Investigating music’s growing copyright issues for indie artists

Musicians have many ways of making money in the music industry. Income from touring and (to a lesser extent) streaming can make up most of an artist’s income. There’s also the income source of music publishing, but I could write a separate dissertation on the intricacies of that particular topic.

But the reason we are here today is to examine the latest crypto phenomenon that is the NFT. We may have accidentally uncovered a brand-new revenue stream for your favourite artist.

But what exactly are NFTs and why are they so important?

NFT stands for ‘non-fungible token’. In what is very much an oversimplification, an NFT is a collectible digital asset. NFTs transform a digital piece of art (or music) into an asset (or token) which can be traded and the record of who owns the NFT is stored on a ledger known as the blockchain. It can essentially be seen as a digital certificate of authenticity.  

Hopefully you’re still with me.

Now that we’ve gone through the ‘basics’, the next logical question would be how do they work? 

How do they work?

Well, let’s look at traditional artwork. The value in Untitled by Basquiat comes from the fact that it is a one-of-a-kind piece of art. If you contrast this with digital files, that can be duplicated endlessly, you may begin to see the ‘value’ that comes from an NFT. By buying an NFT, the purchaser has proof of ownership for whatever they are collecting, irrespective of how many other copies exist.

The idea of a single consumer paying an exorbitant fee for a one-of-a-kind piece of music is not a new concept in music. The most egregious example comes in the form of ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkrelli purchasing Wu-Tang-Clan’s one-of-one album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin in 2015. Even Nipsey Hussle charged a premium price for physical copies of his albums that already existed on streaming services.

Let’s go on to look at why anyone would want to buy an NFT.

You could look at it from the artist’s point of view and ask why would somebody want to sell an NFT? Artists may be interested in selling their work as NFTs as there is not a market for their art. Musicians might say that although there is a market to sell their art, that market has dramatically changed over the past 10 years. Artists such as Kings of Leon, Grimes and Disclosure have already begun to test the newfound NFT waters. The Weeknd even announced an NFT auction for a new and unreleased song. 

But who really benefits from this?

The ‘democratisation of art’ is a phrase that has been banded around to describe the benefits of the NFT craze to the artist. The idea of artists being able to receive more equitable remuneration for their art is a noble one, and I cannot argue against it. However so far, the most high-profile cases of NFT sales have involved already established superstars. The Weeknd is not exactly struggling financially, but what does this mean for your less established acts who have seen their touring income grind to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic? We are yet to see much evidence of the trickle-down effect that the most ardent supporters of NFTs have described. Could this lead to a better economic landscape for musicians? Still early days, I guess. 
From the prospective buyer’s point of view, I’m personally still unconvinced. I’m not sure how long I would be able to dine out on owning the NFT to Promise.