Podcasts about music nfts

In this episode of Seeing Them Live, Charles interviews Shelley Van, an experienced community builder, marketer, and manager of Tru Band Room, a music venue in Decentraland. Shelley discusses her journey from her first concert experience at the B96 Bash to managing over 1,000 performances in the virtual world.Shelley highlights the unique aspects of virtual events, such as creating avatars, virtual merchandise, and NFTs to engage audiences globally. The conversation delves into the challenges and opportunities of Web3 and how it offers new ways for independent artists to monetize their work. Additionally, Shelley shares memorable moments from her virtual concerts, including a special Christmas event featuring Krampus and live interactions with fans from around the world.BANDS: Aerosmith, Ash Orphan, Buffalo, Death Cab for Cutie, Deep Sea Diver, Ed Sheeran, Jessica Dobson, Kid Rock, Kings of Leon, Krampus, Mr. Swee, New Kids on the Block, Pans, Psychedelic Furs, Spottie WiFi, Stoney Eye, Tara Who, The Shins.VENUES: Aragon Ballroom, Credit Union One Amphitheater, Decentraland, Filling Station, Kettle House Amphitheater, Liar's Club, New World Music Theater, Soldier Field, Troubadour, Tru Band Room. PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLivePlease help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon.WEBSITE:https://seeingthemlive.com/Visit the Seeing Them Live website for bonus materials including the show blog, resource links for concert buffs, photos, materials related to our episodes, and our Ticket Stub Museum.INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708

Imran and Qiao invited Anil and Yan of Delphi Digital to talk about the top trends in crypto VC.No BS crypto insights for founders.Timestamps(00:00) Intro(04:31) What's Currently Interesting in Crypto(07:48) One of the Most Important Lessons Qiao Learned(09:35) What Verticals Are You Excited About?(13:38) Soundmap (Pokemon Go for Music)(14:45) Anil's Music Crypto Experience(16:20) Music NFTs(19:09) The Weeknd(21:45) Gaming(25:10) AAA Games in Crypto(25:19) Off The Grid(27:04) Hytopia(28:44) "Play to Earn"(30:24) What is Something That's Very Consensus Today That You Disagree With?(34:11) "Crypto is really good for 3 types of payment"(35:36) Micro and Irreversible Payment on Dating Apps(38:02) Moonwalk Fitness(40:14) "Prediction markets are gonna fail after the elections"(43:05) Pop Culture Prediction Market(49:44) AI in Crypto(54:04) Which Crypto AI Product Has The Most Traction Today?(01:00:48) Most Interesting Dataset in Grass Protocol(01:02:04) Crate(01:12:42) Censorship Resistance(01:14:49) Apps that Create New Consumer Behaviors(01:18:14) DePIN(01:25:49) Interesting Stats About Gen Z and Gen AlphaAnil Lulla Twitter/X: https://x.com/anildelphiYan Liberman Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/yanlibermanSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3N675w3Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3snLsxUWebsite: https://goodgamepod.xyzTwitter: https://twitter.com/goodgamepodxyzWeb3 Founders:Apply to Alliance: https://alliance.xyzAlliance Twitter: https://twitter.com/alliancedaoDISCLAIMER: The views expressed herein are personal to the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or entity. Discussions and answers to questions are intended as generalized, non-personalized information. Nothing herein should be construed or relied upon as investment, legal, tax, or other advice.

What Does the Future Hold for Music NFTs?In the grand finale of our first season, we dive into the pioneering journey of Spottie WiFi, an artist who has embraced music NFTs to redefine his career. From his early days in Rockford, Illinois, through the formation of The Bridge, to becoming a digital music innovator, Spottie shares his story of resilience and creativity. Learn how Web3 has enabled him to connect with fans in new ways, protect his music, and explore the metaverse. This episode explores the profound impact of NFTs on the music industry and the exciting future ahead for artists. Join us for a thought-provoking and inspiring end to Season 1.Full video availlable on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gmgoodmusicpodFollow GM Good Music on X: https://x.com/gmgoodmusicFollow GM Good Music on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmgoodmusicSend us a Text Message.

Can a road trip change the course of a music career?Dive into the incredible journey of Rae Isla, an artist whose life and music are marked by constant motion and exploration. From the vibrant streets of Mexico City to the serene landscapes of the Pacific Northwest, Rae shares stories of collecting rocks, writing songs, and finding herself amidst the chaos. Discover how her Web3 tour revolutionized the way she connects with fans and sustains her career, and explore the profound impact of place, memory, and community on an artist's life. This episode offers a deep look into the creative and resilient spirit that drives Rae's music, highlighting the transformative power of embracing new experiences and staying true to one's artistic vision.Full video availlable on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gmgoodmusicpodFollow GM Good Music on X: https://x.com/gmgoodmusicFollow GM Good Music on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmgoodmusicSend us a Text Message.

What drives an artist to leave major labels for blockchain innovation?Explore the journey of innovative artist Dyl, who shares his experiences from signing with a major label to embracing the decentralized world of music NFTs. Dyl discusses his early days in the industry, the highs and lows of his label experience, and how he found new creative freedom in Web3. Discover how Dyl is using NFTs and social tokens to build a more sustainable and artist-centric music ecosystem. This conversation delves into the future of music, the power of community, and the evolution of artist independence.Send us a Text Message.

Is Web3 the key to unlocking true musical independence?Step into the world of Nessy the Rilla, a pioneering artist transforming the music scene through Web3. In this enlightening conversation, we explore how he has harnessed the power of blockchain technology to revolutionize his music career. This episode takes you through his experiences from humble beginnings in Detroit to a bold leap into the realm of music NFTs. Hear about the struggles and successes that have shaped his journey, including balancing a music career with fatherhood and forging new paths in the digital music landscape. Learn how Nessy the Rilla is using NFTs to build deeper connections with fans and redefine what it means to be an independent artist today. Tune in for a powerful discussion on the future of music in the blockchain era.Full video availlable on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gmgoodmusicpodFollow GM Good Music on X: https://x.com/gmgoodmusicFollow GM Good Music on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmgoodmusic

Can Web3's Creative Freedom Reshape an Artist's Career?Explore the compelling journey of Genzo as he transitions from the conventional music industry to the revolutionary world of Web3. In this episode, Genzo delves into his experiences with major record labels and how he's harnessing blockchain technology to forge a new path in music.Discover how Genzo's approach to music is evolving through Web3, including his collaborations with his daughters and the integration of music with visual arts. Learn about the challenges and opportunities that come with embracing new technology in music. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on creativity, resilience, and the future of the music industry.Full video availlable on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gmgoodmusicpodFollow GM Good Music on X: https://x.com/gmgoodmusicFollow GM Good Music on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmgoodmusic

Can Web3 redefine what it means to be a musician?Discover the incredible journey of Violetta Zironi as she transitions from traditional music platforms to the cutting-edge world of music NFTs. Violetta takes us through her early days of classical training, her struggles with major record labels, and how she found a new path in Web3. Learn how she harnesses the power of blockchain to create deeper connections with fans, offering unique experiences and artworks through NFTs. This episode delves into the challenges and triumphs of embracing digital innovation in music and what it means for artists in today's rapidly changing industry. Join us for an inspiring story of creativity, resilience, and the future of music.Full video availlable on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gmgoodmusicpodFollow GM Good Music on X: https://x.com/gmgoodmusicFollow GM Good Music on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gmgoodmusic

Miles of FanSociety joins The Agenda podcast to break down why musicians typically get such a small cut of the money generated by their music, and how blockchain-based fundraising tools may offer a lifeline and help artists build sustainable careers without needing record labels.The Agenda is brought to you by Cointelegraph and hosted/produced by Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung. Follow Cointelegraph on Twitter at @Cointelegraph, Jonathan at @maddopemadic and Ray at @HorusHughes. Jonathan is also on Instagram at @maddopemadic, and he makes the music for the podcast — hear more at madic.art.If you want to help build FanSociety, reach out to Miles on Telegram at @MilesAwayNoww. Check out Cointelegraph at cointelegraph.com.If you like what you heard, rate us and leave a review!The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast are its participants' alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph. This podcast (and any related content) is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, nor should it be taken as such. Everyone must do their own research and make their own decisions. The podcast's participants may or may not own any of the assets mentioned.

This is "Top Secret Information" episode 47

Leo Pastel is a musician, songwriter, multi-sensory artist and active builder in web3 music from Cincinnati, Ohio.He started releasing music in 2018 and has been involved from early days in the crypto music scene. His first single Woah was a hit with almost 750,000 streams on Spotify. He's produced as part of Songcamp and Camp CHAOS, and performed at FWB Fest in 2023.Leo tells stories about experiences in the gospel scene, growing up in a musical family, and singing as part of the Sunday Service Choir with Kanye. Leo is super prolific talking about music online, sharing opportunities in the web3 space, and co-hosting a weekly live space GRLKRASH talking all things music, with a podcast on the way.Music NFTs have been a hot topic in the US lately after Flyana Boss withdrew an NFT mint because their fans called for them to cancel it. Onchain music is a controversial and unpopular medium at this moment. NFTs have a reputation problem.Meanwhile, Condé Nast announced major layoffs at Pitchfork, gutting the editorial staff. People have since been reflecting on the value of music. How do we appraise and experience it culturally? If we're making music and no-one's around to listen, critique, write about it and record into the zeitgeist — does it make a sound?ufo.fmnews.ufo.fmtour.ufo.fm SPONSORSZerion combines every corner of web3 in a simple and intuitive app for self-custodial humans. Discover the hottest NFT collections, track your DeFi rewards, and vote in DAOs across 10+ chains. Get started at zerion.ioParagraph is where you can create, distribute & monetize - on your own terms. This publishing platform enables creators to mint posts as collectible content and send token-gated newsletters directly to wallet addresses. To get started with these radically powerful tools, visit paragraph.xyzLore is a group wallet experience for co-ownership. Own expensive NFTs, move memecoins markets and win crypto games together. Check out how you could use Lore with your friends to earn more than you could alone at lore.xyz.

In this exclusive episode of the Music NFT Podcast we sit down with Nigel Eccles, the CEO of Vault Music, to explore the convergence of Music NFTs and gamification. Join us as we dive into how the newly launched Fantasy Record Label is finally giving artists enough money to catch an Uber home from their gig. We'll uncover how gamification can reshape the Music NFT landscape, making it more engaging and interactive for both artists and fans. Nigel Eccles shares insights into Vault Music's pioneering efforts to create immersive experiences that go beyond traditional music distribution. Tune in to hear how gamification is giving artists the tools to drive their music careers forward. It's a visionary conversation you won't want to miss, right here on the Music NFT Podcast! Talk to us: twitter.com/musicnftpodcast

Milo Lombardi (Nifty Sax) is an Italian saxophonist, composer and founder. Lombardi has made history as one of the first instrumentalists to release collectible music on the blockchain. Lombardi's dedication to pushing musical boundaries has garnered international accolades, including recognition from legends like Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. A true visionary, Lombardi is redefining the music industry's future landscape with Nifty Music.In this episode, Spencer discusses the parallels between the music and software development communities, highlighting a shared spirit of open collaboration and creativity. Michael and Spencer delve deep into the heart of personal identity, the essence of creativity, and muse on the big questions of life.Here's what you'll learn about: The initial hype and subsequent bubble burst in the NFT space, highlighting the valid use case for music NFTs.The process of creating and selling music NFTs, emphasizing the importance of understanding the tech. How NFTs have the potential to revolutionize the music industry by addressing the economic value of streaming.Visit the Nifty Sax website here: https://niftymusic.academy/courseUse this code to get 50% off: MODERN50Follow and connect on X: https://twitter.com/NiftySaxTune into the live podcast & join the Modern Musician community here: https://link.modernmusician.me/join-podcastApply for Gold Artist Academy: https://masterclass.modernmusician.me/apply-success?utm_source=podcast

In this episode, we venture into the exciting realm of evolving music NFTs that reward artists and fans as they gather more streams. Join us as we uncover how these NFTs are revolutionising the way artists engage with their audiences. These innovative tokens don't just represent ownership; they evolve and unlock additional perks as their associated songs gain more streams. We'll dive into the mechanics of these dynamic NFTs, exploring how they work, what benefits they offer, and how they're changing the game for musicians and fans alike. Discover how artists can use this technology to incentivise streaming, engage their fan base, and earn more from their music. Whether you're a music enthusiast, a blockchain buff, or simply curious about the future of music distribution, this episode offers a glimpse into the transformative potential of evolving music NFTs. Tune in to learn how this groundbreaking technology is ushering in a new era of music appreciation, where more streams mean more rewards. It's a musical journey you won't want to miss, right here on The Music NFT Podcast.

Imran and Qiao bring on Scott Lewis to discuss the growing trend of tokenizing real world assets.No BS crypto insight for founders.Timestamps(00:00) Intro(00:51) Welcome to Good Game(01:15) What we are going to talk about today(01:54) Real world assets gaining traction in DeFi(03:26) Rapid growth of RWAs in Maker and other protocols(04:29) Stablecoins settling over $11 trillion on chain(06:32) Interesting data points about stablecoin usage(08:41) Factors contributing to the success of crypto payment startups(09:47) Challenges faced by early attempts at crypto payments(11:18) Commercialization of real world asset utility through startups(12:36) Importance of understanding demand before tokenizing assets(14:25) Tokenizing treasury bills as a potential asset class(20:24) Potential tokenization of collectibles like Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering cards(22:26) Appreciation of collectible cards and nostalgia driving demand(23:44) Nikita Bier's tweet on belief in crypto and global events(24:10) Potential demand for tokenized gold.(25:52) Tokenized carbon credits and their potential on-chain.(27:49) Tokenizing assets without a liquid secondary market.(29:01) Composability of RWAs with DeFi protocols.(31:21) MakerDAO's plan to create a new brand and extending capital base into real-world assets.(35:50) Let's bring on Scott Lewis(37:43) Lack of strong thesis on why tokenizing assets makes sense(38:24) Scott's background(41:25) Scott's interest in real world assets due to solving important problems(41:43) Tokenizing assets provides open liquidity and transparency(44:39) KYC/AML requirements vary for different issuers and money markets(45:20) Real world assets in DeFi are a hybrid of centralized and decentralized(46:59) Gabriel Shapiro's tweet - 3 types of RWAs that exist(48:29) Scott's role as a builder of infrastructure for real world assets(48:42) Discussion about representing builders(49:48) The difference between tokenizing stocks and US Treasuries(51:05) Excitement about tokenizing specific asset classes(54:24) Question about the demand for on-chain T-bills(55:45) Underground trading groups and interest rates as a tailwind for DeFi(57:28) Discussion on the demand for traditional assets in DeFi(59:55) Bullish or bearish on tokenizing real estate?(01:00:11) Uncertainty about tokenizing precious metals and collectibles(01:00:29) Pokemon cards and Magic: The Gathering cards discussed(01:02:05) Speculators vs end collectors in the collectibles market(01:02:46) Making access to real world assets easier(01:05:38) Debate on the importance of real world assets in crypto(01:08:36) Demand and cost efficiencies driving real world asset tokenization(01:12:01) The next asset class that is most likely to get tokenized and succeed on-chain(01:13:31) Music NFTs and their potential in the marketScott Lewis Twitter: https://x.com/scott_lew_isSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3N675w3Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3snLsxUWebsite: https://goodgamepod.xyzTwitter: https://twitter.com/goodgamepodxyzWeb3 Founders:Apply to Alliance: https://alliance.xyz/Alliance Twitter: https://twitter.com/alliancedaoDISCLAIMER: The views expressed herein are personal to the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or entity. Discussions and answers to questions are intended as generalized, non-personalized information. Nothing herein should be construed or relied upon as investment, legal, tax, or other advice.

Natasha and Deana had writer and podcast host Ladidai on the show to talk about the relationship between the music industry and emerging technology. Ladidai defined music NFTs and talked about needing a new language for this tech. They talked about the difference between collectors and speculators and what the role should be for traditional labels in this new landscape.  They also touched on AI and music, and what they're all excited to see emerge from this movement. Natasha and Deana closed out the episode with draft tweets.    Boys Club is proudly supported by Kraken. Kraken is a crypto exchange for everyone. 

Jim is the co-founder of This Is #1 NFT Art Gallery & Marketplace on Stacks and the creator of Audionals, a music ordinal standard on Bitcoin. Jim has a multi-decade history in the music industry and came to build on in Bitcoin a few years ago. His vision is to build a new way for artist to own their music through the permanence of the bitcoin blockchain.|Jim|• Twitter → https://twitter.com/jimdotbtc• Website → https://audionals.com/|CONNECT WITH JAKE|• Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/jakegallen/• Twitter → https://twitter.com/jakegallen_• Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/JakeNGallen• Linkedin →  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-gall...|FOLLOW AND SUBSCRIBE THE PODCAST|• Website → https://www.jakegallen.com/• Youtube → Subscribe to this page• Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...• Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/7hQdRAz...• Google Podcasts → https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR...• RSS Feed → https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1005154.rss• Website → https://solo.to/theguestlistpod• Media Host → https://theguestlistpod.buzzsprout.com/

Welcome back to The Music NFT Podcast, your go-to source for the latest developments at the intersection of music and blockchain technology. In this episode, we dive deep into Warner Music Group's exciting new venture into the world of Web3 with their Music Accelerator program, in partnership with Polygon Labs. Join us, Brock and Aaron, as we discuss the potential of NFTs to create new opportunities for artists and fans alike, and how blockchain technology is reshaping the way we think about music ownership and distribution. We also explore how bands like Avenged Sevenfold are innovatively onboarding their fans into Web3 and NFTs, and the potential of owning live music moments as NFTs. Don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell icon for regular updates on the latest developments in the world of Music NFTs. Together, we're making the future of music happen today. Follow Us: https://twitter.com/musicnftpod

Welcome to Musicians Tip Jar, where we talk about musicians and money. We learn today what the true meaning and potential of NFTs might be for the modern independent artist. I'm Chris Webb, joined by my co-host and the guy who once told me a music NFT was “Notoriously Funky Tablature,” Dave Tamkin.Today we complete our conversation with Austin, Texas, musician Josh Pearson. We discuss the many ways NFT's could be a big part of the future and ways you can use these ideas right now to make some new revenue streams with your music.“Most places you can carve your own niche and make full time music income work.” - Josh PearsonHAAM has helped 6,700 musicians across seven counties access over $144 million in healthcare services since we began in 2005. Services include routine dental work, doctor visits and prescriptions, psychiatric counseling sessions, eye exams, out-patient procedures,specialist referrals, hearing screenings, basic needs assistance, and more.Learn more at myhamm.orgDo you own any NFTs? Which actually stands for “non-fungible tokens.” Have you created any or thought about them? Do you have your own types of one of a kind offers that you give to your fans?Let's jump back in with our guest Josh Pearson about how he sees the future going with NFTs as well as some other creative ways to increase your income.Action:Consider some ideas for adding an exclusive offer to your fans that can both increase the value you offer them and the income your music biz provides you.https://joshpearson.org/**If you find this information useful, please rate and subscribe to the podcast. So we can help keep you up on the financial side of your music business. **outro:As always, thanks for joining us, and remember, there is already enough for everyone, you just need to know how to get it. Until next time, on behalf of Dave Tamkin and myself, Chris Webb. Stay happy, healthy, and wealthy. If you want to increase your net worth, start by increasing your self-worth. This is Musicians Tip Jar.

On this episode of Building at the Edges we sit down with Matthew Chaim of Songcamp to discuss the intersection of music and web3 tech. Matthew shares how Songcamp has evolved over time, and what his experience has been like leading a decentralized music collective.  We cover topics like tastemaking as an individual vs. tastemaking as a collective, the value and challenge of leadership in DAOs, the concept of a headless band, and the intersection of music and NFTs - a space Matthew believes is still being defined.    FOLLOW US Jesse: https://twitter.com/jessewldn  Seed Club: https://twitter.com/seedclubhq  Matthew: https://twitter.com/matthewchaim  Songcamp: https://twitter.com/songcamp_    LINKS https://www.seedclub.xyz/  https://songcamp.mirror.xyz/    TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 2:23 Songcamp 4:39 The success of Camps 9:18 Experimenting at the edges of tech 18:55 Collective tastemaking 22:23 The challenge of collective consistency 25:07 What is a headless band? 27:46 Is Songcamp a music label? 33:22 Music NFTs 36:37 What's next for Songcamp? 39:41 Outro   DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.  

What Lewis Capaldi's documentary taught us about the power of Music NFTs. In this episode Brok and Aaron discuss the insights gained from Lewis Capaldi's latest documentary and how they relate to the potential of NFTs in the music industry. Please Like, Share and Subscribe to the Podcast. Help us out by following the podcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@musicnftpod Follow the podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/musicnftpod Check out Project DJ here: https://twitter.com/projectdj_nft Follow Boi King Koi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/boikingkoi

Morkeeth and Michel, the Co-Founders of Anotherblock, joined Season 7 and spoke about securities laws around music NFTs.Full EpisodeSeason 7 Episode 22About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

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In this episode of the podcast Brok and Aaron explore how music NFTs are driving engagement and creating new opportunities for artists and fans alike. Help us out by following the podcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7tI-3hd0ZrmQ7tHEpZrq1g Follow the podcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/musicnftpod Please Like, Share and Subscribe to the Podcast. Check out Project DJ here: https://twitter.com/projectdj_nft Follow Boi King Koi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/boikingkoi

Brian Stollery is a seasoned C-Suite executive and media entrepreneur with a proven track record in the music and live entertainment industry. With a background in concert production, startups, video production, and event solutions, Brian is a thought leader in the intersection of interactive real-life and hybrid/virtual entertainment. He has a wealth of expertise in the Web2 and Web3 spaces, having brought tremendous value to strategic partners like Central Park SummerStage, NFT.NYCSony Music,  Universal Music, and Brooklyn Bowl. As the Founder and CEO of W3BSTOCK, Brian leads a global live entertainment production venture that produces concerts and music festivals all around the world, doubled in the Metaverse, and built using Web3 native tools and tech. He then transitioned to leading US business development for Music Traveler, a peer-to-peer, Air BnB-style app for the renting of concert halls and music studios, where he built the entire foundational U.S. pipeline. We chat about New Opportunities for Musicians and Comedians, AI hype cycle and the Metaverse, Music NFTs & Music Communities on the Blockchain, Broken System of the Music Industry  - What the future of live music and entertainment look like - What are the crucial elements that will unite physical and digital civilizations - How do we as a community foster more education and adoption around web3 - How the blockchain stands to fix the historical problems of a monopolistic, unfair music industry   Connect more with W3BSTOCK: https://t.me/W3BSTOCK https://twitter.com/w3bstock Https://www.instagram.com/w3bstock https://www.w3bstock.io/   KYRIAKI social media links: https://twitter.com/katiechonacas https://twitter.com/culturekidsxyz https://www.instagram.com/chonacas https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiechonacas VOReel: https://www.chonacas.com/voiceover/ https://www.chonacas.com/nft-cv/    Disclaimer: None of the information in the podcast should be considered as a financial advice. Always do your own research.   Please consider SUPPORTING my SHOW, SUBSCRIBE to the NEWSLETTER, ENTER in the GIVEAWAYS https://www.chonacas.com/contact/            

With Ray on vacation, Jonathan reflects on the first few weeks of The Agenda and shares extended content that had been previously edited down for time. He also previews upcoming episodes, which will dive into Bitcoin in Africa, cybersecurity, lunarpunk, mutual aid and more.The Agenda is brought to you by Cointelegraph and hosted/produced by Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung. Follow Cointelegraph on Twitter at @Cointelegraph, Jonathan at @maddopemadic and Ray at @HorusHughes. Jonathan is also on Instagram at @maddopemadic, and he makes the music for the podcast — hear more at madic.art.Check out Cointelegraph at cointelegraph.com.If you like what you heard, rate us and leave a review!The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast are its participants' alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph. This podcast (and any related content) is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, nor should it be taken as such. Everyone must do their own research and make their own decisions. The podcast's participants may or may not own any of the assets mentioned.

In this episode of rehash we sit down with Kabuki, a music producer who's been navigating the music industry since the early 1990's. Kabuki takes us through his music journey from web1 to web2 and now web3, sharing how he evolved as an artist throughout the changing times. We discuss how the ever-changing tech landscape has impacted the lives of artists, how music distribution has transformed throughout the decades, and how budding artists of today can take advantage of all web3 has to offer. FOLLOW USRehash: https://twitter.com/rehashweb3Diana: https://twitter.com/ddwchenKabuki: https://twitter.com/iamkabukiSPONSORSLens Protocol: https://lens.xyzAmbire Wallet: https://www.ambire.com/NFT.Storage: https://twitter.com/NFTdotStorageEDITORSEllie: https://twitter.com/elliedotsTyler: https://twitter.com/tylerinternetLINKS Kabuki's site: https://linktr.ee/iamkabukiForefront: https://twitter.com/forefront__Infracom: https://infracom.bandcamp.com/⌛ TIMESTAMPS0:00 Intro0:45 Welcome Kabuki!1:50 Behind the name Kabuki3:14 Kabuki's relationship with Japanese culture6:11 Kabuki's background12:31 The turning point in Kabuki's career15:26 Adapting to changes in the music industry17:22 The evolution of music distribution21:06 Music industry in the 2000s and 2010s 27:31 The downside of web2 for music creators 30:31 Kabuki's experience in web3 35:32 The future of web3 music40:11 Tips for artists getting started in web346:16 Word Association game47:29 Follow kabuki!DISCLAIMER: The information in this video is the opinion of the speaker(s) only and is for informational purposes only. You should not construe it as investment advice, tax advice, or legal advice, and it does not represent any entity's opinion but those of the speaker(s). For investment or legal advice, please seek a duly licensed professional.

Peter Saputo, the web3-native music artist, joined Season 7 and spoke about his thought process with understanding platforms for music NFTs.Full EpisodeSeason 7 Episode 11About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

Hey VeVe fam! As you all know, Music and Sports will be the two new categories VeVe Collectibles will introduce in 2023. In this episode, we will dive into the 3 Music NFT products that are available on the market, including access, royalties, and merchandise. We hope this episode will give you an idea on the future of VeVe NFTs! 

Nigel Ford is a creative director, executive producer, music industry and web 3 enthusiast, published works with artists such as PATCH BAE, Evan Nagao, Forrest Walker, and more. We chat about: VeeCon, Gary Vee, Veefriends Being a student at USC in the music program The very first University DAO at USC Monks NFTs & Music and Marketing and the longer term vision NFT Community  & Web3 Music Label Services   Social Media for Nigel Ford: https://instagram.com/monknige.eth https://monksnft.com   Please consider SUPPORTING my SHOW, SUBSCRIBE to the NEWSLETTER, ENTER in the GIVEAWAYS https://www.chonacas.com/contact/ Social media links: https://twitter.com/katiechonacas https://twitter.com/culturekidsxyz https://www.instagram.com/chonacas https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiechonacas Voiceover Reel: https://www.chonacas.com/voiceover/ https://www.chonacas.com/nft-cv/    Disclaimer: None of the information in the podcast should be considered as a financial advice. Always do your own research.  

Peter Saputo, the web3-native music artist, joined Season 7 and shared his understanding of the evolution of music NFTs since he joined web3.Full EpisodeSeason 7 Episode 11About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

In this video, we will be discussing the recent ban on cryptocurrency ads on the Super Bowl, the launch of Snoop Dogg's music NFTs, the new collaboration between Doritos and Decentraland, and much more. We will also take a look at Bitcoin NFTs and why they're controversial among the community.

illaDaProducer, the Grammy-nominated multi-platinum Producer joined Season 5 and shared his view on collecting music NFTs.Full EpisodeSeason 5 Episode 2About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

In this episode of From the Blockchain, Ashley (Bored Becky) is joined by guest Travie, who is a member of the Fame Lady Squad community and is also the host of the FIRED UP (on the Blockchain) Podcast as well as co-host of the NFT365 Podcast. Travie is a champion of utility cases and digital ownership on the Blockchain. He advises several NFT brands, has spoken on stages at NFT London and Miami and is scheduled to speak at NFT NYC in April. Travie is also preparing to launch The Journey NFT program. The Journey NFT is currently in pre-mint, and is designed to support underprivileged children whose art, theater, music and STEM programs in public school are being defunded. The Journey also helps to fund artists and musicians currently selling their work on the Blockchain. In this episode, topics include: 01:19 – Introduction and industry updates 07:59 – Meet Travie! Learn about what Travie is currently working on 11:11 – Travie's background and how he got to where he is today 16:56 – Crypto Realtor Accreditation in the real estate market 20:45 – Travie's podcast and his motive behind it. Learn what inspired Travie to get into the podcast space and his mission to bring “One Love” to Web3 27:09 – Audience feedback from Travie's podcasts and the reasons you should be true to your “why” 31:27 – Travie discusses the “One Love” mentality for Web3 which comes from the song One Love by Bob Marley. He talks about how we are all connected and going through life together. His philosophy is to treat everyone how you would want to be treated. 34:51 – Ashley uses AI to creation a question for the guest; Travie talks about his love of Music NFTs; Travie discusses the future forecast for the space 42:59 – Travie introduces his NFT brand, The Journey and its mission 49:09 – Find out more about the NFT NYC event that Travie will be speaking at 50:08 – Where to find Travie and learn more about his projects Also in this episode, Ashley announces a new feature to the podcast, where AI (specifically ChatGPT) will be generating a question for each guest moving forward! Today's show is brought to you by Daz3D    LINKS: To learn more about Fame Lady Squad and our NFT project, visit our website. Have a question, comment, or guest suggestion? Fill out this form Subscribe to our newsletter here Follow Ashley “Bored Becky” on Twitter Follow Danielle “NFTIgnition” on Twitter Follow Cara on Twitter Follow Travie on Twitter Travie's Linktree Travie's NFT The Journey OpenAI - ChatGPT Travie's Podcast FIRED UP (on the Blockchain) Travie's Podcast NFT 365 Podcast NFT.NYC NFT London MasterCard WEB3 newsIf you would like to listen to the episode Ashley and Cara joined on Travie's podcast

Let's chat with singer/song writer Elizabeth Clark on the release of her new EP, My Story: Chapter One.  She's not only streaming everywhere, but on the blockchain too, with both ETH and SOL music NFTs.   Elizabeth Clark Info https://twitter.com/1ElizabethClark https://www.elizabethclarkmusic.com Opensea Collection (ETH) https://opensea.io/collection/ecmusic BoomBox Marketplace Collection (SOL) https://boombox.market/collection/BP17vq2hK7R4XQ2sHKr1GGReTtwM1NLMvsGrjASXi9dU Forum12 Christian Web3 Summit (1/25/2023) https://forum12.com/web3-summit/

VÉRITÉ, an American singer and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York, joined Season 4 and shared her breakdown for the 3 different types of music NFTs.Full EpisodeSeason 4 Episode 11About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

Jonathan and Ray sit down with Adam Levy of the Mint podcast and rapper Jay Kila to chat about music NFTs, hip hop in India, the creator economy, and how nonfungible tokens can help independent content creators monetize their work and grow their audience.The Agenda is brought to you by Cointelegraph and hosted/produced by Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung. Follow Cointelegraph on Twitter at @Cointelegraph, Jonathan at @maddopemadic and Ray at @HorusHughes. Jonathan is also on Instagram at @maddopemadic, and he makes the music for the podcast — hear more at madic.art.Follow Adam Levy on Twitter at @levychain and Instagram at @levychain, and Jay Killa on Twitter at @jkila and Instagram at @jay_kila.Cointelegraph's website: cointelegraph.comThe views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast are its participants' alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph. This podcast (and any related content) is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, nor should it be taken as such. Everyone must do their own research and make their own decisions. The podcast's participants may or may not own any of the assets mentioned.

Daniel Allan, a pioneer of Music NFTs, outlines his struggles navigating the LA music scene and how NFTs allowed him to flip the industry on its head. Daniel's sound is undeniably catchy, and his NFT sales are a clear strategic success story.

Tatiana Moroz is the creator of the 2014 Music NFT known as TATIANACOIN who also worked with Adam B. Levine to release various artist related tokens on Counterparty from 2014-2017. The TATIANACARD in the historic collection Spells of Genesis is a replica of her influence on the community during those times. She is also the founder of Crypto Media Hub, a songwriter, singer, and one of the early musical artists in the crypto industry. |Tatiana Moroz|• Twitter → https://twitter.com/queentatiana• Website → https://linktr.ee/tatianamoroz|CONNECT WITH JAKE|• Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/jakegallen/• Twitter → https://twitter.com/jakegallen_• Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/JakeNGallen• Linkedin →  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-gall...|FOLLOW AND SUBSCRIBE THE PODCAST|• Website → https://www.jakegallen.com/• Youtube → Subscribe to this page• Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...• Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/7hQdRAz...• Google Podcasts → https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR...• RSS Feed → https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1005154.rss• Website → https://solo.to/theguestlistpod• Media Host → https://theguestlistpod.buzzsprout.com/ 

William Bailey, Founder, and CEO of Bolero Music, joined Season 4 and spoke about the state of music NFTs in 2022.Full EpisodeSeason 4 Episode 12About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

Stani Kulechov, the founder of Aave and Lens Protocol, joined Season 6 and shared his pov on the current state of music NFTs. Full EpisodeSeason 6 Episode 18About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

David Greenstein, the Co-Founder of Sound.xyz joins Season 6 for his second time being featured on Mint. He shares a sneak peek of what he believes the next few months for music NFTs look like.Full EpisodeSeason 6 Episode 22About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

Alex Svanevik of Nansen.ai shares his thesis for music NFTs as a whole.Full EpisodeSeason 6 Episode 4About Mint ShortsEnjoy the best moments from the podcast in bite-size segments.---------------------------------------------------------------------------Sign up for Adam Levy's newsletterhttps://levychain.substack.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------Follow Adam Levy on social media:Twitter:https://twitter.com/levychainInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/levychainLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/levy-adamWebsite:https://adamlevy.io

Cooper Turley, better known as Coopahtroopa, is betting big on ushering a new generation of music. In September, he announced a first-of-its-kind investment fund focused squarely on web3 music projects and artists themselves. Coop Records raised $10 million and Coopah will be the sole general partner. He's hesitant to call it just an investment fund though. That's because Coop Records is also a record label and incubator. Coopah will invest directly into web3-native music artists in a “seed round” — turning emerging artists into venture-backed startups.Structuring an artist's company is what Coopah sees as web3's biggest opportunity: resetting ownership dynamics. NFTs are another vertical of the Coop Records fund, in addition to the seed-stage investing in both companies and artists.  Coopah joined me on the show to give us an in-depth look at how Coop Records is eying its investment opportunities. Here's everything we covered:[0:00] How Coop Records started[2:06] Focusing on emerging artists, not established ones [3:35] Coop Records' investment thesis[7:24] Investing in artists during “seed round”[9:50] Structuring artists as a holdings company[11:40] What does an exit look like for artists investors?[15:00] Artists as CEOs[20:11] What makes a music NFT historical [22:28] NFTs as a replacement for masters and publishing[27:18] Accredited investors vs. fan investors[29:30] Artist success stories with community building on web3[31:40] Focusing on story when marketing NFTs[34:25] Optimizing for engagement not reach on social [39:24] How tokenization changes the artist-fan relationship [47:00] Predicting the year that music NFTs go mainstream [48:25] Coop's big question for web3Listen: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Overcast | Amazon | Google Podcasts | Pocket Casts | RSSHost: Dan Runcie, @RuncieDan, trapital.coGuests: Cooper Turley, @Cooopahtroopa Download The Culture Report here: https://trapital.ck.page/a23b7a6a4a Sponsors: MoonPay is the leader in web3 infrastructure. They have partnered with Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, and many more. To learn more, visit moonpay.com/trapital Enjoy this podcast? Rate and review the podcast here! ratethispodcast.com/trapital Trapital is home for the business of hip-hop. Gain the latest insights from hip-hop's biggest players by reading Trapital's free weekly memo.TRANSCRIPTION[00:00:00] Cooper Turley: And I think that gets to this artist development piece more broadly is that you're trying to start the process much earlier, much earlier than I think a lot of the major record labels are starting now. Because I think they often wanna see artists having some proven. Track record before they're willing to sign them.[00:00:24] Dan Runcie: Hey, welcome to the podcast. I'm your host and the founder of Dan Ruey. This podcast is your place to gain insights from the executives in music, media, entertainment, and more who are taking hip hop culture to the next level. [00:00:49] Dan Runcie: Today's guest is Cooper Turley, aka Coopa Troopa. He is the founder of Coop Records, which is a new venture fund, a 10 million fund that is focused on investing in the future of music, specifically in web three. He is someone that has made a name for himself as a thought leader in the space. He was involved with the Dow Friends with benefits and he's now started this fund to make economics better for artists and ultimately help them take more advantage of the opportunities that are around them. So we talked about a lot of it. We talked about how he views the space right now, why he started this fund, and what the fund's investing in. There are three main areas that we go into. We talk about investing in music startup. Investing in artist seed rounds and investing in NFTs themselves as an investible assets that him as a general partner and little Bited partners would wanna see returns from. So we talk about what the economics of that look like. I think that. Cooper stands out in a lot of ways because he has a much more nuanced understanding of how Web Three fits in with the broader ecosystem of what's happening right now in music, what some of the trade offs are with the financials, the relationship with fans, what services it offers versus the traditional record labels and more really insightful conversation, and I hope you enjoy it. Here's our chat.[00:02:07] Dan Runcie: All right. Today we're joined by Coopa Troopa who just launched Coup Records, which is his fund that is investing in the future of music and Web three specifically. And first off, congrats. I saw the announcement, it's really dope. So walk me through the process from thinking about you wanna start this fund to where you are now, today with it.[00:02:28] Cooper Turley: Absolutely. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here. I've been in music for the last 10 years in crypto for the last five, and so I've seen everything from ICOs to Defi, to Dows, and not most recently NFTs. You know, throughout that time I've been active across public markets as a trader, behind the scenes, as an angel investor, as a community builder, and as an operator. And when I started to think about how to connect all the pieces together, I've always been a fan of music. I felt like there was never really a clear vehicle to help elevate and amplify the space. And so I found coop records to be the best way to really just zoom in on this niche that I'm so excited about and figure out how to really help the founders, artists, and builders that are supporting this space everyday.[00:03:05] Dan Runcie: Makes sense. What were the conversations like getting buy-in from LPs?[00:03:10] Cooper Turley: Basically helping to explain what music NFTs are, why this is a vertical that you'd wanna invest in at this time and day? You know, historically I think that music has gotten a bit of a bad rep, cuz it's very antiquated in a lot of ways. You know, there's a lot of systems that are very complicated and hopefully we can unpack some of those on this episode. But, I think we through presents a new opportunity for artists to monetize in creative ways. You know, as someone who's been a curator my whole life, it's very easy for me to understand the value of investing in songs, artists, et cetera. But for someone who's not music savvy and not passionate about this sector, you know, the majority of those conversations are why would anyone wanna collect a song? Why would someone wanna invest in an artist? And trying to help people understand why there's an opportunity here that I think is. Influential and paramount for the next chapter of music. But once people get over that line, you know, I've kind of been able to build a brand for myself that I think speaks very clearly to why I'm so excited about music. And so for investors that are looking to get exposure to the space, coop records is a great way to get that exposure without them having to get as deep in the trenches as I am.[00:04:07] Dan Runcie: Right. And I gotta imagine that that probably took a few conversations just given things that I'm hearing too, from folks. People, they understand the promise and the opportunity of what NFTs and what web three offer, but there's. Hesitation, there's still perception about what's going on and some of the headlines that people see. How did you communicate or address some of those concerns while still sharing the value add for what you have? [00:04:32] Cooper Turley: Yeah, I really focus on emerging artists. You know, I think that this is where the vast majority of value will accrue over the next couple years with Web three. And so when you think about investing in music, most people's mind goes to like, how do we get Drake to drop NFTs? I actually don't really focus on that at all. Instead, I think about how do we develop the next act that becomes Drake using Web three tools? And so for investors that are kind of hesitant about getting involved in the space, I point out early examples like X copier people, you know, crypto artists who really made a brand and a name for themselves on the back of selling their nfts. And obviously in the case of people, he had a major brand before, but it wasn't until the existence of NFTs and sort of these community based assets that they started to see monetization aspects with their fans and with their collectors. And so trying to highlight that there's an opportunity here to develop and support emerging artists new to Web three through music, I think it really made a clear case that. This isn't about trying to get your biggest celebrity to drop NFTs. I think that will happen at some point in time. But this is about investing in the infrastructure and the artists that are going to make this space very valuable over the next couple years.[00:05:31] Dan Runcie: And one of the things I like too about how your fund is structured or reminds me a bit of Matt Pinkus and how his music fund is structured. It's not just focused solely on startups that are trying to build the next tech platforms. You're also looking more broadly. The NFT space itself and what that opportunity looks like and it'd be great to break each of those down. So let's start first with the music tech companies, cuz I know that's 85% of your fund looking at preceded seed stage companies. What's your thesis for the type of company that is a coop records company that you're looking for? [00:06:04] Cooper Turley:  I'm a really big fan of composability. So in Defi there's this concept of money Legos or protocols and platforms that could plug into one another. I believe the same thesis will play out with music, where we're gonna have music legos, where there's different marketplaces, service providers, tooling, infrastructure that can help sort of amplify what an artist can do with Web three. And so when I think about investing in a music tech company, I think about culturally, is this company aware and active within the pocket that I'm spending a lot of my time in? And then beyond being aware of sort of the artists, the songs, the type of platforms that are doing well in this space, do they have the open mindedness to wanna work in collaboration with those other platforms? So in accurate, we can kind of create this toolkit in this stack where if I am an artist who's new to web three, it's not about choosing Spotify versus Apple, it's actually about trying to develop a presence across many platforms. And hopefully those platforms. The life of the artist easier by making everything connect together with one another.[00:06:56] Dan Runcie: And I feel like this speaks to one of the broader themes that I know you've talked about before, is. It can't be this approach of web three versus web two. These things need to be collaborative. No more zero sum games. How can you think more broadly about the opportunity there? How do you view that more broadly, not just with the fun, but also likely how you're seeing the space with any artist that you're working with too?[00:07:21] Cooper Turley: I'm really laser focused on web three platforms because I think there's a lot more room for change within those platforms. You know, I have nothing against legacy platforms like Spotify have done fantastic work for artists and I think there will be at a time and day when they're able to enable music, NFTs to be purchased, collected, listened to within their platform. But the reality is these companies are so sophisticated that trying to move the needle is very complicated. And so for someone like. I'm running this fund as a solo gp. It's a relatively small fund, and so when I think about where I can have impact and leverage, it's typically working with very early stage founders. You know, I can get in the trenches and help to develop the product. Think about how we're onboarding artists, think about new marketing strategies. And so for me, I think right now it's about cementing the cultural relevance and value of this emerging wave of Web three music. And once that's been clear and established, we can take those same values, ideas, songs, artists, and help to bring those into the traditional industry in a more clear way. Because right now I think that a lot of the bigger players, let's call it major labels, et cetera, they recognize that there's value to be captured in Web three, but I don't think that they have the same level. Boots on the ground cultural awareness that maybe someone like, um, myself or some of my colleagues have. And so I think the challenge here is a, making it very clear what that culture is so you can start to translate it to larger players. And then once that they agree there is something of value there, you know, being able to act as a connector where you can say, Hey, maybe instead of going and doing a 500,000 or a million dollar drop for the biggest act on your roster, let's go ahead and find an emerging artist who's curious about the space and develop them with the course. Five or $10,000 drops and instead really build that community and that collector base in a very organic way.[00:08:56] Dan Runcie:  And I think that gets to this artist development piece more broadly is that you're trying to start the process much earlier, much earlier than I think a lot of the major record labels are starting now. Because I think they often wanna see artists having some proven. Track record before they're willing to sign them. And in some ways your approach isn't too much different. Maybe it's just a bit of a different stage because one of the other areas that you're investing in is artist seed rounds. And can you describe. What stage an artist would have to be in order to be at the seed round, and what types of things you're looking for there from an artist?[00:09:33] Cooper Turley: I think it's very similar to what I look for in companies. You know, has this artist been able to prove a little bit of traction? You know, have they demonstrated that they're culturally aware of where this industry is headed? You know, different things that I feel like are interesting to kind of describe. Cause it's not very concrete. Like you can't point to like a specific amount of sales or a specific amount of volume and say, okay, this artist is ready to be invested in. But it's really just a development process of like, is this person making web three a focal point in their career? I believe that that's something really important for me personally, cuz that's where I had the most leverage. But once they've demonstrated that they've been able to release on some of the bigger web through platforms, you know, once they've been able to collaborate and onboard other artists to the space, you know, you start to see that these people have like a little bit. Leverage was sort of their career. And at that point in time, instead of signing a traditional record deal, co records can really be the one to say like, Hey, let's go ahead and set up a company for you. Let's think about how we wanna do a cap table. Let's bring on some partners to give you the capital that you need to go and hire a team around you. So instead of selling your next three albums to a major label, you can instead fund this through accredited investors. And then over time think about the ways you wanna bring other partners into the fold, but not need to be so reliant on the capital to do that in the first place.[00:10:38] Dan Runcie: And with the artists specifically, cuz I know that you've started the fund. Maybe for the people listening, is there a particular artist that you have made a seed investment in just so people can get a good idea for, okay, this is someone that we invested in, this is where they're at in their career, and this is what the opportunity is [00:10:56] Cooper Turley: Not publicly. I think by the time this comes out, we'll be right around there. You know, I can say that privately, behind the scenes we're working. The first round, you know, we've had some very serious progress on it. Investors are excited about it. We're going through the whole corporate structure, but for me, this is a very different lane because it's not as simple as just investing in the safe note of a precede company. You know, there's a lot more complexity around IP ownership, around revenue sharing around. Kind of how this artist thinks about their company and what kind of rights they're giving back to people. And so it's a slower process, but it's one that's currently in motion. I expect that we'll probably have the first one announced within the next one to two months, but I can definitely say there's one in motion that I'm really excited about. And I think, you know, by the end of this calendar year, we should have that one announced. [00:11:37] Dan Runcie: I think part of this too is also the structure of things. You mentioned this earlier, and I think for a lot of artists it's probably. Not necessarily a new way to think about it, because I think in general, artists do think of themselves as having multiple revenue streams, but in order for this to work, in order for you to be able to make an investment, there needs to be some type of, whether it's a holding company or some type of structure in place so that you can make an investment that would touch all of these things. Can you talk a little bit about what that looks like on the artist side? [00:12:05] Cooper Turley: Yeah, it's a fantastic question. I wanna start by saying, This is early days and so this is the first stab at it. I think that this model will evolve and change over time. The way we're thinking about it is there's one Hold Co, that represents the artist ownership across their various income streams, uh, that hold co owns subsidiary entities, one of them being a music entity, which owns the masters in publishing for that artist. One being a live entity, which owns touring and merchandising, and then one being a Web three entity, which owns NFTs and. And so all of that wraps up into the larger hold cow. But the reasons those subsidiaries exist is because we wanna limit liability to each of those different vertical. If there's an issue across web three, we don't want that to end up touching the masters. If an artist wants to go and sign a record deal, they shouldn't have to figure out what to do with their touring or what their NFTs to be able to enter into agreement with a different party. And so we've kind of split up the different verticals into buckets that make sense relative to the type of partners and the type of work that it is. But all of that rounds back up into this holding company and when it comes time to invest in the artist, quote unquote, that artist is selling anywhere from five to 10% of that hold cow to accredited investors so that they can have exposure and pass through to those underlying revenue streams. But there's not this sort of majority ownership, creative control, et cetera. It's really, here's capital and exchange for you to go do what you do best. In exchange for that, we have exposure to these underlying entities, which represent the artist brand in its entirety.[00:13:27] Dan Runcie: And for an investor like you, I think most people listening have a good idea of what an exit looks like for a startup, but what does an exit look like for you as an investor, for an artist, if you're going in at that seed round?[00:13:39] Cooper Turley: I think there's a couple ways it can pan out. You know, one I think would be IP acquisition. Let's say that there's a buyout of someone's masters or publishing, et cetera. You know, there's kind of larger capital inflections that can happen later down an artist's career. I'm more excited about this idea of taking artists public cuz it's something that hasn't really been done before, but I think will happen eventually. Where right now, if you're a fan, you can't really invest or bet on an artist. I think we're starting to see us at a very granular level with music NFTs, and it's something I would love to cover as the last bucket next, but to me, I think an exit here is helping an artist really take this company that we structure for themselves and explore what it means to go public. And so rather than only accredited investors being able to buy into that five or 10%, how do you invite fans to participate in that convers. I think that there's a lot of, uh, legal nuance there that needs to be figured out. And so I don't have that answer today, but I would say that more broadly, the two ways that this could happen is a, investors are seeing a return from the IP becoming more valuable, and they're being capital injected into the whole co. Or B, more optimistically the artist, quote unquote, going public by either, you know, listing on a traditional market or what I think is more likely is creating some form of a token, which represents exposure to this entity that's been set up to represent the artist brand in the first.[00:14:49] Dan Runcie: Got it. And then from a structure perspective, do you ever hear any type of pushback or comments from artists who feel like, oh, you're getting a slice of all these revenue deals. This feels similar to a 360 deal. Do you hear any of that at all?[00:15:04] Cooper Turley:  Yeah, I mean, it is a 360 deal, and I think that that's really important to like zoom in on, because 360 deals have gotten a really negative rep because of the percentage ownership that they typically encompass. So traditionally with 360 deals, it's anywhere from 50 to 80. When we talk about a 360 deal in this context, it's five or 10%. And if you start to look at the way that companies take on dilution and precede and seed stage rounds, it's kind of the same concept. You know, like that company is basically taking all of their revenue into this central entity and they're selling off dilution to investors. And so I think for artists, this is particularly scary because there's been such a history of people taking advantage of 360. But I don't think the structure with 360 deals incorrect. I just think the ownership targets that those deals are typically set at is what's really predatory. And so if we can zoom out a bit and instead say, Hey, five or 10% can give you a couple hundred grand, maybe a million dollars to go invest in a team around you, there's ways for that capital to be really value added where the dilution is actually necessary and valuable because it helps you advance your artist career in a way that you simply couldn't do without it.[00:16:04] Dan Runcie: I agree with that. I think that that's, Testament of some of the challenges with the broader major record label system as well, right? It's not that people shouldn't be willing to trade some level of ownership in exchange to get a boost from the company. It's how much ownership, it's what the terms that the actual economics look like, not the economic agreement itself.[00:16:28] Cooper Turley: Yeah, it's correct. And I think that it's something that is really important to help educate artists on. And this is the area that I'm actually most fascinated by is like artists really thinking about rights ownership, thinking about dilution, thinking about cap table management. And just with that in mind, I wanna highlight, it's a very specific type of artist that is willing to enter into this quote unquote, artists seed round. Because I think that most artists are not thinking about their brand as a ceo, but I think there are very selective artists who think about their entity as a business and for those specific artists being able to demonst. There's value in having employees. There's value in giving them long term options and equity, and having these ownership incentives be a little bit more aligned. I think traditionally music has existed in this weird ballpark where we've basically only ever sold masters in publishing. We haven't really experimented with equity or any of these other ownership vehicles that startups have been taking for the last couple generations, so I'm excited to explore it. You know, I by no means have all the answers, but I think. My time investing in precede and seed stage companies has given me a little bit of context on how things work behind the scenes, and I'm hoping that with a little time and effort, we can sort of mold those same practices and help apply them to artists more broadly.[00:17:34] Dan Runcie: That makes sense. And I have to imagine too, with artists as well, there's some artists that love the mentality of being the business person themself that can be the CEO and wear multiple hats. There's other artists who I. As much as they want the business to work for them, they just wanna focus on the art. So there's specific things that you're looking for to determine, okay, is this artist gonna be wanting to be the ceo? Or maybe making sure that they are partnered with someone that may wanna be in that role instead[00:18:05] Cooper Turley: Yeah, I mean, you just touched on it perfectly. I think that there's situations where artists have partners that are acting as their ceo, you know, and in many typical startups you have a ceo, a cto, a ceo, et cetera. Um, the artist isn't the only person that's responsible for their success. They're obviously the largest player in that. But it's less about, is this artist capable of being a ceo? It's more about is this artist capable of building a team around them that can. In tandem as a unit and as an organization. And if that artist is uncapable of operating as the CEO, because they're phenomenal at making music, it's very likely that there may be a manager, an agent, a business partner, et cetera, that could step into that role. And I think the biggest thing that I'm excited about is to realign incentives around the service providers around an artist. So whether that be a manager, an agent, a business manager, a lawyer, et cetera. Typically, all these actors are just operating on commission, you know, and they have five or 10 clients because there's no guarantee that they'll be with that artist in 10 years time. You know, these contracts aren't really a center aligned for those key players. But if we can instead start to create an instrument where a managers may be able to take a salary and then have equity that's vested over four years, I think there will be more situations where artists would be willing to enter into a full-time quote unquote agreement with their manager, because that a manager is now incentive aligned to actually spend all their time developing one. Instead of needing to commission off of five or 10 different artists just to be able to make a living.[00:19:24] Dan Runcie: It's a huge point because there's so many managers I've talked to that just talk about how thankless that job is, and that's purely just from how they're treated, not even getting to the economic aspect. You start thinking about the economics about how managers are treated and yeah, maybe you'll get 10 to 15 to 20%, but if that artist levels up and then they wanna level up their manager too, they can just be like, Hey, sorry, I wanna move on. And you, the person that brought them from zero to 40. Now you have nothing. Right?[00:19:54] Cooper Turley: Yeah. I mean, it happens time and time again from smaller artists to the biggest acts in the world. I mean, I don't have to name names here, but I think we all know examples of this happening time and time. And it's really just a game of incentive alignment. You know? And when I think about the term web three, to me that means ownership. And so for all of these different deals that I'm doing, it's about how do you create ownership incentives so that everyone who's contributing value to this entity is able to capture that in some way, shape, or form. And so I think it's a very difficult conversation to tell a manager, Hey, instead of taking a 15 or a 20% commission, you're gonna get a base salary and then have a couple equity percentage points that best over multiple years. But when you start to zoom out a bit, you start to see like, hey, maybe 1% of equity can actually be more valuable than 20% commission. Because if you're operating a multi-million or multi-billion dollar business, you know that's a life-changing amount of money. And so I don't expect this is something that's gonna happen in the short term. I think it's gonna take a very new class of partners, managers, agents, et cetera, that are willing to enter into these type of. Situations and these type of organizations. But I'm very excited to work with the emerging class of talent that's willing to try something out a little bit differently because I think that new class of talent is looking for an opportunity here. And I think that we've seen time and time again that the systems that exist today work, but I think that there's a lot of room for improvement and I'm excited to use some of the artists that we're working with help push the needle on what that could like. [00:21:11] Dan Runcie: Yeah, and I think the other point that you mentioned too, was aligned as well, just in terms of artists being able to have that team around them. We've seen so many examples where whether it's Jay-Z, having someone like a Dame Dash next to him, or you have Jay Cole and e Bama, they've been working together for years. Kate, uh, Kendrick Lamar, and the whole Top Dog team. These artists are doing it themselves, and oftentimes the ones that try to get stuck, so no different then. Yeah, a startup, if you're trying to raise money, they're gonna push back. If you have the technical co-founder being the same one that's trying to go raise money, right? Like you need to have some expansion there. So I think so much of that makes sense. I do wanna talk about the other piece that you mentioned though, the NFT piece of it, because the way that you're investing in these, I think could be eyeopening to some of the folks listening because you're looking. And I heard you referred to historic NFT opportunities and NFTs as collectables. Can you talk a little bit about what you're looking for if you're investing in NFTs through this fund and how that may separate from what a lot of people may assume when they think about an nft. [00:22:18] Cooper Turley: Yeah, so there's a really amazing market of songs that are being released as collectibles right now. You know, there's platforms like Sound xyz, where every day an artist is releasing a song with 25 editions as NFTs. And I've been really active across these markets for the course of the last two years. Personally, you know, biggest collector on Sound today, one of the biggest collectors on catalog. And I'm really excited about being able to collect these early songs from artists that are building in Web three. You know, the analog I'd make here. Music, rookie cards. You know, we have rookie cards for basketball players, for baseball players, et cetera. We don't really have rookie cards for artists, and I think in a lot of ways these early music NFTs are sort of the equivalent of an artist rookie card. And so personally, I've been doing this for the last couple years. I recently just put out a post called the Music NFT Collector Thesis. This is how we're thinking about collecting from the fund. But to really break it down, we're thinking about how do we sort of acquire early NFTs that represent historical relevance of this. Web three and Music NFTs have been around for maybe a year at this point. I think that there's a huge opportunity for fans to start getting involved by collecting the songs that they love and for the fund. I almost look at music NFTs as the new form of like masters and publishing. You know, it's not quite one to one, but there's almost this new market being formed of Tradeable assets that you can buy for something like 50 bucks when it drops, and then hopefully have the ability to resell at a later. And I think for the fund, you know, us being able to participate in these markets and say, Hey, we are aware of what's happening on the ground floor with the next generation of developing artists, we're actively collecting these songs that we can show that were there from them, beyond needing to set up a company and needing to do some crazy type of investment situation. And I'm really excited about the opportunity just to have. Ownership over some of these really early collectibles, cuz I think they're very historic in the development of these artists' careers and I believe they're extremely valuable and will continue to demonstrate. So in the years to come. [00:24:03] Dan Runcie: You brought up an interesting point just about how you feel like NFTs could replace what we are naturally thinking about masters in publishing. I guess in terms of how artists are monetizing and what their ownership looks like. Can you talk a little bit more about that and specifically how that could look or what that could look like? Years down the road.[00:24:23] Cooper Turley: I mean, I'll start by saying that, um, masters in publishing are extremely valuable. You know, I think that this is a system that has worked for generations. There's a huge trend around catalog acquisition. I think that will continue to exist for many, many years to come. I think for someone like myself, me trying to get in the catalog acquisition game is not a smart move. You know, there's a lot of players with a lot more experience. There's a lot of people with a lot more money. The one unique advantage that I do have though, is developing thesises within this small pocket of web three artists, and the best way to get exposure to them is to simply buy their nf. You know the way that this looks is if there's the first song an artist ever released their artist rookie card, and there's 25 additions of that being sold for 50 bucks. If you zoom out and one of these artists becomes the Weekend, Drake Post Malone, Jack Harla, whatever it might be, there's a very high likelihood that those early additions are gonna be worth a lot more than $50. And so instead of trying to invest in the masters in publishing rights, those songs can also go on Spotify. They can stream extremely well. You can have relationships with major label. But I believe those early collectibles have a market of their own. These markets are not tied to any sort of royalty rights because it's just collectibles. You know, there's 25 additions of this digital vinyl. I can buy it for $50 and then sell it for whatever price I want in the future. And I think this is a market that not many people are paying attention to right now. But I think when it comes to new and creative revenue streams for artists, I think that collectibles are gonna be a very, very big market in the years to come. I think it's the most clear way that fans can start to get involved with sort of, Collectible nature of getting involved with an artist and as a fun, I think we're really excited to be participating here to say, Hey, we're really excited about this. I think there's some really amazing plays out there right now, and we're gonna continue to support artists on the ground floor to help develop this thesis. [00:25:59] Dan Runcie: Why do you think that a lot of people aren't paying attention? Or what do you think some of the, if there's friction or if there is just in a bit of a natural adoption curve, like what do you think's going.[00:26:12] Cooper Turley: It's just new. I mean, this entire market has only been around for a little bit more than a year at this point. You know, in total, I think we have less than a thousand artists that have ever minted a music NFT before. There's probably less than 10,000 people ever collected one before, and so. Relatively speaking, it's just a very new and small market. And I think for a lot of players that have bigger fish to fry, it's probably not worth their time to invest buying records for $50 because they have multimillion dollar record deals in place. You know, and so for someone like myself, um, a lot of what I do is help educate artists that there's a lot of value to be captured in web through right now based on how early it is. You know, I think that there's a lot of unlearning that can be done with the way artists are releasing music in Web three. And so traditionally, when you're putting out a song on Spotify, most artists I know here in. They'll take eight weeks in advance to think about what distributor am I gonna put this out through? Am I gonna sign this to a label? What's my advance? What's my marketing rollout? What's my TikTok campaign? How am I getting pre saves? How am I making the music video? And what I've been preaching is like, Hey, if you have a song, you should put that out tomorrow. You know, like there's people out there that would probably wanna collect that record. And if you can 5 25 people to come and collect music in FT for 0.05 E, they're basically $75. That's the equivalent of half a million streams. And so I think trying to teach people that you don't need to have this giant rollout process to make this headline moment with music. We've gotten really conditioned to trying to shoot for the new Music Friday playlist. You know, all of these emerging editorial playlists. One of the beautiful things about the SoundCloud era was people were just uploading music in real time and if you had your finger on the trigger, you could go and just repost something and be part of a wider movement. And I think what's happening with music and FTS now is artists are gonna start to see that you don't need to have a six week rollout to put out a collection of 25 songs. If you make that song on Wednesday and put it out on Thursday, you can immediately get funding from your biggest fans and use that funding to go and market the rest of your career and instead be able to obviscate the need for a lot of those major capital advances that typically get artists caught up in a weird position in the first place.[00:29:05] Dan Runcie: Yeah, that makes sense. I feel like if the funding's in place and you can replace early on, because I think for a lot of artists, the economics don't really work out either. Unless A, you own the underlying masters in publishing to begin, so you're just bringing on a. You know, revenue per stream or just general from what you're getting from streaming or on the other side, you're just massive, like Drake or someone like that. And your billions of streams per year brings in plenty of money. But for a lot of other artists, it ends up being either A, a loss leader if you're focusing solely on streaming or a, or you're leaving money on the table some type of way. So I feel like that approach is something that makes sense for a bunch of. On the investing side though, I have a few questions on this, but the first one, on the investing side though, how do you feel like the appetite will be for, let's say an artist does have early investors, the likelihood for those investors to be folks who are accredited, folks that just wanna be able to get a return, versus people who are actual fans of that artist. Any thoughts on what that mix may look like for the average artist that's going through the web? Growth cycle and the rep do growth curve?[00:30:19] Cooper Turley: Yeah. I mean, I can speak on this from the artist seed round that we're doing right now. Every investor in that round has been an active collector of this artist for many, many months. Prior to that, they all have personal relationships with the artist. You know, they may be an accredited investor, but they're not just bringing capital. They've been active and supportive of this artist's career way before the seed round even started. And so I think if we zoom out, there will definitely be situations. Investors just want to put in a couple hundred grand and not really worry about getting involved on the ground floor. But given how early it is right now, most of the investors who are interested in participating in these capital markets are ones who want exposure to both NFTs and to the artist equity. And so I think that over time, collectors to me are a little bit closer to like early investors. Think about them like almost angels or sort of like seed round investors. Over time, collectors will start to mirror more fan behavior. But I think for right now, a lot of the collectors I know, they're just excited to get exposure to an artist's career and to go and support them more so than they are to really go to their show or to buy their merchandise, et cetera. And I think that's where a lot of the pushback comes for web through music is like, oh, these people aren't actually fans. They're just, you know, buying NFTs. But if you zoom into what that means, it's almost a different form of fandom where they're providing capital to be able to have exposure to an artist's career. And their expectations are a lot less on the fan side. I need you to collaborate with this artist. I want you to put out this type of music. It's more so like, Hey, we just wanna support you and your career however we can. Because the more that you're able to identify your vision and create a brand around it, the more valuable our NFTs are going to become. And so it's a very mutual relationship I think hasn't really existed in music in the past.[00:31:50] Dan Runcie: You're really getting at this aspect of community and how artists can foster that, how they can build around them. We've seen the power of that in the SoundCloud era, so we've seen a lot of these things happening and what streaming in general has enabled to happen. What are some of the success stories that stand out to you when you're thinking about artists to be like, oh yeah, they've nailed community, or they're nailing community, like that's how you do it.[00:32:13] Cooper Turley: Yeah. I would say a couple artists to check out. Daniel Allen, I think has done a fantastic job of this in the web three space. Latasha who started something called Zora Topia has done a fantastic job at this Early nft. Artists like Matt Cha os. Grady bloody white. I mean, the list goes on and on, but basically you see. The small pocket of artists that are really making web through a centerpiece for their career, and they're leveraging that into creating more community conversation. Where typically all these artists have a collector chat where once you've bought a music nft, you can get into a private chat with that artist. It's typically 20 people, 25 people, and that artist is in there every day saying like, Hey, what do you guys think about this demo? Hey, I'm thinking about dropping a song next week. Which one do you like more? What do you think I should do for the supply? Do you think we should do an airdrop? And that conversation is a lot more interactive. And I think in a lot of ways artists have typically maintained separation from their fans to kind of uphold this like form of mystery and this like storytelling aspect. But what I'm seeing now is that collectors are getting really close to the artists that they know and love, and those artists are realizing that for a very specific demographic of their audience, they can be very value added, asked the right questions. And so instead of just doing a meet and greet or doing like, you know, 50 people standing in line to say hi, back to back for an hour and a half, it's like, hey, if we wanna have a valuable conversation about the future of my career, These other people that I can turn to, cause I know they have exposure to my brand and they actually typically have experience That's very valuable and it's something that I think is gonna happen more and more with the next generation of collectors to come.[00:33:37] Dan Runcie: Yeah, I think that's a good way to just think about the framing of it, right? Meet and greets can be great, but it's so transactional. It is really isn't an opportunity. And it kind of has a bit of this like hierarchical thing. Like, oh, I paid $500 extra at this concert to like take a picture with you. Versus no, like if you've really been with this person, then how can you help shape that in the same way that someone that was really early on can? So I feel like there's so many principles there and there's so much that aligns with, especially on the financial side. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the marketing side of it, because I know that's a piece that a lot of artists have had questions about, but I also think that we've seen from. Project specifically with Web three projects like outside of music where whether it is the creator themselves who's been able to market or get the word out effectively, or they've been able to just find ways to build their distribution themselves. What are some of the ways that you've seen artists who've been successful on the Web three Path have been able to replicate, or at least make up for some of the marketing that they would get from a major record label, but otherwise they're recreating on their own.[00:34:47] Cooper Turley: I think it starts from the story, you know, like first of all, what is the music that you're releasing and what is the story behind that? But more importantly, like what is the narrative with how you're using the technology? And so almost fusing together like the creative side with the tech side, you know, whether this be something as simple as like creating your own artist website where people are mentioning s from, or it's something like, hey, we're using on chain splits to reward and compensate. 15 different contributors, five of which didn't touch the music, but were helpful in the development or the project management or the visual assets, et cetera. You know, I think there's new creative channels to help bring more people into the table, but I would say generally Twitter is kind of the main resource for all web three artists. You know, the ones that I see doing really well are typically putting out tweet storms, talking a lot about the drops that they're doing, why they're doing it, and how they're doing it. I see a lot of artists doing these sort of collector chats and more private investor relationships. If they have a bigger release coming out, it's not only about posting the tweetstorm, it's also about going and finding time to talk to some of your bigger collectors one on one and being like, Hey, what do you think about this? How can I get you involved? What are some feedback you would have on this drop? Are you excited or not excited? And I think typically with music, traditionally, how it's released, Artist makes a song, they have their internal team, and then they put it out to the world. And when it's out to the world, everyone forms an opinion on it. With Web three music, a lot of the time, there's a lot more happening behind the scenes before the release actually comes out, so that when it is time for one of these releases to happen, you start to see these things sell out because there was a lot of work put into the record before it came out, and that's not untraditional from typical music, but I think the difference there. Active conversations with your collectors is very new. You know, typically it's like people around a table at a major label that are talking about like, how are we gonna market on TikTok? But this is different because it's going and having very direct conversations with the people that are supporting you the most. And in aggregate that sort of. Neural net of all these different people talking about your drop in tandem. It creates this sort of network effect where when it does come out, there's almost a rippling effect that helps to make the drop become more successful. And I think that's something that I'm seeing being replicated time and time again.[00:36:44]  Dan Runcie: And I know that, as you mentioned, Twitter has been a great space for artists to be able to share things. There's so much. There's so many people in the one three community that are active there, and I think have added to a lot of the discussion and narrative around it. But as someone who's active on Twitter myself, I know how small sometimes those circles can feel. What other platforms or what other areas are you seeing some of these conversations happen, and how long do you think until we're starting to see it not just becoming necessarily a Twitter thing, but it is expanding to more platforms and it's becoming a bit more of. Early majority, at least being able to catch on.[00:37:22] Cooper Turley: I think it'll be Twitter for the foreseeable future. You know, I think that's just where the vast majority of Web three people live. And I think it's actually the one social platform where you can talk about Web three and not get ridiculed for it. You know, I think across nft, TikTok, et cetera, it's very taboo to talk about NFTs, and I don't think that those users are really as tapped into sort of like the valuable aspects of Web three. And so I think for the immediate future, let's call it the next one to two. Twitter, I think is gonna be the source for all of that. And to your point, some of these communities do feel very small, but I think that's actually one of the biggest differences with Web three. You know, I think with traditional marketing platforms, we optimize for impressions, we optimize for plays, for eyeballs, et cetera. On Twitter, if you have 50 people that are consistently showing up to each of your drop, you're doing an amazing job. You know, I think that this is the biggest thing that shows why Web three is valuable is you don't need to have a million monthly listeners to make a couple thousand bucks. If you have 25 people that are willing to come and support you, you can make the same amount of money and have a deeper relationships with those individuals. And so I always say to artists, Even if you're only getting three, five reactions on your tweets every single time, that's very impressive because the benchmark to move the needle and Web three is a lot lower because every individual person is much more active and the quality of those conversations is much higher than what you could expect from a TikTok, Instagram, et cetera.[00:38:36] Dan Runcie: And I think in general, like with those platforms, you're more likely to reach people who are just casually following or passively engaging versus whether if you're already in that audience that's Twitter, you're likely reaching a more active fan base to begin with. And it gets to this whole concept of where can you not just reach followers, but reach people who are actual fans of their music? And a lot of the platforms that have grown tremendously large in the past few. Are much more overindexed on followers and less overindexed or or under indexed rather on true fans.[00:39:08] Cooper Turley: Yeah. And so there's still a lot to be done there. You know, I do believe there's a world in which artists that are using Web three and music NFTs become viral acts that have fans in the traditional sense. I try not to like focus on that too much because there's a lot of work that needs to be done to get there. I think that will happen, but I don't think it's healthy to think. What that looks like today, because frankly, we're just far away from it, you know? And I think for me, helping an artist get a thousand collectors is much more important to me than how do they get 10 million streams on Spotify? You know, if the ladder happens, that's great. But I think the former's actually a lot harder to do because it's a much smaller design space. But, you know, I think there's something really exciting there. And a lot of the work that I do as a collector is really just educating fans on like, why would I wanna collect music? Like, why would I wanna participate on the other side of these? I think from the surface, a lot of bands got really bad experiences with NFTs because artists were just selling random drops that didn't really have any merit to them. They didn't actually care about the output. They were just kind of doing something to be cool at the time. But now what I'm starting to see is that these emerging artists, they really care about their NFTs. They care about them just as much, if not more, than their release strategy on Spotify. And for those demographic of artists. If you are a fan that's looking to sort of develop a brand for yourself around. I believe that this web through music space is a great opportunity to do so. And what we're now seeing is a very small group of music collectors who are building their entire Twitter brand around collecting drops on sound, or writing newsletters or writing mirror posts, et cetera. And I think those are the type of people that I want to try and amplify in Spotlight because it's a very much two-sided marketplace here. And in order for these artists to be successful, you also need to have collectors that are willing to be active in these markets and see success from the music they're collecting as well. [00:40:42] Dan Runcie: This is one thing that I keep in mind. More broad trends about like what's happening in music, but I also keep it in mind with artists and creators who are trying to expand beyond the folks that they're naturally reaching. Because if you're only going to try to focus on the people that you naturally reach on a regular basis, it, it can work. And I do think that it's kind of like shifting a bit of the psychology, because I think so much of us have been conditioned to just focus. Who is the next person you're gonna reach? What is your customer acquisition cost? It's not just artists, it's the whole industry that's thinking about it this way, but you can build a sustainable business if you are just focused on the pub shot reach. I know it's a bit of that thousand true fans mentality applied to web three, but I think that there's plenty of nuances there. And sometimes it could be less than that. Sometimes it could be more than that. But I think there's some really unique things. One thing. Interested to hear your thoughts on though is just with artists specifically and fans and just the nature of that relationship and whether or not the tokenization of their relationship changes anything. Right. Because I feel like with fans, there's a lot of this conception that because they don't feel like there's nothing that's like financially tying them to them, maybe that brings up, you know, a different relationship than they would if they do feel actually, you know, financially tied to the. Is there any downsides or is there anything that you think of in terms of how that broader tokenization of the relationship changes any of that dynamic or expectations?[00:42:21] Cooper Turley: I definitely think there's downsides, and I think there's a lot of pressure that comes with it. You know, I think for artists that are selling nfts, you need to think about new mechanisms. Like, what is my floor price? What is my volume? Is this asset trading above what I sold it for in the first place? That's a lot of pressure, you know, and that takes a lot of time to get right. I think that over time people are gonna recognize. Collector is getting mad about floor prices. The same as a fan being mad about the type of song that you're releasing, where that's just kind of the name of the game. You know, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but it's not like there needs to be a huge reliance on that. I think the one thing the artists need to focus on is actually being consistent with what they're putting out in releasing. If you're giving it your best effort and you're doing things to add value back to early collections, to be able to engage with your community and doing things that show that you're being intentional, that to me matters a lot more than like, what is the price of the tokens themselves, because I think over. We need to recognize that not all fans are the same, and it's not like all music is only gonna exist as NFTs. What's gonna happen is that all these songs are gonna be available on Spotify. If I'm a passive fan, I can go and just listen to that song. There's no expectation for me to ever have a financial relationship with that artist. But the new unlock here is if I wanna go deeper on that relationship. This is something that I've wanted to do for a long time, and I believe many others do. I can now collect something that represents a limited version of that song. And for other people that are excited about that artist's career. Not only can we share on our Instagram story, we can now go into a private collector's chat and say, Hey, I was able to pick up this sold out drop. I was able to pick up one of their early rookie cards, and I think what we start to see is that the fan base gets a little bit more. It's delineated across different verticals where there's some vans who are just showing up to a concert, you know, all the time. I go into GA at a show and I'm like, how do I get these people to buy music and FT use? And the reality is most of them probably never will because they just wanna go and have a good time. They wanna party and forget about their nine to five job. And that's perfectly fine. But I think for the small subset of people who are really passionate about music, those active listeners being able to answer into these more deeper relationships, it's really gonna empower curation in a very new way. And I think the analog I would make here, Sites like Height Machine really drove the success of SoundCloud in a very massive way. You know, there was a demographic of curators who were saying, Hey, we love this type of music. There was all these different blogs, like This song is sick, you know, all these EDM blogs, pigeons and planes, et cetera. They were adding cultural zeitgeist to these songs. And I think the financialization of these assets is not only gonna incentivize people to wanna curate and write about these different article. It's actually gonna give them the means to sustain themselves on the back of doing so. Or if I'm a curator who's really successful at identifying talent, I don't need to go work for a major label as an a and r because I can simply spin up a newsletter on sub stack, go and look at the drop calendar on sound, xyz, and then the event that I'm able to really identify. Successful drops, I can actually start to make a living on the back of my taste. I think that's something that hasn't really existed before and something that I'm personally really excited to see happen more and more in the industry at large.[00:45:08] Dan Runcie: That last piece is huge because it makes me think back to the blog era, especially at hip hop with just. How popular it was when, whether it was sites like Two Dope Boys or Now, right. And their influence on being able to have a mix tape that they're putting out. They're putting their stamp for approval. They're the media channel that's sharing the tape, that's being released from Dap Piff and being like, Hey, here is this new kid Cutty record that you need to listen to a kid named Cutty. You know, this is the mix tape. Check it out. Or the cool kids, or Charles Hamilton or whoever, one of these artists, The difference though, is that even though the artists in the blog era and the people who ran these websites in the blog era were so influential, and I think at a time they even had more influence than the major record labels did. They didn't capture the upside. They created the culture. They created the influence, but they didn't capture the upside. This allows that to happen in a way. The next version of Two Dope Boys could essentially be the one to, like you said, they could start up a newsletter, they could be able to release this and be like, Hey, I'm the one that is putting this investment in and then this is gonna stay there from here on out. That's something that's really special. And to be honest, I don't feel like there's enough discussion around that. So I'm glad you brought that point up.[00:46:26]  Cooper Turley: Absolutely. And I think the one, the one thing I wanna zoom in on there, That doesn't require the artists to sell any of their masters. You know, them putting out 25 editions of a collectible song that a curator can go and buy and then help spread the word about within their pockets. There's no conversation around like, what percentage master publishing does this curator now have? Do I need to bring them into my creative decision, et cetera. It's a new market that now exists on the back of taste and curation, and I think in a lot of ways, music NFTs get pushed back cause they say, oh, you don't actually own the rights. Why do these things have value in the first place? I'm a big believer that community has a lot of value to it. You know, I don't think that art needs utility or needs IP ownership or Masters or publishing to be valuable. I think these curators are able to tell very compelling stories about the impact that music has and being able to add a new market into the equation through music and fts, it really unlocks a new mechanism for artist fandom that I think is very simple to understand. I don't think the average fan will be able. Rationalize what a master or a publishing right looks like. But I think they can understand what a rookie card or what a limited edition of songs looks like. And so I'm very excited to watch these markets mature. And I think that ties back into why the fund is collecting music, NFTs, cuz we believe that. More people are going to be able to understand what it means to own a collectible than they are going to know what it means to own masters or publishing. And so you sort of have these two different sides of the equation. I think they can both work in T and in unison with one another to make the aggregate music market more valuable as a whole.[00:47:51] Dan Runcie: And I think your fun will be a, a test to see how well that works. So, It'll, it'll be, it'll be fascinating. I feel like the structures make sense. You have each day, each piece of it there. I'll be very interested to see what the returns end up being like for each of those categories. Right. Of course, you know, most of the fund is looking at your precede and seed stage music and web three startups, so I assume that it's naturally gonna be what the expectations would be for any young startup. But I'm very interested to see what those expected multiples or the exits will be for the NFTs and then, The artists seed round investments themselves. [00:48:26] Cooper Turley: Absolutely. I will say that the vast majority of the fund is going into web three companies, but time and time again, people get really excited about this idea of investing in artists. Again, do not have the answers whatsoever, but. I'm noticing people are really excited about that ballpark. So I'm excited to at least start that trend with this first fund here and in the future. I'm hoping that we can create playbooks for many artists who don't even use nft, use their web three to also start to enter in these agreements as well. But you know, I'm really excited about it. You know, like I said, I've been in music for 10 years, crypto for the last five. I feel like this fund is a great way for me to really fuse those two passions together. And it's a very small market right now, but if you made it this far in the episode, I hope that this is something of interest to you and I would love to keep the conversation going if you have more.[00:49:06] Dan Runcie: Definitely. Before we wrap things up and let you go, one of the quotes you had mentioned, you referenced this earlier, the conversation too, that we're not at the point in Music Web three, where Drake is gonna come thro

In this episode of Empire, Arianna Simpson and Ali Yahya join to discuss a16z's crypto thesis. We start with Ali's network flywheel framework, the future of interoperability and protocol value capture. Do protocols have moats? Is the L1 trade over? Will applications accrue an outsized share of crypto's value? We then discuss DAO governance, music NFTs, zero-knowledge proofs and crypto's open design space. This is one of those can't-miss episodes! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:14) Crypto's Network Flywheel (08:40) Is The L1 Trade Over? (20:52) a16z's Value Accrual Framework (28:03) Circle ad (29:45) Infrastructure Unlocks (37:55) a16z's Governance & DAO Philosophy (44:33) Evolution of Web3 Gaming (49:19) Music NFTs (55:22) ZK Proofs & Building Privacy Into Blockchains (1:00:33) What Feels Obvious That Others Are Missing? - - Follow Arianna https://twitter.com/AriannaSimpson Follow Ali: https://twitter.com/alive_eth Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Circle's USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at http://empirepodcast.link/circle that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Resources Ali's network flywheel tweet thread https://twitter.com/alive_eth/status/1296831069065375749 Computers That Can Make Commitments (Chris Dixon) https://a16z.com/2020/01/27/computers-that-make-commitments/ The Fat Protocol Thesis https://www.usv.com/writing/2016/08/fat-protocols/ The Internet Economy https://cdixon.org/2016/03/13/the-internet-economy Commoditize Your Complements https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/ The Myth of The Infrastructure Phase https://www.usv.com/writing/2018/10/the-myth-of-the-infrastructure-phase/ 1000 True Fans https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed. Disclaimer: Scammers are impersonating Blockworks and replying to comments on some of our videos. Please be advised that we will NEVER reply to your comment asking you to contact us on whatsapp, telegram, provide investment advice, or solicit money from you. These are scam impersonator accounts and you should not respond to them.

Rory Felton has spent most of his past two decades in music being pro-artist. He developed talent and sold millions of records under his Militia Group label that he co-founded and eventually sold to Sony. In the early days of social media, Rory worked with Top 40 artists and majors to monetize on these new platforms. That's why it was ironic that Rory was recently criticized for being anti-artist. Rory founded HitPiece two years ago. HitPiece is an NFT marketplace focused solely on music collections. While in beta earlier this year, unauthorized NFTs from big-name artists became available for purchase on HitPiece. HitPiece was hit with wide-spread backlash from artists, the RIAA, and many others for copyright infringement. The company quickly went dark while the team recalibrated its business.Months later, HitPiece has now re-launched. This time with strictly-authenticated collections on-site from rising artists like ATL Jacob, Pyrex Whippa, and proven commodities such as Rick Ross. A metaverse add-on is also in the works to virtually display purchased NFTs. In many ways, the industry-wide blowback changed both Rory and HitPiece. The company's intent has stayed consistent from the get-go: to make NFTs easy for both artists and fans.Rory joined me on the show to cover what went wrong with HitPiece earlier this year, why this relaunch is different, and the opportunities and challenges NFTs have inside the music industry. Here's everything we covered:[2:58] Rory's two decades in the industry pre-HitPiece[6:07] “Best time in human history to be an artist” [9:19] What went wrong with HitPiece's beta release[13:33] Re-gaining industry trust after the backlash [16:22] Did HitPiece consider rebranding?[19:12] How HitPiece built a collection with rising star ATL Jacob[20:27] Web3 co-existing with industry, not replacing it[27:34] Building out a music-centric metaverse [33:32] How HitPiece will compete against Facebook, Opensea, and other big players[35:57] Types of NFT collections on HitPiece[39:00] How to win the music industry in 2022 and onward [43:17] HitPiece plans for 2023Listen: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Overcast | Amazon | Google Podcasts | Pocket Casts | RSSHost: Dan Runcie, @RuncieDan, trapital.coGuests: Rory Felton, @Roryfelton Sponsors: MoonPay is the leader in web3 infrastructure. They have partnered with Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, and many more. To learn more, visit moonpay.com/trapital Enjoy this podcast? Rate and review the podcast here! ratethispodcast.com/trapital Trapital is home for the business of hip-hop. Gain the latest insights from hip-hop's biggest players by reading Trapital's free weekly memo.TRANSCRIPTION[00:00:00] Rory Felton: We think this space is for everyone. And we think that the smallest artists on the planet can actually benefit from Web 3.0 in a way that maybe streaming isn't changing the game for them right now. For instance, we've worked with baby developing artists that are making more money from Web 3.0 in one launch of an NFT collection than they would over two to three months from streaming. In general, we all think music's the coolest thing in the world. And so we want to revalue it in a way that maybe NFTs allow us to that technology hasn't enabled in the past.[00:00:40] Dan Runcie: Hey, welcome to The Trapital podcast. I'm your host and the founder of Trapital, Dan Runcie. This podcast is your place to gain insights from executives in music, media, entertainment, and more, who are taking hip-hop culture to the next level. [00:00:60] Dan Runcie: Today's guest is Rory Felton. He is the co-founder and CEO of HitPiece, a company that's bringing artists and fans together through NFTs in real life experiences, metaverse experiences and more. HitPiece is one of our sponsors this quarter for Trapital, and I wanted to have this conversation because Rory and HitPiece have had a very interesting past couple of months. Back in February, they launched a platform, but there was a ton of controversy surrounding it because a lot of artists had their music and their NFTs for sale on the platform without their consent, and understandably so, it created a bunch of frustration and news around some of the consent around NFTs, some of the perception around the space overall and how that impacted Rory and the team. So in this conversation, we talked about it. We talked about how that happened, why it happened, and what Roy and the team are doing now moving forward for that not to happen in the future. And then we talked about what does HitPiece look like now moving forward, what are the opportunities more broadly for Web 3.0 companies in music, what are some of the challenges, what are some of the artists that they're working with now, like ATL Jacob, who just signed with Republic Records. So we talked about that, and Rory has a ton of experience in the music industry, even before HitPiece. So we talked about how that shapes his current strategy and what he thinks successful look like, not just for HitPiece, but for the overall industry moving forward. Great conversation and tons of insights, and especially for a lot of the founders that have built stuff messed up and want to hear what it's like to keep things going. This is a good one to listen to. Here's my chat with Rory. [00:02:39] Dan Runcie: All right. Today we are joined by Rory Felton, who is the co-founder and CEO of HitPiece. But before we talk about HitPiece or anything like that, I know you've worked in music for a number of years and you've had a few different hats in this industry. What attracted you to the space early on? [00:02:58] Rory Felton: Oh, man. So when I was 15, I started playing music and I learned pretty quickly that I really couldn't write songs very well. So when I was 16, I started putting on local shows for artists booking regional acts, and that naturally turned into putting out records for artists. And in the nineties, we were manufacturing CDs, so I actually learned the process of printing, shipping it to a factory, calling distributors, trying to get them to ship out our CDs to retailers. And that's how I started. In 2000, I moved out to LA to go to school at SC, was a little bored and started another record label. Our first few records did quite well. I think our first record almost went gold, and so that created enough revenue to really fund the company and grow that record label. And for the next 10 years, we ended up selling millions of records. I developed dozens of artists, felt really proud of what we accomplished. Sony Music later invested in the company and later acquired the major artists that I worked And I took a breather for a moment because working with artists can be a lot of work and can be emotional and and challenging in so many ways, but also fun and exciting. And I ended up finding a real passion for the technology side of the music industry. I really wanted to have sort of a macro impact on the industry in helping artists create new technologies to connect with their fan base, develop new business models. And I saw, sort of saw the old record company structure or record deal structure is sort of a little bit antiquated, and there are so many technologies here that could allow artists to directly connect with their fans and connect and create new and unique revenue streams. And so I spent several years in the early 2010s helping top 40 artists sell music and merchandise in stream on social media like Gaga, Green Day, Snoop Dog, Tim McGraw, A$AP Rocky, all the major labels. And I did a couple years overseas on a volunteer trip and then came back to the music space really on artist management initially, but also in blockchain. I bought Bitcoin in 2014 and was always really curious about blockchain's application to the music space. And in 2018 I co-wrote a white paper on digital collectibles for artists and could not get anyone's attention back then on this space and the idea of fans buying digital merchandise from artists and connecting with them and the idea of an artist creating a layer of community ownership and what they were doing. And then obviously fast forward a couple of years, the NFT space, that specific protocol has really taken off four creatives and four artists. And I decided to jump in full time to apply this innovation to the music industry 'cause I saw so many opportunities for artists to take advantage of it.[00:05:43] Dan Runcie: That makes sense. And one thing there before we get to the HitPiece part of it where you are today, selling your record label and everything there to Sony, what is it like watching the current movement now with other record labels being bought up by other record labels, especially the majors or just some of the catalog purchases there? Because I'm sure you did this in a very different market than what we're seeing now. [00:06:07] Rory Felton: Yeah, so a lot of people don't remember this, but in 2006 to like 2011, it was really hairy for the record industry. There were a lot of unknowns. Downloading was here, digital like iTunes and its competitors, however, streaming as a paid streaming format really hadn't taken off or really been fully established. And so you had these massive problems still with file sharing and people just assuming music was free, right? And just downloading it without paying for it from all sorts of websites. And so there was this moment, an era where like, gosh, golly, we don't know if these major labels are really going to figure it out. And kudos to them, they struck some really savvy deals and made streaming something that really, really worked. So today's era has been amazing. I get really excited for artists that are able to have huge liquidity opportunities if they've built a catalog over their lifetime. And then also I get really excited just as more opportunities to finance your career than there ever have been. You can now borrow against your catalog. You can borrow against your master rights or publishing rights to fund something you want to do moving forward. You could never do that 10 or 15 years ago. So you have players like that in this space. You have distributors in this space, almost playing like record labels and advancing monies to artists, but allowing artists to keep their masters. And then you have record labels sort of playing as distributors. And so you have all these middle men kind of playing as different roles. And I think it's great 'cause artists have more opportunity now than they've ever been. I've been saying this for a few years. It is the best time in human history to be a music artist. It was so hard in the nineties and so hard in the early 2000s to stand out, and now even though we are in some economic challenges right now, and just the macro economy, it's still really the best time in human history to be a music artist. [00:07:59] Dan Runcie: Yeah, I think that's generally where I land with this too. I know that there's a lot of people that have a bit of the nostalgia and yearning for being able to sell CDs and being able to make the money off of CDs, but it was still a market that had tons of gatekeepers. And even without Napster, I still think that there would be a lot of challenges 'cause there were a bunch of CD sales that were of bad catalog that weren't exactly of new things, but we could go all day talking about that. But it was a fascinating time for sure. But fast forwarding a few years though, with HitPiece, of course you have the idea and you see the opportunity to be able to make it easier for artists to monetize and take advantage of what's here. And I know that earlier this year, the launch day didn't go the way that you had wanted it to. And there was a lot of press and some negative things written about just the intent and where you all were trying to go. And I know that there are also a few artists too, whether it's like Jack Antonoff and a few others that had some complaints about how it went down and after reading a few of those, I definitely saw some of the responses and from your perspective as well, but I never really got a good, clear sense for what was the . Intent and what would this have looked like if the launch had went as well as it could have, so it'd be great to hear a little bit about that, because I feel that's the part that was a little bit missing in some of the discussions about what had happened. [00:09:19] Rory Felton: Yeah. So first and foremost, I really believe in innovation, and I really believe in enriching artists, and artists being able to control their music and what they're doing. And so we were looking at this space and thinking about like, man, if I put on my music fan hat, what's the ideal experience I want as a music fan? What would I love to have more than anything? And platforms like Spotify and Apple Music has sort of trained us to feel like everything could be in one place. And so we put together this idea to create an experiment where we tried to show artists and labels and rights holders, hey, this is what the future could look like. Here's sort of this private game experience that we think would be really fun to onboard a huge number of people into this space very quickly and create a massive revenue stream for artists and rights holders. And where we really messed up is we failed to put the proper guardrails around it to where too much of it was public too fast. And that was something that we definitely messed up with. We were having active discussions with hundreds of artists, managers, major record companies. We had showed them what we're doing. Hey, what do you think of this experience we're creating? And all the feedback that we received was highly positive. Everyone was really excited about this potential future for a platform that could turn on a whole new revenue stream for them without a lot of work. One thing I've experienced as a manager and a record company founder is that artists are so busy. They're in the studio making music all the time. They have to go on tour, they have to make content for social media all the time right now. They're so busy doing all these things you don't want to add just another thing to their plate. And so we've always tried to make it, what's the easiest way for them to onboard into a new space without having to create a huge amount of work for them? So that was our intent. Clearly, we failed to have the proper guard rails around it. And we took down the beta after a few weeks. And there were obviously some artists that expressed some frustration with it. And since then, we've had conversations with hundreds of artists and labels and managers and industry leaders, sharing with them how we feel about this space, what we think is coming, and the overall sediment has been really about excitement and enthusiasm. about what's coming in this space and the opportunities that are being created for artists and rights holders in this space. [00:11:39] Dan Runcie: Got it. So if I'm understanding correctly, it's like you were trying to show, okay, this is what it could look like. Let's give you an example of what this could look like. Like, if your Taylor Swift, like this is a type of revenue stream that you could unlock, but the presentation of it was more so, hey, here's where you can buy Taylor Swift's, you know, access to her likeness or access to her music. And you were trying to more so show a demo as opposed to an actual marketplace. Do I have that right? [00:12:07] Rory Felton: Yeah, it was definitely a live demo. There was no music used on the website. As a music rights holder myself, as someone that's worked with artists for decades, we would never utilize music in a way that was infringing on their rights or unapproved in any way. And that's something that I think really got lost in the storm of it all is the fact that there was no music on the website. We had some marketing language on the website, and again, we've looked at this as a beta experiment for a small audience. It was by no means built or intended to be exposed to the world at large. But we did have some language on the website that was not fully fleshed out at the time, again, like many beta experiments are. [00:12:49] Dan Runcie: So was part of it also as well that the beta was meant to be a bit of a closed opportunity, but then it leaked, or then it got out? [00:12:58] Rory Felton: It was public and that was an error on our end. You know, we failed to have the guardrails built around to cut off certain sections or functions of the website that shouldn't have been made public.[00:13:08] Dan Runcie: Got it. Okay. So since then, how has it been having a lot of these conversations? 'cause obviously you were able to drum up a bunch of support leading up to February and you still had plenty of connections now with artists that we'll get into soon. But what was it like having those conversations, whether it's with labels or others where you're trying to communicate not just what happened but also build up a bit of trust given the impact?[00:13:33] Rory Felton: Yeah. What we found is that, well, having been in this industry for two decades, I have a huge number of relationships from, you know, the tops of the major record companies, major publishers to many, many, many managers of both developing artists and some of the biggest artists in the world. And they know me, right, so they knew my heart, they knew where I was coming from, and I just was able to be honest with them, and say, look, we moved a little too fast here. We built this product a little too fast without fully flushing out where we should put certain guardrails in place, and the response was, hey, look, we get it, no problem. We're looking for solutions in this space. We need easy ways to launch collections to audiences that might want to be interested in this. And right now everything on the market feels a little too complicated, right? NFTs and Web 3.0, it feels nerdy and it feels complex. And I think a lot of the early people in this space may have made it that way on purpose so that there feels like there's a level of like seniority or gatekeeping to it. And we've approached this and been like, no, this is actually pretty simple. This is actually making what has existed in the world of music already, such as VIP experiences, and fan clubs, and even, like, DRM music, and it's creating it on a layer of new technology that actually gives more ownership to fans and actually deepens relationships between artists and fans. And so that response has been really exciting and I think that's what's contributed to us being able to onboard the large volume of artists that we have onboarded so far and continue to have exciting conversations every single day with folks across this space. [00:15:14] Dan Runcie: Have there been any lingering impacts since then? Like, obviously there's the initial response and things have happened. But since you've relaunched. And it does seem like, as you mentioned, you still are stable of artists and there are a bunch of folks that you're working with but are there any lingering impacts from what had happened? [00:15:30] Rory Felton: I would say there's probably still some artists that just don't want to have anything to do with the NFT space. I think that in general, there's still a lot of misunderstanding around what Web 3.0 is and what it can enable, and there seems to, generally speaking, a level of negative sentiment towards NFTs in some categories of the music industry. But that seems to be sort of a blanket feeling or sentiment towards NFTs, not necessarily what we're doing.[00:15:58] Dan Runcie: Yeah, I've heard that from, was just talking to a few people about this earlier this week, and we've heard it as well, just the polarizing nature of it that's bigger than HitPiece. And I think it's something for a lot of companies to navigate, but it's not necessarily at one company itself. But, I guess, leading up to the relaunch recently, were there any talks at all about rebranding or anything like that? 'Cause obviously I know that staying with the name is also a statement in itself. [00:16:22] Rory Felton: Yeah, clearly, we thought about every sort of path we could take. You know, we even thought like, do we want to do this? Like, is this worth the battle, right? And what we decided at the end of the day was, look, some folks thought we were doing something we were not doing at all. Our intent was completely misconstrued, and we felt like if we were to shut it all down and say, you know, good night. It's almost like the people that were creating this narrative would've won or that narrative would've become true, right? In our hearts, in our feeling, and everyone at the company that's at the company that was experienced all that, we all felt together, like, look, this isn't what we are doing. This isn't what we're all about. Like, we should stick with it and see this through because we felt like the brand was now very well known for better or worse, and it's up to us to sort of, to see it through and show to the world that, no, this isn't what we were trying to do. We're actually making something amazing, we think, for artists and so far, in the collections that we've launched has done really well for the artists that we've worked with. So that's what led to our decision to stick with the brand and keep going. We could have posited to a whole other brand, but everyone would just say, oh, those are the same folks that did this. So what would be the point of that? Because it's still me. Unlike a lot of people in this space, I've never been anonymous, right? I've always been completely public with who I am. HitPiece was on my LinkedIn, on my branding since early last year. I didn't hide from any of this. I engaged with anyone that wanted to have a conversation and still will. So it's not in our nature to hide or to run away. We think that Web 3.0 is still a huge game changer for both developing and establishing artists, and we want to provide incredible solutions for artists. [00:18:10] Dan Runcie: And what was the hardest part for you personally during all of this, as the founder, as the leader of the organization, but also as a human being dealing with the fallout and just trying to keep things moving?[00:18:22] Rory Felton: Oh gosh. I think for a little bit, like, you know, personally I'm a father. I'm a husband, and so for me, it's just not letting what some people in social media or in the media might say about me impact who I know I am and who I am to my family. First and foremost, that's always most important to me. So that was probably the biggest challenge and, you know, clearly, it's not something that we wanted to happen, but we're really excited and bullish on the future right now. [00:18:48] Dan Runcie: For sure. And I think you have a lot of reasons, too. One of the artists that you have, ATL Jacob recently signed a deal with Republic Records. And I think he's someone who's definitely been rising quite a bit, and I assume that's a partnership that you are able to land in the most recent months. So what did that look like and what has it been like working alongside someone like him and then seeing the growth continue?[00:19:12] Rory Felton: Yeah, Jacob was amazing. We are so blessed to really have just the perfect time to connect and meet him and hear about what he thought about this space, and what he wanted to do, and had that sort of build a collection together that really made sense for his brand and offer value to his super fans that really you can't get any other way. And so that's what we're really excited about. We, of course, knew he was in conversations with major labels at the time and knew something would happen in that space. We just feel honored and privileged that we get to be his partner for Web 3.0 because he's clearly an incredible talent that's had huge success on the producing side in the last couple of years, and I think we're going to see him break out as an artist over the next year and reach completely new milestones as well in his career.[00:19:57] Dan Runcie: And what was it like for what he was able to do specifically on HitPiece? 'Cause I think a lot of people that see artists, they understand what it's like to be on a major label, but from an economic standpoint, like what they were able to do with a platform like yours, there still is a bit of questions, and this honestly may lead to some of the confusion some artists may have about NFTs, Web 3.0 in general, so obviously you may not be able to share all the details, but, like, what did things look like for him right now with what you've all been able to work on and what he's released, and what that ends up looking like for him? [00:20:27] Rory Felton: Yeah, so he's building a beautiful collection of art that's going to be completely collectible, and those tokens will be connected to incredible in real-life experiences. So some of those tokens can be redeemed for a studio session with ATL Jacob. So rather than, typically in the music industry, right, you have to go through a manager or you have to go through a record company. You have to go through gatekeepers to get to someone on Jacob's level. Here we're saying, no, let's break down all the barriers and say, actually through Web 3.0, you can have an incredible experience, and you could work with, you know, a producer that spends six months at the number one rap producer chart on Billboard. Like, you can actually work with them and make a record together, right? Experiences like that we think are incredible, exclusive merchandising items. And being able to essentially build a really connected VIP club of sorts that will get you access to experiences, to events, to really in- person, one on one time with these artists and producers that people love. You know, this is what I think Web 3.0 is all about. It's creating experiences that are unparalleled in other parts of the music industry. [00:21:40] Dan Runcie: So given those experiences, and I think those are definitely things that fans and everything value and things that he could likely build a career standalone on. Is there any particular question or thought about when an artist-producer like him goes in, does a deal with a major label as a bit of it like, oh, well why did you need to do that? Like, you could have continued working here, like, part of the promise is getting more inherent value for the work itself. Was there any tension there at all with him or even with some of the other artists? [00:22:11] Rory Felton: No, because every artist is different, and every artist gets different types of opportunities. And to me, Web 3.0 is not about being in Web 3.0 only and forgetting about the rest of the industry. It's not like you release your content or your music only as NFT and you don't do streaming, right? It's not like you do that only and you don't go on tour, or you don't sync your music to film and TV, or you don't do brand partnerships. It's just one part of the bigger puzzle of connecting with fans and connecting with bigger audiences. I think this huge opportunity for artists to connect with fans through Web 3.0 while also doing partnerships on the record side that they want to do that work best for them and their brand. For Jacob specifically, he has a whole record label, Wicked Money Family, that he can do. He can sign new artists, too, and they all can go through this bigger system. That's not something that not every artist can just do on their own, right, being able to plug into a bigger system is great for him. What it does do is it may limit what type of content an artist can mint as an NFT on their own, such as if you're in an exclusive recording contract, it may limit or prohibit what specifically you can do with music. But those are always open discussions, and every single recording contract is unique and specific and different, and provide artists and labels with all sorts of different rights.[00:23:35] Dan Runcie: Got it. So for someone like him, and I guess as well thinking about how you're building the business, I do feel like your stance essentially is that a company like HitPiece can work, and they don't necessarily have to be exclusively here. They could work with majors, they could work with others. Do you feel like that mentality is similar to other founders you may talk to in Web 3.0 or with NFTs? Because some of the folks I talk to, there's a bit more of that dogmatic approach where the purpose of our platform is that you don't need to do that. [00:24:08] Rory Felton: Yeah. So first and foremost, every partnership we have with an artist is non-exclusive. They could do a collection with us and go to a collection with anyone else or on their own using their own software at any time. That's something that I believe in. I believe in, like, we're not here to be an exclusive partner in any way. So I believe in artist freedom. Artists should have the freedom to do a record deal if they want to. Artists should also have the freedom to say, hey, look, I'm going to stay independent. I'm going to build up a balance sheet of masters and publishing that I own, and I'm going to leverage that in the way that I want to. I think every path is different for each artist and some work for others, and some don't work for others. And I've seen artists stay independent, build balance sheets of masters, and publish they own, and be tremendously successful. They build these multimillion-dollar businesses that they can operate and function like their own business. And then at the same time, that can just build up their leverage for if a major label wants to do a deal with them, they're saying, hey, look, my business is already doing millions of dollars a year. If you want to be in business with my business, you've gotta make it worth my while. To me, it's about, I think Web 3.0 increases leverage for artists if they embrace it and engage that community. But by no means would I look at it as a dogmatic Web 3.0 anti-record company approach. I don't think that's it at all. I think we're already seeing major labels enter Web 3.0 and allow their artists to try things in Web 3.0 that I think is really exciting. And every conversation I have with major labels and people at those companies is it's curiosity, it's intriguing, it's fun. They are by no means looking at it as a do-or-die or like you said, a dogmatic approach. I come from the music industry. I think maybe some other founders in this space don't have two decades of music experience, and so they're wanting to disrupt an industry that they think needs disruption. Whereas I know all these, all my friends that work at labels or at management companies, I mean, they bleed for artists. They put their heart and soul into trying to break new artists, and these are the people you want to be a part of your business, right? You don't want to just alienate them and cut them off. That being said, historically, some record deals have been a little unfair for the artists, right? And I'm not trying to say that that's not the case, but I think innovation like Web 3.0 is continuing to increase artist leverage and continuing to give them more options. More options is really what it's all about. [00:26:42] Dan Runcie: Yeah, and I think even the point that you mentioned at the beginning of the conversation, just your stance on streaming itself and what it unlocked for the business, that is a bit more of that holistic perspective as opposed to some others that, you know, I think the belief that music should have inherent value, which it should. I think it's a bit of that dichotomy, and to be honest, you hear less of that from the record labels with, most of the time, it maybe from some of the founders and folks outside of the industry. But it's a fascinating time. It's a fascinating time. And I know that with you, you're not just thinking about NFTs and things minting for HitPiece, you're also having a metaverse, you have the Lounge and having that as an opportunity for artists, and I know that's something that's continuing developing as well. What does that look like and what does that opportunity look like for artists? [00:27:34] Rory Felton: Yeah, so one, we realized there's a small but growing population of people that love to collect music as NFT format. I think of NFT as it applies to audio music as a new format, just like there was vinyl, there was downloads, there was streaming. NFT is sort of a new type of format for music, and there wasn't really a centralized place to play all your music. There are a couple of apps butting up that allow you to sort of plug into your wallet and play your music collection. We wanted to create a space that allowed a collector to display NFTs that they're collecting from music artists on the wall, but also put them on a record shelf if they're music NFTs and allow people, allow them to come in and play their own music, allow other people to come into a fans room and play their music. I've seen that a lot of these metaverse spaces that fans are using to share their NFTs are almost like part business card part, like, showing off and bragging to their friends and their community what they own, what they collect. It reminds me a lot as being a teenager of collecting CDs and records that were hard to find from really, really new artists and sort of bragging with your friends that you got to them earlier than they did. And we wanted to sort of mimic this experience in a really cool, beautiful, metaverse space and also be a space that artists could brand and create their own version of, as well as invite their VIP community to be a part of, be it virtual record listening parties or virtual tour kickoffs where they could display or present new music. One functionality we have that artists are taking advantage of is token-gated releases. So they might release regular releases like they always do but put out maybe a limited edition mixtape that is only available to people who buy an NFT to access it. And so you go into the Lounge, our system reads that you have that NFT in your wallet and it unlocks access to music that you wouldn't otherwise have. That doesn't just have to be music. It can be all sorts of content. So the idea is you're rewarding your most engaged community token holders with really cool experiences. We speak with artists that want to create experiences that get updated every single month, so keeps fans coming back to this space that they almost treat like a social media platform or like a website, but the artist gets to control it entirely themselves.[00:29:58] Dan Runcie: I feel like the fan piece of this is the unique piece of this, and I know that's a bit of the broader conversations that people have had about the metaverse, but being able to have that type of way to actually physically show what you have, and I think this is a piece that was missing a bit from, I'll call it the first stage of the NFT boom, right? We saw a lot of people changing their profile picks, but ultimately, how do you create the opportunity for people to have some type of visual that you can see, right? Like, people are buying vinyls right now. People want to be able to have those vinyls visible or no different than buying DVDs or VHS tapes back in the day. Part of it was the medium itself, but you also, it was a statement of who you are. Having some type of collection that can show that I think it's valuable, plus all of the exclusive perks that they can get from their favorite artist or from their type of experiences. I do think that that is something that a lot of fans would value, assuming that it can be somewhere where the people that they want to see those things also are engaged in.[00:30:59] Rory Felton: Yeah, we see there's millions of people around the world that build up massive record collections on their wall. And when you go into their house, it's often the main feature of their house is their record collection. And oftentimes, that's tied to a really high-end audio system as well, depending on where you're at and your lifestyle, right? And we wanted to sort of create that experience for anyone or everyone in the metaverse space. And so that's what the Lounge is built around, is sort of to cater to that type of collector, if you will. I think we're still very early in the Web 3.0 NFT space, clearly with where the economy's at. I think we're going to start to see some huge growth over the next year or two, but we wanted to build these tools now for people so that when more and more people start to come into this space every month, every quarter, they're already ready for them to sort of plug into. And in fact, in a certain sense, it provides more utility for all NFTs. So you could buy music NFTs anywhere you want to on the internet and be able to pull them into this Lounge space we've created for them to perform, to play, and to share with their friends and their community.[00:32:05] Dan Runcie: So this leads me to the age-old question I'm sure every venture capitalist asks at some point, how do you compete this against Facebook or Meta and their offering to eventually try to do this similar type of thing? But obviously, you have a more of a specific community. But I do know that with a lot of the different types of metaverse experiences, that type of thought is something that's likely in the back of the minds for a lot of founders.[00:32:30] Rory Felton: I think that there's clearly dozens of metaverse spaces that already exist. We're not necessarily looking to create an entire universe. We just want to create experiences and artist-branded experiences. And I think potentially we see a future where these artist-branded virtual slash metaverse experiences can be interoperable with a metaverse space that Meta is building or with the other ones that exist right now, such as Sandbox and Decentraland. We, of course, being a blockchain-based company, we believe in decentralization. We think that that's a value to be recognized and to be held up. And so if we continue to see other metaverse spaces built on the same or similar blockchains, I think we're going to see them be interoperable in new ways that may currently just not exist yet. [00:33:22] Dan Runcie: And would the same type of logic apply as well for the marketplace that you all have, given folks like OpenSea or some of the other broader platforms? [00:33:32] Rory Felton: So our big differentiator from a platform like OpenSea is we only allow authenticated artists to mint NFTs in our platform. One of the big challenges I see with some of the secondary-focused NFT marketplaces is that it's a wild west still. There's an insane amount of content that infringes on other people's rights that use all sorts of artists' name, image, like this audio without any sort of permission, right? And unlike a lot of people in this space or some people in this space, we actually believe in copyright. We think that's really valuable for artists and artists investors, and we really wanted to make sure that we prevent it as much as possible, people minting content that they didn't control through our platform. And so when fans or collectors come to HitPiece.com, they can feel assured that everything on our platform is authentic, is real, is coming from the artist that says it's coming from. And that's also why we were the first NFT company to integrate with Audible Magic. Audible Magic allows us to scan every single piece of audio file that gets uploaded to HitPiece to be minted as an NFT. And we test that against their massive database of over a hundred million songs to see if that song has been registered previously or as a copyrighted work from a record company or an artist. And we've already been able to say, hang on, that song's copyright. We need to confirm whether this artist actually controls the copyright of this audio file. And so we want to make sure that only the authenticated parties, the owners of works are actually able to mint NFTs of their creative content through HitPiece. So that's a big difference I see versus like the secondary markets of the world. But we also think ours is a little bit more just music-focused, right? Music NFTs are a little different than PFP projects or artwork NFTs, and so it really requires a different experience than maybe what some of the secondary markets that appeal to every one offer, if that makes sense.[00:35:31] Dan Runcie: Yeah, that makes sense. And I assume that some of the guardrails there to make sure that things are authenticated, to make sure it has the right copyright and licensing, also tie back to ensuring that what had happened back in February doesn't happen again. So part of that authentication, I'm sure likely may slow down some of the process, but it is how you ensure that everything that is there and what is transparent and seen is ultimately what you're trying to actually sell. [00:35:57] Rory Felton: Yeah. I don't think an experience that we've built, that you can go to HitPiece.com and see right now really exists anywhere else, and we've really tried to focus on making, one, authenticated protecting rights holders. And two, just make it super simple and easy for both artists who are new to this space that may not fully understand all the language and this new terminology that's come around, make it super easy for them to create their own collections and start minting NFTs with their creative content. And then also just make it super easy for music fans, you know, that haven't purchased an NFT to be able to collect one. I would say that really a small, small number of music fans overall have still entered Web 3.0 or acquired an NFT, be it for free or purchase, and there's still a huge amount of education that platforms like ourselves need to do and others about how to onboard into this space.[00:36:52] Dan Runcie: So for you all, specifically, with the folks you have on board before and up to this point, is ATL Jacob, is he the most successful artist or the artist that's made the most money on the platform so far? [00:37:04] Rory Felton: So ATL Jacob's collection has not launched yet. We have launched a variety of collections from artists like Surf, and we have a couple of collections dropping tomorrow. This interview, of course, will be out after this date. From King Midas, who's a Baltimore artist, and from Pyrex Whippa, who's a multi-platinum producer slash artist, a part of the 808 Mafia. He's worked with artists like Future, Juice WRLD, DaBaby. And his collection also involves granting people rights to collaborate with him in the studio. Some actually get a limited-edition skateboard from him. And also some of them actually get a limited edition beat kit from him as well. So there's all these cool, both digital and in real-life experiences, tied to token ownership, which we believe in. [00:37:50] Dan Runcie: No, that's solid. [00:37:51] Rory Felton: But beyond those, we do have some other, like, multi-platinum slash diamond level music artists, Grammy-nominated artists that we're looking to announce really, really soon.[00:38:02] Dan Runcie: Any hints as to who they may be? [00:38:05] Rory Felton: I'll just say we have a lot of love for Atlanta. [00:38:08] Dan Runcie: Okay. [00:38:08] Rory Felton: Atlanta moves the culture. Atlanta's, like, where my heart is. I love going to Atlanta. I think everyone in Atlanta is just coming. Being in LA for 20 years, like Atlanta's so nice. You have that southern hospitality, but you have that hustle and that combination of both. Like, I just love being in Atlanta. I love the vibe of Atlanta. [00:38:25] Dan Runcie: All right. We'll definitely look out for that one, for sure. Thinking about the company and hearing how you're building it, though, it does make me think about this article that you had written a couple of years back. I think it was an article you posted on LinkedIn actually is like, How to Win the Music Industry of 2019-2025, and you're describing what the type of company would look like and what type of things they need to have in place. And now that we're a couple of years past that, what are you seeing in the industry now, and is there any specific company that you think is checking all those boxes? [00:39:00] Rory Felton: Oh, man. I think when I wrote that, it was one of those, like late night, man, why doesn't this company exist? You know, if I had a hundred million dollars, this is what I would do, right? And it's interesting, I see companies doing bits and pieces of that, and what's fascinating is like I sometimes forget that I published that article, and I've even had, you know, investors and venture capital people reach out, nothing to do with HitPiece. They're just really curious about what I wrote, and they're like, this is it. How do we do this? And it's been fascinating to see that piece impact, if you will. No one's doing all of that, but I'll gladly compliment folks that I think are moving in that direction. United Masters and what Steve Stoute built, I think, is incredible. If you would've told me several years ago that someone could enter the music distribution space with a similar offering to other platforms out there, I never would've thought someone could truly compete. But kudos to him and his team, they've completely proved me, and I'll think a lot of people wrong. They've made a huge impact in, again, creating more opportunities for artists who can own their own content and not necessarily feel like they're stuck to have to do the traditional record deal. I think what they're doing is pretty amazing. Let's see, who else? I got to give out props to Downtown Music Holdings group. I think they're doing a huge amount of innovation in this space, both on the record side, on the distribution side, and on the publishing side. I'm a huge fan of Songtrust and what they built and that offering. I tell every music artist to work with if they do not have a publishing deal, sign up with Songtrust. It's a super easy admin deal that just creates a great solution that captures money that you just cannot capture any other way. I try to tell every music artist, I'm like, look, if you're writing your own music, you're writing your own songs, you're not going to get all your money that's due to you, just through your PRO. Artists, unfortunately, they're so busy, so much going on, they don't fully understand that. And so it's, like, the artists that I've seen turn on to a platform like Songtrust, they've literally turned on five figures plus in revenue in a quarter because that money is just sitting there if they don't capture it, eventually just goes away, which is really sad. So those are my shout-outs. Those are companies that I think are doing it well. I think with that piece, if I were to critique it now, I think it's a little too broad. There's a little too much going on for one company to do. But I'm a big fan of companies that, you know, believe in artistic freedom and innovation and providing more tools and opportunities for artists while also actually creating real success for them.[00:41:26] Dan Runcie: Yeah. I think what sticks out about those two companies is both the partnerships and the fact that there's, you know, overall companies that are tying both of them together, right? So United Masters is obviously tied to the work that Stoute had done with or is currently doing with Translation on the ad side. And then that also informs so many of the partnerships and just how he has been able to help think and expand things there. And then Downtown, specifically how they've been able to just reorganize a few of the things and then restructure to just understand, okay, what could that stack look like. What could it have to have all of these companies underneath, but in this way that feels practical, but not in this way of, you know, a company trying to check every box that's the hottest topic right now. [00:42:12] Rory Felton: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think companies are wise to, that are established in at scale. They're wise to take their time with Web 3.0 versus jump into it head-on per se. And I would encourage everyone to experiment. I think you can experiment in this space and try new things without having to go completely in. And of course, we're a great solution to experiment with. But there's clearly a variety of opportunities out there to do things. And quite frankly, no one knows exactly how the NFT innovation's going to be utilized in a few years from now, right? We have our hunch. We think it's going to be connected to real-life experiences and real amazing virtual experiences. However, I think there's all sorts of innovation that maybe hasn't even been created yet for its application, such as to ticketing and other categories as well. [00:43:05] Dan Runcie: Yeah, there's so much more to explore. We're still in the early innings with this. I'm excited to see what's next. But before we wrap things up, let's talk about what's next for you all. What does 2023 look like? What are the big things on the roadmap? [00:43:17] Rory Felton: Yeah, so as you mentioned, we've been building the Lounge metaverse space to connect artists and fans as well as give fans a great way to display and show off the collections that they own. So that's going to be launching soon. We clearly have some really amazing collections coming up from some really top-tier artists that we're excited to announce really soon as well. And then we fully built out now this completely self-service solution for independent artists to come in and start minting NFTs with their content. We haven't really focused on presenting that or pushing that yet to the independent community at scale. But that's something that we are looking forward to. We felt that it was best, hey, look, we want to establish that there is interest and demand for this space. That's why we focused on more established artists, artists with audiences initially, but really we think this space is for everyone. And we think that the smallest artists on the planet can actually benefit from Web 3.0 in a way that maybe streaming isn't changing the game for them right now. For instance, we've worked with baby developing artists that are making more money from Web 3.0 in one launch of an NFT collection than they would over two to three months from streaming. And I think this again goes back to humanity and society sort of revaluing music. In general, we all think music's the coolest thing in the world. We all think music is the most divine thing that we get to participate in as humans. And so we want to revalue it in a way that maybe NFTs allow us to that technology hasn't enabled in the past. And I think more than ever this concept of a thousand true fans is truer than ever, right, if an artist doesn't need to be a pop star to make a living. They really just need to cater to a niche of dedicated fans that love what they're doing. And NFTs and Web 3.0 really allow that artist to benefit from that type of model more than ever before. [00:45:08] Dan Runcie: I know. It's fascinating. It's an exciting time to see all the developments and what's going to come down the pipe for you all, what's going to come down for everyone else. It's going to be an exciting time. That's why so many of us are in this industry, right? But before we let you go though, where can people follow along with HitPiece if they want to stay and tap with what you have coming on, or if they want to follow along, where should they go?[00:45:28] Rory Felton: Yeah, so clearly you can go to HitPiece.com. You can just put in your email if you don't want to sign up yet and just follow updates from us on our email list. You can find us on Twitter or Instagram @joinHitPiece. You can even follow me on Twitter or Instagram if you'd like, @RoryFelton. Everything's open and my life is really an open book for everyone.[00:45:48] Dan Runcie: Awesome. Thanks, Rory. This is great. Thanks for coming on. [00:45:51] Rory Felton: Thanks, Dan, for your time. We really appreciate it.[00:45:54] Dan Runcie: If you enjoyed this podcast, go ahead and share it with a friend. Copy the link, text it to a friend, post it in your group chat, post it in your Slack groups, wherever you and your people talk, spread the word. That's how Trapital continues to grow and continues to reach the right people. And while you're at it, if you use Apple podcast, go ahead, rate the podcast. Give it a high rating and leave a review. Tell people why you liked the podcast. That helps more people discover the show. Thank you in advance. Talk to you next week.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Milo Lombardi, also known as Nifty Sax, is a Saxophonist, Composer and Music Director. In addition to studying classical and jazz, he graduated from a top institution, received awards, and played in front of thousands of people throughout his life.He now creates music NFTs using his saxophone as the only medium. A pioneer in the field of Music NFTs, he is building a community to help artists take advantage of this exciting technology and unlock new experiences for music fans.Here's what you'll learn about: Overcoming the initial challenges of starting off in the NFT spaceHow to build deep relationships with Music NFT collectors How to use an NFT collection to grant fans access to a variety of perks All Nifty Sax links:https://niftysax.comhttps://niftymusic.apphttps://twitter.com/NiftySaxhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/3VFnCdxKNQHBhupfldcIS4https://opensea.io/collection/niftysaxsphereshttps://foundation.app/@niftysaxWant to Fast Track Your Music Career? Try MusicMentor™ Pro For Free: https://link.modernmusician.me/MusicMentor Apply for Gold Artist Academy: https://link.modernmusician.me/apply-for-coaching

In this episode of Empire, Jason and Santi are joined by Cooper Turley, aka Coopahtroopa, for a master class on music NFTs. We all listen to music every day, yet monetization for 99% of artists is abysmal. Coop explains how artists can leverage Web3 to maximize revenue, fan engagement and creativity. We explore how music NFTs work, why they have value, which artists should participate and how Web3 will revolutionize the music industry. Cooper is an absolute expert, you won't want to miss it! - - Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:00) Coop Records & Intro to Music NFTs (06:50) The Evolution of Music Monetization (11:30) How to Value Music NFTs (14:41) Artists as CEOs & the Music NFT Market (22:59) Circle Ad (24:41) Should Every Artist Create Music NFTs? (28:57) Do Music NFTs Need Utility? (37:40) One-of-Ones vs Collections (41:35) AI-Generated Music & Virtual Artists (47:05) Monetization, Fan Data and the Innovator's Dilemma (53:16) Incubating Artists, Creator Equity Tokens & Community (1:00:01) Tokenized Media & Rapid Fire Questions - - Follow Cooper: https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa Follow Jason: https://twitter.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - Resources Relics by Monstercat https://relics.xyz/ Hume https://www.wearehume.com/ Coop's Substack https://thisweekinmusicnfts.substack.com/ Coop Records https://www.cooprecords.xyz/ -- Circle's USDC has quickly become one of the most trusted and widely used stablecoins because of its composability, stability and reserve transparency. As a seamless, trusted digital currency, USDC is a zero-to-one opportunity for the global financial system. Check out their Transparency Hub at circle.com/transparency that outlines everything from links to USDC weekly reserve reports, monthly attestations, and blog posts written by their executive team highlighting how and why USDC was built the way it is. - - Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ - - Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Cooper Turley is a leading collector of Music NFTs. He's an angel investor in Sound, Catalog and Royal and an advisor at Audius, a decentralized streaming protocol. He's a co-founder of Friends with Benefit (FWB), an exclusive, token-gated community. He was a former venture partner at Variant and included in Fortune Magazine's "NFTy 50" - a list of the "most influential builders, creatives and influencers on the scene."   You can learn more about: 1. Collecting Music NFTs 2. Running a DAO 3. How to build an NFT community 4. Web3 career advice   Check out our brand new YouTube Video Podcast!  https://www.SmartVenturePod.com IG/Twitter/FB @GraceGongGG LinkedIn:@GraceGong YouTube: https://bit.ly/gracegongyoutube Join the SVP fam with your host Grace Gong. In each episode, we are going to have conversations with some of the top investors, super star founders, as well as well known tech executives in the silicon valley. We will have a coffee chat with them to learn their ways of thinking and actionable tips on how to build or invest in a successful company. ===================== Brought to you by: https://link.blockfolio.com/9dzp/stwlap68 Use code: smartventure https://momentonft.com

André Allen Anjos, who is better known as the crypto-friendly artist RAC, and David Greenstein, co-founder of Sound.xyz, a web3 music platform, analyze the current state of the web3 music scene and discuss how artists can leverage web3 tools to get paid at fair market value for their art.  Show highlights: RAC's experience in the traditional music industry why David believes music is the most undervalued sector in the world – and how Sound and crypto can help value it correctly the different types of NFTs with which musicians like RAC are experimenting what Sound.xyz is and how it is helping artists unlock their fanbase and community why David is so passionate about creating a social experience when it comes to music NFTs Sound.xyz's decision to allow artists to deploy their own smart contracts what RAC has made in NFT drops compared to Spotify streams why Sound.xyz was built with “editions” as the most common format for NFTs sold on the platform what makes blockchain technology well-suited for the music industry RAC's crypto adventures: $TAPE, $RAC, and more … how the famous “Amen Break” sample would work as an NFT what artists will be measured by in the NFT world   Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unconfirmedcardearnfeb2021      Coinchange: https://coinchange.io    OnJuno: https://onjuno.com/    Episode Links   David Greenstein LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgreenstein/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/dgreenstein1?lang=en RAC Twitter: https://twitter.com/RAC Website: https://rac.fm/ Crypto Adventures RAC Token https://etherscan.io/address/0xc22b30e4cce6b78aaaadae91e44e73593929a3e9 https://v2.info.uniswap.org/pair/0xf744417d0a5fd18b5b18726ce1b48f931dfa32ea https://blog.ourzora.com/home/introducing-rac https://www.billboard.com/pro/rac-nfts-social-token-platform-racos-web3/ Music NFTs (w/ Sound.xyz embeds) https://rac.fm/nfts Discord https://discord.com/invite/rac Tokenized cassette tape https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/64760/ethereum-tokenized-cassette-dj-rac-zora-grammy Sound.xyz Website https://www.sound.xyz/ FAQs https://soundxyz.notion.site/soundxyz/Frequently-Asked-Questions-1-0e39e44edccb42f8b3c3ca5d93c703a9 Recent raise https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/15/sound-xyz-raises-5m-from-a16z-to-explore-how-web3-can-upend-the-economics-of-the-music-business/ Recent drops that are fun Bored Ape Yacht Club Band https://www.sound.xyz/boredbrothers/drip Snoop Dogg https://twitter.com/soundxyz_/status/1516896676077744128 https://twitter.com/SnoopDogg/status/1516481234464960513 Music NFT Content Good overview: https://momentranks.com/blog/music-nfts-explained-transforming-music-sales https://twitter.com/MonsterDaoNFT/status/1517164757534580736 https://twitter.com/fascinated/status/1516539250661117966 Cooper Turley Content Weekly blog https://thisweekinmusicnfts.mirror.xyz/ Music NFT tweets https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa/status/1516598888114831360 https://coopahtroopa-eth.medium.com/musicians-meet-audio-nfts-aa495cfd2996 https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa/status/1460062843244408833 https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa/status/1469789186131587073 https://twitter.com/Cooopahtroopa/status/1475609928865705988 RAC Content: ETH royalties compared to Spotify https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1516578113634725890 https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1517168623772602368 RollingStone profile https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/features/rac-future-25-1179443/ Likes the 1/100 NFT drop https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1516178179886510083 Coinbase listing of RAC? https://blog.coinbase.com/increasing-transparency-for-new-asset-listings-on-coinbase-e06f2edb095e How the Sinners drop would have worked over time https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1512560530761809921 Thoughts on music NFT metrics https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1509213081594855425 Royal https://twitter.com/join_royal Jesse Walden write-up on Sound.xyz https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/1471148257892044812