Speaking of NFT, art works such as paintings and icons stand out, but in fact, “NFT music” is also showing excitement.

In this article, we have summarized the characteristics and examples of NFT music, which is attracting attention as it may change the conventional wisdom of the music industry.

In addition, I also explain how to make and sell, so I would appreciate it if you could refer to those who want to start before the number of newcomers increases.

1. What is NFT music?

NFT music is “music data that has been proven to be unique”.

NFT uses blockchain technology to ensure data uniqueness.

Converting music data to NFT makes it possible to prove that it was not copied. This will allow us to identify illegal copies and sales.

For the music industry, which is plagued by pirated copies and illegal uploads, NFTs are attracting attention as a new technology to protect creative activities.

2. Benefits of NFT music

I will explain the merits of NFT music by dividing them into the “creating side” and the “owning side”.

By knowing the benefits of both, you will understand why NFT music is attracting attention.

(1) Advantages for manufacturers

There are two advantages for the “creator” of NFT music.

• Deal directly with users
• Earn money when reselling

① You can trade directly with users

NFT transactions are conducted on an exchange called Marketplace, and by creating NFTs and listing them on the marketplace, interested users can purchase them.

The NFT Marketplace can be traded without a third party intermediary, just by paying a fee of about 10%.

Until now, transactions through intermediaries were common in the music industry, but with NFT music, artists and users can now directly trade. There is no need to pay a brokerage fee, and the fact that there are no procedures required for brokerage is a big advantage for the music creator.

② Profit can be obtained even when reselling

NFTs can set royalties when listing on the marketplace. Royalty here is an image of resale reward.

For example, if you set the royalty to 10%, 10% of the resale value will be paid to the creator. Royalty is generated not only once, but every time resale is repeated, so the addition of a revenue model from resale is also a great advantage for the creator.

Even if you try to resell illegally copied NFT music, the NFT music has the producer and transaction history recorded, so the purchaser can see through it.

(2) Advantages for the owner

There are two advantages to the “owning side” of NFT music.

• Make connections with artists
• Possibility of price increase in long-term holding

① Create connections with artists

As an example of using NFT music, it is expected to be used like a passport.

NFT’s transaction history is difficult to tamper with, and the record is engraved on the blockchain, so it is possible to clarify the owner.

There are also cases where this mechanism is used to create a community limited to NFT owners and distribute limited items.

Owning NFT music can be said to be a special benefit for fans to have a special impression from the artist.

② There is a possibility that the price will rise with long-term holding

There are still few cases of NFT music and the name recognition is low, but there is a possibility that the price will rise as the number of entrants increases.

This is because, unlike conventional music data, uniqueness increases scarcity, and the more people who want it, the more the price rises.

Already famous artists may exhibit high prices from the beginning, but NFT music that is easy to obtain is also exhibited.

NFT music is also attracting attention as an investment product, such as buying cheaply and waiting for price increases.

3. Case of NFT music

Here are three examples of NFT music.

1. Whitney Houston demo
2. Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 595 syllables
3. ‘One Hundredth Stream’ by Linkin Park

(1) Demo sound source of Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston, a world-famous singer who died in 2012, made an NFT of the demo sound source he recorded when he was 17 years old. It was sold for approximately 114 million yen.

Whitney Houston is famous, of course.

In addition, the following factors have also attracted attention:

• During her lifetime, Whitney Houston had many black women on staff.
• The successful bidder can also get the work of the genius artist Diana Sinclair, who also uses black women around her.
• Proceeds from the sale will go to the Whitney E. Houston Foundation, which helps young people.

It was a work that matched the latest technology of NFT and the interests of modern society, and became an opportunity for many people to become interested in NFT music.

(2) Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 595 syllables

“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (Merry Christmas on the battlefield), one of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s representative works, was divided into 595 sounds, each of which was made into an NFT.

Each NFT is associated with a score image of the bar corresponding to the sound, and one song is completed when 595 NFT owners gather.

This work was sold for 10,000 yen (tax included) per item for 3 days from December 21, 2021, but part of the sales of the work will be donated to organizations such as “Doctors Without Borders”. It has been. Efforts are also being made to calculate the amount of CO2 emitted by the NFT sales process and offset it through tree planting and methane gas emission control projects.

Not only was it innovative, but it also drew attention from all over the world as a work that, like Whitney Houston’s earlier work, captured the interest of society.

(3) “One Hundredth Stream” by Linkin Park

“One Hundredth Stream” is a work announced on Twitter on February 7, 2021 by Mike Shinoda, who is in charge of vocals and guitar at Linkin Park.

Soon after the announcement, it was sold for $ 30,000 (about 3,170,000 yen at that time) and became a hot topic.

Mike Shinoda has said that the sale of NFT works is an “experiment”, but it is an event that attracted attention because a famous artist sold it without the mediation of a third party.

He also left the following comment when the work was released.

“Even if you put a track on an existing platform, it doesn’t get anywhere near $10,000 in commissions, label payments, marketing costs, etc.”

“With NFTs it is possible and what matters is that one person thinks it is worth it.”

*Quoted translation from below

Here’s the crazy thing. Even if I upload the full version of the contained song to DSPs worldwide (which I can still do), i would never get even close to $10k, after fees by DSPs, label, marketing, etc.
(more)

— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) February 6, 2021

Lastly, regarding the game item or IG post comparison: it doesn’t matter if you think a current bidding price is too high for a digital collectible. It matters that one person thinks the the price is worth it.
(more)

— Mike Shinoda (@mikeshinoda) February 6, 2021

It can also be taken as a remark that foretells that the “profit model” of the music industry so far will change.

4. How to start NFT music

NFT music is changing the way music has been done so far, and it is quite possible that there will be more “cases that attract topics and have high value” as introduced above.

It can be said that it is not a loss to get used to NFT music itself now. Below, we will introduce in detail how to make, sell, and buy NFT music.

(1) How to make NFT music

How to make NFT music is the same as music production so far.

There is no need to use special tools for NFT, and it is also possible to convert files that have already been produced into NFT.

Prepare a WAV or mp3 format sound source file using software such as a DAW. You can create an NFT music work by uploading the sound source file to the NFT marketplace and pressing the publish button.

(2) How to sell NFT music

We will explain “how to sell” NFT music and “what to do when it does not sell”.

① How to sell NFT music

NFT music sales methods are divided into “fixed price” and “auction” on the marketplace.

In the fixed price system, the seller can freely decide the selling price, but it is necessary to be careful because the seller will not purchase unless the market price is known to some extent.

In the auction style, the auction starts automatically by deciding the start price and end date and time.

Both sales methods can be sold by anyone by simply entering the necessary information in the marketplace.

② What do you do when NFT music doesn’t sell?

Listing on the marketplace does not mean that it will sell immediately.

There are many possible reasons for the lack of sales, but let’s review the following three factors in particular.

1. not recognized as a creator
2. Marketplace has very few users
3. Selling price is far from market

In order to spread recognition as a creator, it is necessary to send out information on SNS and be active in the community of NFT creators. The marketplace has a ranking and recommendation function for new NFTs, but it is difficult for newcomers to be recognized among them.

Also, if the marketplace itself has few users, it will be an opportunity loss, so consider other marketplaces.

For the selling price, you can know the approximate market price by investigating NFT works of the same genre.

When it is not selling, it is important to identify where the problem is and take appropriate measures.

(3) How to buy NFT music

NFT music is available for purchase on the Marketplace. The following 5 steps are necessary for “OpenSea”, which is used all over the world and has many users.

1. Open an account at a crypto asset (virtual currency) exchange
2. Purchase the type and amount of crypto assets required for NFT purchase
3. Create a wallet and deposit crypto assets
4. Connect your wallet to OpenSea
5. Select and purchase NFT works on OpenSea

The purchase price is fixed or auctioned depending on the work, so prepare the necessary amount of crypto assets. Also, the gas fee, which is a commission at the time of purchase, varies depending on the time of day and amount of money, so it is necessary to prepare a little more than the purchase price.

5. Future outlook of NFT music

NFT music can be expected to continue in the future as the NFT market including art works is expanding.

Also, with the entry of famous artists, NFT itself will be recognized and many users will become interested in NFT.

If NFT music is used not only as an investment product but also as a tool for improving fan communication, the demand will increase further.

As a future task, we will increase awareness among existing music collectors. There are already record collectors, so there is no doubt that music works are subject to collection.

However, recognition of NFT music is still limited. In order for NFT music to develop further in the future, it will be necessary to have enthusiastic collectors.

6. If you want to sell/purchase NFT music, use HINATA

Let’s review the contents of NFT music one last time.

• NFT music is “music data that has been proven to be unique”
• It is expected to be used not only as an investment product but also in various ways
• It will be a new profit model because artists and users can deal directly

Anyone can sell and purchase NFT music without contracting with an agency or label.

However, there are cases where new entrants do not sell well, and there are concerns that the procedures required for purchasing and the cost of gas (commission) are high.

In order to eliminate such concerns, “HINATA” provides a marketplace that supports everything from listing to promotion, and does not incur gas costs.

If you are going to enter NFT music from now on, please consider using HINATA.