Who We Are

Nvak Collective is a next-generation record label and artist advocacy collective that fully embraces web3 to uplift creators. We believe that the operating system of the music industry is broken, and our mission is to make the music industry more equitable, profitable, and diverse. Our small team has already discovered talent from remote regions around the globe and launched them to billions of streams and hundreds of thousands of fans, all while providing artist-friendly deals and artist care.

Purpose

On May 30, 2023, Nvak Collective and Annika Rose released the “Bruises'' Music Video Game - a fusion of music, gaming, blockchain technologies, and creator storytelling that attempted to re-examine the relationship between artist and fan and inch the industry even closer to a music middle-class. Through this project, Annika Rose, Nvak Collective, and our valued partners set and accomplished an immense goal to sell out 2,500 NFTs, in a whole-hearted endeavor to present a unique, immersive experience for fans that offered an alternative approach to the conventional TikTok to Spotify pipeline. In this post, we’ll dive deeper into our key learnings from the project, where Nvak’s music video games are headed, and why.

The “Bruises” Music Video Game: What is it?

The “Bruises” Music Video Game is a gamified music video experience crafted in Unreal Engine 5 accessible via web browser at nvakcollective.xyz/bruises. By opening up the site on desktop, you’re presented with two entry portals: one requiring an email and another requiring a wallet connection for holders of the Listening Room NFTicket. By minting 1 of 2,500 Listening Room NFTickets, you gain access to the token-gated Listening Room - an experiential music environment housing Annika Rose’s “Dad” Music NFT and other future game updates.

The initial release offers three curated game levels, opening and closing cinematics, and the token-gated Listening Room. Within each level, users collect special game tokens to move on to the next environment, and many include nods to the projects most important to Annika Rose. 

Since launch, we’ve been able to collect more concrete data on game usage, outcomes, and determine its feasibility for disrupting the industry for the better. Here’s a breakdown of what we’ve learned thus far:

“Bruises” Music Video Game by the Numbers

• 17,323 minutes streamed

• 3,351 Unique Site Visitors

• 2,500 Listening Room NFTickets minted

• 597 Unique Holders of the Listening Room NFTicket

• 289.38 hours played by users in 89 countries

• 165 “Dad” Music NFTs minted within the Listening Room

• 26.06% of Listening Room NFTicket Holders minted “Dad”

• 17.82% of Site Visitors minted the Listening Room NFTicket for access to token-gated content

• 10 minute average player time in-game during the first two weeks, nearly 3 times the length of the “Bruises” track.

• 3 minute average player time in-game after 3-5 weeks, around the same length as the “Bruises” track.

So...Will this Model Disrupt the Music Industry?

The “Bruises” Music Video Game aimed to bring about positive disruption in the music industry and form a model that could eventually offer an alternative fan-acquisition and fan engagement strategy to TikTok. In this endeavor, we had anticipated that this first-of-its-kind product would revolutionize the way that artists told their stories, interacted with their fans, and brought new fans into their ecosystem. It was a giant experiment to merge blockchain, gaming, and music into one fan experience that was free, easy-to-play, and most importantly - fun. And for the most part, we’re proud to say that players enjoyed it!

However, as we collected user feedback, monitored engagement across platforms, and even released new music, we discovered that the music video game excelled far more as a fan engagement tool rather than a fan acquisition tool for Annika Rose. While the game successfully captivated existing fans and provided them with an enhanced storytelling experience, it didn't effectively attract a significant number of new fans. This realization led us to reassess our initial goal of offering an alternate approach to TikTok, and instead recognize the game's strength in deepening the connection and engagement with an existing fan base.

That being said, we’ve shifted this tool to another step in the ladder of Annika Rose’s artist journey - Step 4: 

This case study can also inform artists’ payment structures for music video games. A developing artist like Annika Rose benefits from “freemium” access to her music video game content. It allows new users to explore her world for free, and rewards more dedicated supporters willing to pay for token-gated content. An established artist with a larger, dedicated fanbase has greater potential to use a music video game at multiple stages of their career (Steps 3, 4, 5), paywall most if not all content, and receive greater financial return on their investment - considering a music video game is a rather expensive engagement tool.

Nevertheless, it’s important to note that this is a case study for this particular artist, at this specific point in time, at this scale, and with the minimal marketing budget that was allocated. Nvak Collective engaged an on-the-ground marketing strategy that hyper-focused on Annika Rose’s existing fanbase and the web3 music community (in a bear market), and was able to capture significant excitement and participation. At a larger scale with a larger marketing budget, there’s potential for a music video game to excel as a fan acquisition tool rather than solely a fan engagement tool.

We remain excited by the recent influx of interest at the cross section of music, gaming, and blockchain, with projects such as Pixelynx and WavGAME innovating alongside us to offer fans new, gamified ways to engage with their favorite artists. As we move forward with Nvak’s next phase of building at scale, we will be exploring multiple outcomes, and hope that this small case study blossoms into a meaningful part of the evolution of music and gaming.

What’s Next?

Nvak Collective is hard at work on our roadmap working with partners like TokenTraxx to bring the community’s ideas to fruition - more information can be found here. Listening Room NFTicket holders have already begun receiving utility beyond the game and across Nvak’s roster, having access to pre-sale and discounts for sound.xyz drops including Talia Lahoud’s “Samra” and Annika Rose’s “Tiny Dynamite”, in addition to token-gated channels in Nvak’s Discord.

For those looking to join Nvak’s leaderboard and compete for prizes, be sure to join our Zealy community! Answer “Bruises” Music Video Game quizzes, collect game tokens, pre-save our artists’ music and more for XP. Top players receive perks such as free airdrops of music NFTs, event access, and pre-sale/discounts to Nvak drops.

As always, Annika Rose and the team at Nvak Collective are beyond grateful for all who have played the game, contributed their ideas and suggestions, and taken the time to support our vision to build a better music industry. We’re excited for the future of music, and can’t wait to take our community to the next phase of our journey.