🎵 Metaproof Music

Hey friends, this is Sophia from 🎵 Metaproof Music, the weekly newsletter where we update you on how the metaverse and web3 are changing the music industry.

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💌 A quick thanks to our friends…

Our friends at Player Zero are changing the music game by being a record label for the metaverse of Animated Virtual Artists (AVAs) that create hit songs like “Deeper” by Amari. Check them out today!

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📲 By the numbers

Revisit standout web3 music numbers in 2022 (Source):

• Nas teamed up with 3LAU for his first NFT collection on the DJ’s platform Royal, consisting of 1,870 NFTs across two drops - selling out in record time - and generating over $560,000 in revenue.

• An exclusive NFT featuring a 360-degree immersive experience of the Antarctic Dome at Coachella sold for $145,000, breaking Solana’s single NFT (non-PFP) sales record.

• American singer and songwriter Salem Ilese, known for her viral song Crypto Boy, collaborated with Pussy Riot on an NFT release for philanthropy and tapped viral TikTokers for a music NFT whose 100% of proceeds went to the Center for Reproductive Rights to support the movement.

• Collective web3 laboratory SongCamp created the 77-person “headless band” Chaos, set to create 45 songs released as an NFT collection totaling over 20,000 unique tokens.

• Legacy P2P file-sharing platform LimeWire rose from the dead as it closed a $10.4M private token sale in April and launched its marketplace in July in a bid to become an NFT and web3-focused brand.

📫 News & trends

🔮 3 ways the music industry is infiltrating the metaverse

Rock and roll has always been linked to counterculture, going against the grain, and a rebellious spirit. In the web3 era, how is the music industry’s rock and roll vibe transforming the times?

• Breaking down barriers between music makers and fans, with metaverses like Decentraland and The Sandbox presenting virtual concerts and spicing things up with NFTs, collectibles, and other layers of personalization

• Performances are translated to the metaverse. Who would forget Coachella auctioning off lifetime passes as NFTs for concert-goers to receive a VIP festival experience?

• Championing the artist via digital assets: Mariah Carey launching an NFT release for full access to her Songwriters Hall of Fame induction, The Beatles’ songs translated to NFT-based memorabilia, and Snoop Dogg’s album “Bacc on Death Row” available on the blockchain.

🦍 Gorillaz concert, powered by Google, debuts potential of augmented reality

Virtual band Gorillaz has made history with an AR concert held simultaneously in New York City and London, captivating hundreds of fans on the giant screens of Times Square and Piccadilly Circus. A first of its kind, the AR concert offered an immersive and interactive take on good old concerts: attendees downloaded the AR app, watched the virtual band on their phones, and enjoyed visual effects powered by Google’s AR technology. Google platform ARCore and the recently launched Geospatial API were the technologies used to create the live AR concert of Gorillaz, which has rocked audiences since 1998 with its unique blend of genres and six studio albums that have sold over 20M records worldwide.

🖼️ NFTs of 2022: A year in web3 news

It was a fun, lucrative marriage between NFTs and music in 2022, as shown by well-received performances and collaborations. In August, Enimen and Snoop Dogg featured their Bored Apes NFTs in a new music video and even performed the song at the VMAs. Snoop Dogg was here, there, and everywhere web3, with industry moves ranging from supporting Claymates to dropping an NFT music video. Who would forget Pharrell Williams joining the colorful NFT brand Doodles’ team in June? The musician and fashion icon took over as its chief brand officer and joined the Doodles NFT board. Earlier in March, World of Women founder Yam Karkai represented the collection at Billboard Women in Music, with Billboard releasing two additional NFT covers designed by Karkai to boot.

💯 Why hip-hop is becoming the greatest web3 music success story

Could hip-hop be the most genuine reflection of the NFT space? Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, and a few established names are likely to be a mainstay in web3 music, but some like Li Uzi Vert, Trippie Redd, and A$AP Rocky have (at least for now) pulled their names out of the ecosystem. Given blockchain technology’s grassroots nature, hip-hop is likely to flourish in web3, helmed mostly by digitally native creatives in the NFT world. Entities like Rolling Loud - through its PFP project known as LoudPunx - hope to enter the space, create a community, and serve as an incubator for hip-hop in web3. Meanwhile, the NFT community can buoy the growing movement by sharing the art, spreading the word, and celebrating all things music NFT.

🎆 Web3, the metaverse and crypto: Trends to expect in 2023 and beyond

NFTs are shaking things up for the music industry. LGND Music, launching this month, is a music and collectibles platform supporting “digital collectibles from any blockchain in a proprietary player,” enabling users to play their digital collectibles on the go and creators to interact with fans through special content and curated experiences exclusive to NFT holders. NFTs are also giving concerts an overhaul: instead of digital tickets, concert tickets can be minted as NFTs, making them immutable, traceable, and shielded from forgery, scams, or scalping. NFT tickets can also go beyond being a ticket, potentially getting resold as memorabilia.

🏛️ How 1.6M people watched a concert in Sky: Children of the Light

Thatgamecompany, following an announcement earlier in 2022 that over 160M people downloaded its mobile game Sky: Children of the Light since its 2019 debut, has held a virtual concert with the musical artist Aurora, where she sang a series of songs and the open world social indie adventure game took the players on a spiritual animated journey. In each instance of the concert, 4,000 were inside and moved individually with the crowd, something the gaming firm said was far more people than online games usually accommodated into a server space and entailed further technical work. The success of the virtual concert, which continued to play in Sky until January 1st, according to founder and CEO Jenova Chen, made him think about how to build multiplayer metaverse experiences in the future.

💗 22 important things that happened to K-pop in 2022

2022 has been an eventful year for K-pop, which knows how to unsettle the world of global entertainment in fresh ways. From BTS’ spell-binding Grammys performance to Blackpink at the VMAs to the comeback of legacy artists like Girls’ Generation and 2NE1, K-pop proved itself as a permanent fixture in global pop culture. One important event in K-pop’s 2022 history was SM’s girl group Aespa delivering a speech to the United Nations on the significance of the sustainable development goals relating to its metaverse concept. Member Giselle said: “People are paying more attention to creating the best possible metaverse world. It transcends many boundaries - reality and virtual reality, time and space, and genres and generations,” leaving a question: “Are we working just as hard to create the best possible real world?” Post-speech, Aespa streamed a live performance video of their song “Next Level.”

🎸 How is technology changing the music industry in India?

With the music industry always on the cusp of transformation, India is quick to adopt and ride the waves of change. Not unlike in other countries, its music space is embracing metaverse music, opening up to cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and blockchain technology in numerous aspects of the field. It’s a large scope and horizon all right, but one can expect more virtual concerts, digital artists, and NFT bands breaking into the scene - all in the name of growth, monetization, and the ability to personalize experiences for both creators and their fanbase.

🔥 Yalla the Arab collective bringing MENA’s electronic scene to Belgium

In the Middle East & North Africa region, Yalla events provide a free space for free expression regardless of one’s socioeconomic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds as well as sexual orientation. The Belgium-based platform and collective explores global nightlife culture and underground electronic music in the region. Recently, it kicked off its web3 activations, eyeing building “an inclusive metaverse” space to host talks, meetings, and gathering, such as one on female DJs in the nightlife scene and building safer spaces.

🐼 Ringing in the New Year with panda video ringtone and images

China Mobile users were in for a New Year treat with a panda-themed ringtone coupled with baby panda videos appearing on the call interface. This feature is part of China Mobile, China Unicom, and other telecoms’ bid to offer mobile customers more immersive features, including metaverse-style services. The ringtone videos, featuring 15 baby pandas from the country’s largest panda breeding and research institute, support naked-eye 3D display effects and ringtone and livestreaming services. China Mobile users can expect customized 3D avatar services and metaverse features in the future, in time for important occasions such as the Spring Festival. The new offerings, too, come on the heels of China Unicom establishing a metaverse industry alliance and the uniVerse platform in a move to accelerate metaverse applications.

🎙️ What are music NFTs? How are they changing the music industry?

Music NFT projects offer followers optimum opportunities to benefit from the music listening experience. Without any middlemen, too, artists could benefit from their direct interactions with fans and reclaim artistic and financial aspects of their music. Music NFTs range from entire albums and songs, digital photographs and artworks, concert tickets, to video clips from favorite performances, with the potential to revolutionize the creative music economy and change currently prevailing models. Spectators in the field can likely expect to see more historic sales, groundbreaking events, and the rise of entire ecosystems around web3 music, where everyone from novices to seasoned musicians are anticipated to have a place in the sun.

🎹 Explainer: 5 famous examples of music in the metaverse

Metaverse music is one way people are already using the digital world in a niche way. It largely stems from video game music, setting the tone and feel for the worlds created in those games to complete the immersion. One stark example: Travis Scott’s Fortnite concert, where the rapper collaborated with Epic Games to create a musical event they can attend as long as they played Fortnite. It was timed with the pandemic when no face-to-face concerts took place, employing creativity and innovation in inserting mainstream music into a much-celebrated videogame. Marshmallow in Fortnite, Kai in Roblox, and Blackpink in PUBG are other notable examples for metaverse music getting in full swing.

💸 Finance buzz

• In metaverse concert technology, Bristol, England-based Condense raised $4.5M in a funding round in 2022 to take its hybrid virtual and real-world event tech to another level, hosting metaverse concerts. (Source)

• Web3 music platform Public Pressure, starting out in 2015 as an online community and magazine, raised $6M in funding round in December. It has partnered with the likes of DAO Moonsama and fashion brands like Diesel, focusing on promoting underrepresented musicians, artists, and genres. Its first music and gaming NFT project with Moonsama generated $2M in revenue days since its debut. (Source) (Source)

• Winamp media player enters web3 via support for music NFTs, allowing users to play audio files embedded in theri NFTs, dubbed as a web3 desktop upgrade. (Source)

• Electronic musicians Steve Aoki and 3LAU integrated their CryptoPunks NFTs into “conceptual” supergroup PUNX, slated to stage in-person and metaverse experiences in 2023. (Source)

🗣️ Quote of the week

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All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse.

Stay informed via our Twitter and Subscribe here to get your metaverse music news every Tuesday.