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NFT, metaverse, blockchain … These words are omnipresent in the debates over the future of culture in the digital world. What if this new world could become an opportunity to create more value?
Web1 was the original Internet, the one that offered sites that could only be looked at passively. Web2 is social. It allows us to interact in real time with a plurality of Internet users on many networks. Web3 will be participative: we will own, exchange and sell virtual goods. The metaverse(s), virtual spaces where property is sold at a high price, are already generating lucrative fantasies and speculative behaviour. To be sure, there are risks, but these new technologies could also contain unique opportunities for creators and publishers of music, cinema or audiovisual content.
Many artists have jumped on the bandwagon. Rapper Snoop Dogg bought the Death Row label of his early days, and has vowed to make it the first major label in the metaverse. He pulled Death Row Mix Vol. 1 from his catalogue, which he sold as an NFT in a few hours for more than $60 million.
In France too, artists are getting involved. For example, Booba reserved his TN video exclusively to the purchasers of the corresponding NFT, and Sofiane Pamart hosts discussions around his NFTs on Discord.
It’s still too early to say whether these new trends will last, but they highlight what will be at the heart of Web3: the community. By attaching exclusive content to NFTs (a piece of music, a concert ticket, a personal meeting, etc.), artists will recreate a direct link with their community of fans, who will have new ways to support them financially. The metaverse will also be able to amplify the way works are broadcast, by proposing a virtual extension to live shows, enlarging the physical way of measuring and offering a new immersive cultural experience to remote or impeded audiences.
Of course, today the practice is still reserved for those in the know. The jungle of these new tools calls for more regulation and the energy cost must decrease. But it would be irresponsible not to keep a close eye on these developments, which could lead to the emergence of a better value chain and, hopefully, put creation back at the centre of the game.
Further reading:
– NFT: Clearing a path through the jungle
– Maël Péneau, composer and DJ, better known under his electro producer name Maëlstrom
Sacem is calling for the creation of a European metaverse, which would guarantee rights owners, in particular authors, composers and music publishers, better protection from European legislation, in particular French legislation, covering these new spaces where works will be created and used. Such a metaverse would provide for interoperability with those of other continents for a worldwide audience. It would be the guarantee of true European cultural independence, diversity and creative freedom.
An NFT is a unique non-fungible token. As such, it cannot be exchanged for anything other than something of the same quality, nature and quantity.
A work of art or music is a patrimonial asset whose value increases throughout its existence. If Daft Punk had recorded an NFT of their first demo registered with Sacem, its value would certainly be enormous today. Sacem must create the conditions to promote the works of the Daft Punks of tomorrow. The blockchain makes it possible to follow the trajectory of sales and guarantee that the initial rights holder receives remuneration for each transaction, carried out through downloading. It is a virtuous model that rewards the creators and the rights holders at the time of the resale of the NFT as soon as there is a creation of additional value.
