Big Bang Upgrade — Fan Tokens & NFTs Bring DeFi to the Music Industry
Fan Tokens and NFTs Are Coming to BitSong
The upcoming Big Bang mainnet upgrade will be the biggest milestone in BitSong’s journey to date. It will mark the first time that we begin to welcome musicians, music industry participants, and music fans to our ecosystem, thanks to the launch of our Fan Token and NFT modules. Here we take a look at each of the modules and the opportunities they offer to artists and fans.
Fan Tokens
Fan tokens are a brand new phenomenon already making waves in the sports sector. A fan token is a cryptocurrency issued for the benefit of star performers — whether that’s a world-famous rock band, or an up-and-coming solo talent — and their fans.
Fan tokens are already proving to be a massive hit in the sports sector, with clubs including PSG, Manchester United and Inter Milan issuing their own fan tokens that allow fans exclusive privileges. F1 teams are now getting in on the act, and the music industry is primed to be next.
Why does the music industry need fan tokens? Because they allow any act or artist to create their own economy, generating new ways to monetise their music and brand, and providing a unique and innovative channel to engage with fans.
What you do with this economy is up to you, but here are a few ideas:
- Create a loyalty program allowing fan token holders privileged access to exclusive content such as unreleased materials or behind-the-scenes interviews
- Crowdfund a tour or studio album and revenue-sharing with token holders
- Give fans the opportunity to vote, for example, on the song lineup for a gig or on the cities for an upcoming tour
- Accept fan tokens as payment for NFTs (more on that to come!)
The BitSong Fan Token module will enable any artist to start minting their own fan tokens and list them within a few minutes, for low fees. BitSong also stands apart from fan token platforms by offering the opportunity to link BitSong Fan Tokens to a fan’s social profile, starting with Twitter.
This connection will be performed in a decentralised manner. The user will be asked to enter their Fan Token private key they want to associate with their social media account. The connection will be carried out as a blockchain transaction, so they only have to authenticate themselves once.
By linking the Fan Token ownership with the fan’s social media account, the artist has even more opportunities to connect with their followers. For example, an artist could host a Q&A session on Twitter where fans can redeem their tokens to participate.
NFTs
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are already whipping up a storm across the entire entertainment industry. NFTs are tokens linked to provably scarce or unique digital assets such as an image file, a video clip, or a piece of music.
In March 2021, the Kings of Leon became the first band in the world to release an album in the form of an NFT, generating $2 million in sales. Since then, the Weeknd, Eminem, and Wu-Tang Clan rapper Method Man have all issued their own NFTs.
So what can an artist do with NFTs? Like Fan Tokens, the only limit is your creativity. Here’s some inspiration:
- Create unique digital artwork to accompany your music or gigs
- Issue autographs and signed photographs as NFTs
- Drop a song or album as an exclusive, limited-edition release only available in NFT format
- Print gig tickets as NFTs, and require entrants to send their tokens to a burn address to redeem them on the day
- Explore innovative, cross-marketing efforts in a digital metaverse
BitSong will allow any artist to create their own NFTs backed by music, art, video clips, or any kind of digital media you choose. You can list them for sale in return for BTSG or your own Fan Tokens within a few minutes, and start promoting the listings via your social channels. What’s more, because BitSong runs on its own, energy-efficient proof-of-stake blockchain, our green credentials are sound.
At BitSong, we’re thrilled to be able to offer the music industry a robust set of tools, set to unleash a new riot of creativity across the entire sector. BitSong will become the new reference point for Web 3.0 in the music industry, bringing artists and fans closer together while restoring some of the value that’s been lost through the digitization of music.
If you’re an artist or music industry participant who’s interested in finding out more or becoming one of our first listings, please contact artists@bitsong.io.
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