want to mint? But it might not be uptempo or in the club, but you can sit with it, and say this is a beautiful piece of music.
- JP Reynolods - these are great points and itās a good conversation. Question for the room: how do we define quality? In whose eyes are we trying to determine that? Inside of that, is there an input versus an output thing? Is it the time that an artist puts in, or is it the product itself, like the output being put out? Sometimes people can be really thoughtful and genuine with how theyāre approaching an art piece, but the output doesnāt match. Something thatās really fire and Iām wondering, as viewers, as onlookers or engagers, how do we know what that is?
- celia inside - something Iām thinking about ā alot of artists are coming on all the time. It gets easier to have artists put out stuff whatever they are going to put out. If itās not going to sell, then thatās what it is; but there could be someone out there is going to value it and pay for it. The other thing I want to say in terms of the value of what youāre putting out there ā web3 is a space where musicians who are super creative in all these other ways, that meld together, all their different creative skills, thereās all this other stuff that can come into one, and it could be freeing for those in web2. Thatās an exciting element for me where Iām trying to raise the bar. Iām trying to think in terms of community too, I think like, bringing other artists that Iām cool with and I respect a lot, into the space with what Iām working on ā I think itās interesting that some of you think that NFTs arenāt meant for big songs or hit songs. Thatās really interesting to me. I donāt see a limit or track or song there ā but Kizzie made a good point in that people are going to put all different kinds of stuff, and there might be a demo that would work for a certain artist. James, so cool youāre at Songcamp, but I will hop off , thanks all.
- Pat: Weāre not saying that - you canāt mint something thatās a hit song on blockchain or web3. But what weāre saying is that, it doesnāt necessarily have to be that. There might be some people - who are actually talented in the space. Some people might get visibility and certain attention to and that can lead to a purchase, but there are some talented artists whether music or animators that are really good, but donāt have the visibility because they havenāt been on certain platforms. On JP saying, we will but weāll go to James and Black Dave.
- James: how can we define what quality is? Right now, part of the quality is scalability. Right now, itās about community, but how wide is your network? If youāre in multiple communities and support and help out, and benefit alot of people, yes, thereās a way to get quality of art in a standard that can be created, but thereās a ton of people that may not do certain things to get their music out. So thereās gotta be people, so letās get quality up, and not have multiple touch points with people, and thatās why things donāt sell. Iām saying that to myself. If I entrenched myself, then I would see us sell more NFTs.
- Black Dave: I want to get my bearings: I think there are a few interesting points to bring. Recently, while at SXSW, I talked to one of the biggest ETH spenders. I was talking about how, while I have around 80-100 collectors right now, for music NFTs in specific, I would say, 50% listen to my music. When I said that, he nodded and that sounds about right. So what are you guys actually collecting? And his response was, well, we want something rare, and want something people donāt have or canāt have ā regardless of raising the bar or stagnant, collectors care a bit less than artists. Youāve seen my rants and these sorts of things. What I think what is more lacking than talent or getting better, is are we using the technology better? The answer to that is almost 100% no. If you look at like, LATASHA, the Michael Jordan of Web3 Hip Hop and Iām Scottie Pippen, up until her sound drop, didnāt drop an NFT with utility. How interesting it is that, now that sheās done it, others may want to figure out what they can do. When I was doing all sorts of utility-related things, peopel would say, I wish people would do things that youāre doing, and others would use utility, and I want to use the word experience rather than utility, but utility sounds a lot better to some but not to others; but I can do that anywhere, why web3? This is a rant and Iām realizing it, and let this continue.
- Pat: I donāt know how that feels - you collect my music, but you donāt play it? See that to me, if youāre a collector, that bothers me. That needs to be a conversation - you want to collect it, but itās almost like collecting a painting and you never look at it. That sounds crazy. Thatās kinda weird to me, thatās my opinion, but thatās a convo to be had and itās cool, you collect my piece, at least listen to it one time! Itās music, not something you can see.
- Black Dave: Iām sorry that I did this to you, Pat.
- Pat: I like the healthy conversation!
- Kizzie
- 2016 ā got a random phone call from a dude who got my info from a friend. Heās called the Rap Museum and he called and was like, I collect the collections of artists that I respect. And he has like, tons of physical music and whole discographies of people which include mixtapes and all of this stuff, and I felt honored that he called me. I had to run around getting certain tapes that I didnāt have anymore ā I had to go to my momās house and it was an interesting thing to me, and it really showed me how much there are collectors out there. I donāt know if he heard it all, and I charged him top dollar for that, for me, as a web2 artist who have had collectors and people really fucking with me as a person and as an artist, that taught me a big lesson - having your own shit and keeping your own shit close, so anytime anything comes up, i never want to be the person who doesnāt have my stuff in physical form.
- For NFT stuff, I feel like such a noob and blessed toi be learning so much. Weāre engaging in great conversation about this. But in January, when I started, pumping my own projects, it had everything to do with the experiential side - so Iāve been doing that the Mint Area Project and the utility with my stuff is access that you get with me and my co-creator. Black Dave, I hear what youāre saying about that and really on that with the utility and Iām not doing just the music project or just the PFP project, but it encapsulates me to go bigger with the music and than before with the traditional rollout ā thatās the exciting part about me. The utility behind the music, thereās a big WHY with NFTs and you can start to answer the questions of WHY. What works for one, may not work for another. Absolutely, everyone in music NFTs should be thinking beyond the actual piece of art to maybe youāre trying to get that popping Discord or IRL events. For me, I got alot of things to cook up, but weāre so very early and still so far to go and innovative things to be done with the smart contracts and why behind the music.
- Almond: ...
- Rumpus: I think what I love about the question is ā especially with web3, it doesnāt change our perspective, but add what it means to raise the bar, and to touch on ā go to blackdave, but first things first: when it comes to raising the bar in this space, you have to understand yourself as an artist and what kind of artist you are. Moving from that position and know that the type of community youāre trying to create, and from there, it allows you to maximize opportunity to connect your listeners. When you understand yourself, your community, and who youāre selling to, it gives us a position to dive deeper in what an experience looks like. So how are my listeners going toe xperience this song? What I love what blackdave did - what are you looking for? The collector said āIām in it for rareā and web3 is opening more openness on an independent level to choose how people experience our music. People donāt just listen to the song, they like to have the visual to go with the song, or the back story to go with the song, or the people that hang around the song. Web3 is forcing us to raise the bar on an entry level. By the time we get to a professional level, itās like youāve been doing this on for a while. Love what Kizzie said. Love the Dolphin Collector analogy from Almond. Weāre getting to the point to focus less on like, you know trying to be this top tier person and focus on more building a relationship with people, and relationship with community, and when you do hear the song, and when you connect with it, it takes you back to a memory or a place. Weāre going to dive deeper with the audience that listens to our music.
- Pat: when I was younger in music age, I was a huge fan ā of Lupe Fiasco. The lyricism, but as I got older, the lyricism is cool, but I want to feel something too. I canāt feel it if Iām trying to decipher every bar. I love listening to lyrical rap music, but love music that connects.
- cxy: best value that I can bring is perspective as collector. Iāll jump right in to it. The biggest way I think of it is the way Almond doxxed himself, Iām older than Almond. I have that perspective of like, have infinite time to listen to music in high school, but no time and yet relatively infinte funds. The meta Iām trying to accomplish - put back into ecosystem as I had drawn from, coming up. The world of music came from this like, the way you have time to look at other peopleās collections , that level of exploration and freedom to understand your current state of culture that predated you and old CDs and whatnot, that was just amazing. As I made my way around in the industry, I realized there was a lot of funds that made the culture possible, when I was making it part of my identity. I collect now: I donāt listen a lot to what I buy, but what I buy is what I think is meaningful, to me personally and to the growth of the culture at large. What do I mean by culture? For web3, itās the creators: technical, artists, collectors ā weāre all trying to create simultaneously. In the past, artists who were at the mercy of the legal infrastructure that were never contemporary with ā the distribution, financial, all of that ā whatever the culture creators that had to deal with, [...]
- Almond stopped taking notes at 5:31PM PST. š
