People love to say that crypto moves fast, and while personally that certainly seems to be so, at home in Australia that assertion is harder to verify. In the last two months since my introduction to web3 and the possible futures of music, I’ve been surprised by how little information is available that directly addresses our local context.
We’ve always been a little slow down south. I first encountered Netflix over 10 years ago while working at a summer camp in Hudson, Wisconsin. It was open on a friend’s laptop and the concept seemed outrageous to me as they explained it. We know how that story unfolded. However, even with the increasing mainstream adoption of Bitcoin, crypto has a PR battle on its hands down here.
My mother in law tells me that “it’s all pretty dodgy”. The hint is in the title I suppose; the prefix crypto comes from Greek kruptos meaning ‘hidden’. Remember how Al Gore called it ‘global warming’ rather than ‘climate change’? Both subjects arguably allowed people to focus on the wrong component of the issue, so shady conduct is a seemingly inescapable part of the blockchain brand at this stage.
There is also the problem of energy efficiency in blockchain transactions. In the early conversations I’m having with friends, the nebulous issue of environmental sustainability is often cited. There is a growing movement towards minimising the impacts of blockchain systems on the planet, and education in this regard will be a fundamentally important part of the onboarding process for independent artists.
In any case, after a decent amount of research it remains difficult to find a bank of information about the state of play with blockchain in Australian music - including who the key players are from both policy and practitioner perspectives. That is the objective of this piece. What follows is a rough timeline of the uptake of blockchain technology, with specific reference to the music industry. This is by no means intended to be exhaustive, but rather a starting point for compiling useful information to enable Australian artists who are, as they say ‘crypto curious’, to get a lay of the land.
It seems sensible to begin with an intro into blockchain and web3 technology and terminology. I’m still wrapping my head around it, so it’s not really my place to discuss in too much detail. Before reading the rest of this article, it might help to watch the NFT 101 workshop from Mint Songs below, which took place in January 2022. It covers the basics.
THE DARK AGES OF PRE 2021
This article is separated into pre and post 2021; a sort of BC/AD format of before NFTs and after. Last year marked a mainstreaming moment for this element of blockchain technology, opening the door for the predicted broader application of NFTs to new industries this year. There were major projects in development during this time, which are discussed in reference to the time of their full launch later on.
Back in 2017, PWC shared their Global FinTech Report, and began their discourse regarding blockchain applications beyond the financial sector:
By allowing original music to be published on a ledger with an original ID and time stamp and storing metadata relating to ownership and rights information, blockchain could revolutionise the way music is monetised, make record companies redundant and empower musicians in the process.
This is the earliest mention of web3 music that I have found so far. The signal is rather quiet after that until February of the following year, when Rico Soto was appointed the first Director of the Australasian Blockchain Music Association (ABMA). Soto has a background in artist management, IT, and music focussed tech programs, so the application of his expertise to this developing body seems fairly straightforward.
The ABMA page on Facebook contains only a small number of posts for the year of 2021. However, one notable story was reported by The Music Network about a joint venture between the ABMA and music and management company Fire Entertainment (also founded by Soto) - an NFT concert series dubbed Limited Edition. The ten-part series was to be filmed at the iconic Sydney Studios 301, and released exclusively by Australian Blockchain company Zimrii Music. Soto stated:
This Limited Edition project can continue to pave the way for the industry to reimagine the blockchain (NFT) marketplace, continuing to expand beyond the static format, and providing tangible examples for every musician to create tradable assets from their live-content and music.
In March of 2018 we have the first introduction of Emanate, one of Australia’s leading ‘blockchain ready’ music technology platforms. In contrast to the common narratives of disruption and revolution that underpin much of the discourse about crypto technology, Emanate is quite clear about where it stands:
We recognise that it is not realistic for a new blockchain startup to disrupt industry giants, nor do we think it is necessary or desirable. Emanate will have a place for artists, labels, managers, curators, DJs and more. It will function as an alternate music ecosystem that can co-exist within and besides the current industry. Over time, we believe it will demonstrate a better way for music to be created, shared and monetised.
Cofounder Sean Gardner discusses at length the implications of their ‘blockchain ready’ position, and their decision to work with traditional web2 platforms in the short term. Emanate went live on Ethereum in August of 2021, and the company also held a 2nd birthday party in the metaverse - so the tone of cautious optimism used at the outset seems to have progressed. Their strategy of evolution over revolution will be interesting to watch.
In February of 2020, the Federal Government’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources launched Australia’s Blockchain Roadmap. It’s primarily focussed on wine, banking and finance and so not surprisingly it doesn’t contain a single utterance of the word music in it’s 50 pages. It’s arguable that this is in line with the current government’s complete disregard of creative industries. That aside, the strategy was largely seen as an attempt at increasing Australia’s receipt of capital funds in the blockchain space, which at that point had been around 1% of global investment.
Also in February 2020, we begin to see a more refined focus on blockchain and the emerging creative economy. RMIT published their provocation paper ‘Blockchain and the Creative Industries’, which is essential reading for Australian artists wanting to delve into web3. White papers distributed by specific platforms are certainly useful, though this general overview from an academic institution is constructed and justified in a straightforward way which is arguably less influenced by vested interest or rhetoric.
The RMIT report was a key document in a partnership between Screen Australia and Australia Council for the Arts; a collaborative conference event seeking to answer the questions:
How is blockchain being used in the creative industries, and can it change your life?
Panel members were from a range of creative industries, many looking to build awareness about emerging protocols designed to benefit artists of various disciplines. This included representatives from Zimrii and Emanate, based in Sydney and Melbourne respectively, who both offer web3 solutions for musicians and producers. More information can be found on the linked company blogs, and both companies will be briefly covered here.
THE PROMISED LAND OF THE YEAR OF THE NFT
In August of 2021 Australian startup Serenade launched an NFT marketplace, but it is not labeled as such unless you dig into the FAQ section. They are instead referred to as ‘limited edition digital collectibles’, which seems like an attempt at removing barriers to entry for those unfamiliar with the technology.
Serenade began as a sort of Cameo style performance service, where fans could pay artists for a personalised video. The original Serenade platform is loaded with Australian artists, but the NFT marketplace default currency is the GBP. This could be indicative of the level of appetite the company believes exists in the Australian market currently, though the backend of the year saw a significant dialling up of blockchain awareness.
September 2021 saw the implementation of a first of its kind event in Australia, NFT Fest. This FREE event was conducted by industry body Blockchain Australia (.org), not to be confused with Blockchain Australia (.com.au), a who received an award for Best Blockchain Development Consultancy from APAC Insider at the end of the year. The lineup of speakers for this event was massive considering it didn’t cost anything; signalling the arrival of the NFT wave on our shores. Luckily the conference content can all be accessed retrospectively on YouTube.
Also in September of 2021 was the full launch of Sydney-based Zimrii Music. Zimrii’s innovative platform empowers artists to develop new revenue streams and more meaningful relationships with their fans by establishing their own “exclusive fan club”. Zimrii was founded in 2016, so the full launch of the platform was the culmination of a long process of development and testing which included a product pivot away from streaming in 2019:
The Zimrii platform allows for artists to develop alternative streams of revenue by using an innovative fan club approach that allows artists to attract fans to their brand using a Music Artist token
The final chapter of the 2021 Web3 story was the formation of MODA DAO, Australia’s first music focussed DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation). Launch partners for the project included Deadmau5, Ritchie Hawtin, Emanate, and Australia’s Unified Music Group. It’s worth reading their White Paper to understand their mission, but as a start the organisation describes itself as:
MODA DAO is a decentralised technology network and community. Designed for the metaverse and the play-to-earn era, MODA is dedicated to the adoption of Web3 in the music industry via NFTs, micro-licensing, DAO governance and DeFi.
Later in December MODA announced a partnership with Filecoin, which among other technological capabilities enabled enough storage space to stream 2000 years of MP3 quality music. That’s a lot of music. Tech Times reports that the decentralised infrastructure “will provide artists the freedom to release their music and content without a central power having complete or partial ownership over their creative ideas”. It represents a significant step forward for the industry-leading body.
It’s definitely going to be crucial to develop awareness of the objectives, strengths and purpose of the various platforms that are emerging in Australia - perhaps in a future article. There seems to be a critical volume happening in our national discourse, perhaps best summarised by Financial Services Minister Jane Hume, who stated that crypto is no passing fad, and that doubters may end up being significantly left behind.
Let’s go.