Expert Music Panel Shares Rag to Riches Stories & Case Examples of NFT Success
On July 27, BKLYN Commons, in partnership with Hip Hop Accelerator, hosted a preliminary forum exploring The Future of Music and NFTs. This in-person event brought over 50 music lovers to BKLYN Commons PLG/Flatbush rooftop as part of Brooklyn Tech Week’s Summer Event Series, a lineup of engaging events leading up to Brooklyn Tech Week which is scheduled to take place September 23-25, 2021.
This year Brooklyn Tech Week will cover the evolving future of tech work as it pertains to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 3-day event series will consist of panels, keynotes, fireside chats, pitch events, and its popular hackathons.
As a preview to the upcoming tech week, Jesse Kirshbaum, CEO of Nue Agency, moderated a panel of NFT experts including Miranda Tan (COO of Tokau), Ed Young (CEO & Founder of NFT.HipHop), Matt Medved (Co-Founder & CEO of NFT Now), and Jesse Grushack (Partner at Six Creative Agency). The panelists discussed the transformation of music, tech, and NFT innovation.
For those unfamiliar, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are the newest wave of blockchain technology. Unlike bitcoin, NFTs are not meant to be traded or replaced as they are unique and one-of-a-kind. While NFTs can truly be anything in digital form, the current excitement revolves around using tech to sell digital art in the form of music.
For example, many of the panelists discussed the artist 3LAU, an electronic dance and music DJ, as an NFT case study. 3LAU sold 33 NFTs, including a custom song, to celebrate the third anniversary of his album, Ultraviolet. After three days of bidding, 3LAU raked in $11.7 million dollars, the largest ever NFT sale to date.
“3LAU is the godfather of NFT, an absolute success story,” Medved told the crowd during the event’s panel discussion. “NFTs are the story of how you become an artist. If you invest in the NFT community, the community will invest in you.”
The hope for many following the trends of NFT is that the digital art form will pave the way for a new world of music and art collection, allowing artists to receive the highest royalties for their original work.
BKLYN Commons member and musician, Jabari Noel, has been investing in crypto currency for a few years. He attended The Future of Music event to learn how NFTs can benefit him as an artist so that he may someday merge his infatuation with blockchain with his love for music.
“NFTs give musicians the ability to eliminate the middle man,” Noel said. “This is an opportunity for artists to change the music world through sole, digital ownership.”
On August 26, Noel is launching The Noel Project, a musical endeavor that merges the sounds of R&B and Hip-Hop into alternative indie beats. Pre-save for The Noel Project is currently available on Bandcamp, Spotify, and iTunes.
To dive deeper into the world of NFTs, you can attend Brooklyn Tech Week’s NFT Crypto Con on September 25, 2021. This event will cover the rise of NFTs, digital trusts, and blockchain distribution.
More engaging events are on their way to BKLYN Commons! Check out our blog for more information.