Why Bolero 2.0?

As you know, Music Industry is transforming. And it was about time.

Bolero Music was founded 1.5 years ago to set this revolution in motion. From day 1, we have been working towards a collective universe in Music where creators enjoy freedom of choice and where listeners thrive through ownership.

Through a thoughtful iterative approach we have been manipulating Blockchain technologies, NFTs, and cryptocurrencies that are obvious technical enablers of the decentralization that the Music Industry is manifesting these days.

All along, we had a listening ear to the market and countless conversations with artists, industry professionals and Music fans: we learned a lot.

After a ßeta, and then a first version a year ago, Bolero v2.0 was released this month of October 2022, as the synthesis of a deep and passionating learning process.

A new look, a new experience: this version is about simplicity.

Let’s take a moment to review what has been built and how it was built.

Tokens are dead, long live tokens!

Blockchain world is often called “the rabbit hole”. It is made out of mind-blowing powerful tools, but the ecosystem is very deep and complex. “NFTs”, “protocols”, “crypto wallets” and “gas fees” are all relatively new concepts that take some time to master and that are hard to compile in a consistent and seamless user experience.

For this version, the team decided to bring a radical simplification of the User Experience.

We erased all blockchain jargon. We got rid of complex features. We even wiped out the word “NFT” from all the website.

Killing the NFT from a web 3.0 platform is not an easy step. But we did it, in the search of the most valuable user journey for music fans and artists on Bolero.

So the biggest change that you will notice on Bolero V2 is the strong focus on the Fan Token.

The next chapters will describe how this turn was taken. We will also detail the other major changes brought to Bolero:

• A unique set of artist career indicators

• The foundations of a social layer

• A simple and engaging buying journey

Focus on the Music Fan Token

The best asset to represent an artist’s career

1. Best option for emerging artists

Fan Tokens are a general representation of the whole career of the Artist. And we think it suits best for early investment on promising talents.

If you have a nose for a specific producer or singer, it is more likely that your investment brings profit in the long run if you invest in their career as a whole rather than if you bet on one of their specific release.

Now, you know that Bolero has a history with Collectibles, and we still think they are an amazing and 300% meaningful form of investment. But we intend to include them in a thoughtful system rather than as the prior entry point to invest in the Artist you love.

2. Fungibility

The other good thing about a Fan Token is that it’s fungible. So you can basically start to invest with the exact amount you want. No more, no less. One motivation to bet on this asset was the market analysis around NFT transactions - on Bolero and other platforms. We realized that not all Music Fans, especially young ones, have the power to purchase a $500 NFT.

The Fan Token enables anyone to partner with the artists they love, for as little as $4.

3. Liquidity

Fungible means also more liquid.

Again, let’s say that you purchased a $500 NFT. And let’s say the artist really cracked his career. Now, what if you want to make a profit AND keep some stake in their career because you think they still have potential? You’re stuck. You have to pick in-between reselling it 100% or holding it 100% in the hope of further growth. No risk mitigation, no middle ground with NFTs.

With a Fan Token, you can sell and hold as much as you will over time.

In a very fast pace industry where artists release Singles, EPs and Albums every 3-6 months, we are convinced it is necessary to bring flexibility to the Partners of an artist in their trading practice.

Visual identity of the token

This Fan Token needed a visual representation.

The token symbol - $TOKEN - is not very appealing on its own.
And the artist’s profile picture changes over time.

As a permanent representation of the Artists’ career, all Fan Tokens deserve a powerful and stand-alone visual identity.

1. So we began with a first proof of concept on Blender and tested it out right away. We wanted this token to be at the crossroads of intimacy, simplicity and sexiness. 3 major inspirations guided our work:

• The work of Socios.com ;

• The crazy rendering of visual compositions of Colors Studios ;

• And we also randomly ran into this very nice piece on Instagram from Moco.

2. Then we challenged the traditional “coin” aspect to bring some specific shape, colors and textures.

3. Like in a Colors Show, we decided to match it systematically with a nice background that would be customised for every artist.

4. To step up on the design and to deliver a great number of tokens for all the roster, we worked with an amazing 3D Artist, Titouan Martin. He brought new angles on the table while shipping constantly small and big improvements. The final result ended up being very satisfying.

5. Finally, throughout the whole process we iterated on the integration on the web pages of this 3D token - .glTF file - on every artist’s page. It was a tough challenge that even required some external help, especially when you pay attention to details: loading time, lights, rotation, interaction with the user… Here also, big thanks to highly professional 3D integrator Yash Majithiya. We learned a lot along the way! Maybe we will write another specific post about this later.

By the end of the summer, we were able to display the Fan Token as a 3D model on the artist page, and as an image in the user’s portfolio and the search page.

Fan Tokens + Reward Levels = 🔥

Bolero v1.0 had a Rewards feature already: given the amount of Fan Tokens you invest in, the Artist gives you access to exclusive experiences and content.

Our Music Team works closely with the artists to roll out a Rewards strategy that fits all level of fanship. From $4 to $3000, what do the Partners get? What crazy rare experiences can be offered to them?

This craft can get super creative, and acts as an efficient and fair incentive for early Partners to take the jump.

So we decided to double down on it in the product:

• It comes first on the Artist’s page to create an immediate relation between the Fan Token and the Rewards ;

• The levels were redesigned and abstracted with numbers - 1, 2, 3… - that are important in the gamification process, more than the actual money spent ;

• We integrated the limited supply concept to make some room for very rare and attractive experiences like a Studio session with the artist ;

• A “Buy” button at every level was a must.

A unique set of artist career indicators

“How do you guys calculate the price of the Fan Tokens during the Primary Market?” is one of the Top 3 questions we had regarding Bolero V1.

It was about time we provided some clear answers built-in the product to this question.

And above this, we figured it is key that we give a maximum of smart indicators about an artist’s career to our users. Partnering with an artist is, before everything, an emotional decision, but it also has a rational dimension that’s really important for the product to address.

Here are some example of questions a user might ask themselves before they partner with a music artist:

• Timing concerns: “Is it the best time to invest in their career?”

• Stage of development: “I want to constitute a roster of emerging promising artist, how do I identify them?”

• Current hype: “How did this last EP impact their reputation?”

Assess 24h IRL performance to calculate Fan Token price

Bolero v1.0 already had a backend infrastructure enabling dynamic assessment of an artist’s career.

We measure over 30 data points to observe their progression on:

• Streaming (various data, playlist)

• Live/Concerts

• Radio (global)

• Collectibles sales

• Social platforms

An overall score is computed and its evolution makes the price fluctuate (only during primary market of course).

In Bolero V2 we provide the breakdown of this score to give the most accurate representation of the artist development.

We also switched from a 7-days to a 24-hours calculation cycle to offer fans an accurate degree of analysis: with such a timeframe it is very unlikely that you ever miss the impact of a release, a featuring announcement, a live tour progression…

Current status and category

Our Music team works hands-in-hands with independent artists, major labels, publishers and artist managers. With +30 years of experience in the industry, they are experts in reading an artist’s trajectory.

This expertise is revealed the product with the “Category” and the “Current Status” indicators. Both are editorial indicators cooked by our Music team who is permanently crawling insiders intel and with the support of data analysis. They are made to provide a realistic context to the future partners of the artist.

The “Category” indicator was already used in V1. We incremented a description for each category on the artist page, from Developing to Global.

The “Current Status” is a new indicator. It reveals the cycle that the artist is into at the moment. It is a very industry-specific indicator helping you assessing the investment opportunity:

• If the artist has just released their last album, they are said to be On-Cycle. People talk about them. There is high chances that the price is already going up.

• If the artist is working on a new project, they are said to be Work In Progress (WIP). Fans are waiting for the next banger. It might be wise to invest before their next release.

• If the artist is under the radar, or resting after a tour, they are said to be Off-Cycle. The most intense trading momentum is probably behind. Are you going to wait for the next cycle to partner?

Foundations of the social layer

Who has put together the most various roster?

Who has reached Level 3 with the most artists?

Who is the best hip-hop partner?

Three components have been add spice and social excitement to your experience: Leaderboards, Onboarding missions and Quests.

Leaderboards

Spread in the product, you will find different rankings:

• On the Artist page, the Top partners of this artist

• On your Dashboard, the Top partners on Bolero or the ones you are friends with

• And a last one on any user’s profile to see their rank

Onboarding missions

Feeling like diving deep in the product right away? We’ve got you!

In a matter of minutes, you can complete your profile and achieve fun missions to discover all parts of Bolero.

The bonus? You earn up to $5 of Fan Tokens for doing so!

Quests

Big shoutout to our Marketing/Community team who have integrated a tremendous amount of exciting quests to follow with Crew3. From small tasks like posting a Tweet about your favorite artists, to more engaging ones like meeting with the team to provide feedback or purchasing 10 different Fan Tokens… The community is having real fun while being rewarded, see by yourself, join our Discord!

A fresh look

Finally, the user experience has been reviewed in favor of a mobile first and crypto no-brainer journey.

The graphic contrast was completely inverted: from a black background (very manly, gaming and web3 oriented) to a light wavy and noisy background. The font and font-colors were also revamped for a more accessible and less geeky ones: Larken for titles and, for paragraphs… Satoshi. In a nutshell: it is not because you are investing in Fan Tokens that your experience has to look like a Web 3.0 DeFi exchange. Investing in music should be an experience accessible to any listener out there.

Every component has been designed within an atomic design system made to fit a large span of mobile breakpoints, from iPhone SE (320x568px) to iPhone 13 (390x844px).

And for even smoother on-the-go experience, we leveled-up our testing to make sure every view was laid out properly on integrated browsers from Instragram, TikTok and Twitter.

From Search to Checkout in 4 clicks

We refurbished the search with:

• A set of 1-click filters, inspired by the nice work of NBA Top Shot. Popular filters are dynamic, they adapt to the most used filters ;

• A Hot Stuff category staging latests Fan Token releases ;

• A drawer dedicated to more detailed filtering.

We worked on a simple amount selector on the Artist page and on the confirmation. We included a dynamic recall of the rewards you get depending on the amount that you edit.

As expected by the users, we kept both the credit card and the crypto wallet options to checkout.

Overall the buying journey takes 4 clicks to complete.

What’s next?

It was a delightful summer working all together on this new version in permanent consultancy of our key users and stakeholders.

Shoutout to all Bolero team, and many thanks to highly valuable contributions of: Rilès, Terrence Nguea, Charles d’Hueppe, Theo Jourdain, Maxime Guerois, Amin Lahrichi, Raphael Doulonne and Loris Wintjens.

This release is another step towards the modern version of the music industry #BrokenRecord ⇒ #BoleroRevolution.

Stay tuned for our next steps, more artists and features.

In the meantime had you any comment, feedback or ideas for Bolero, join us on Discord, on our Intercom chat or write at contact@boleromusic.com.