I just minted my first music NFT. This post is to give you some insight into my world and the inspiration behind this song. You can find Introvert here

Who Is Green Ring?

Hi, I’m Green Ring. I make melodic electronic music.

One of my favorite things about music is its ability to take your mind away from everyday life to somewhere new. I love this feeling of being transported.

The first time I remember having this feeling was reading The Chronicles of Narnia books as a kid. The story took me to a whole new world that totally captured my imagination. So one afternoon I reread the first book “The Magician’s Nephew” to see if any potential names for this project would appear.

In the book there is a place called the Wood between the Worlds. It’s a warm sunlit forest where time stands still. There are countless pools of water there. Each pool is a different world you can travel to by jumping in, but you have to be in contact with a magic green ring for the portal to work.

My goal with every piece of music is to take you somewhere new. I want your mind to drift off from the day to day when you listen. Green Ring stood out to me as a perfect name to convey this idea.

Web3 Music

Learning about the world of web3 and how it relates to music has become my obsession since the beginning of this year. I have spent most of my time these past few months as a fly on the wall in discords and twitter spaces, listening to all the podcasts I could find, and watching other musicians achieve incredible success outside of the big streaming services. I wanted to get my bearings in this new world before I started trying to make my way in it.

Everything I’ve learned so far leads me to believe that this really is the dawn of a new era for creators of all kinds to find success and self-sufficiency.

Blockchain technology and NFTs allow artists and fans to truly own their relationship for the first time. The fact that there no longer needs to be a platform with its own interests between the two allows for really interesting and powerful new opportunities. I am still a total beginner here, but I’ve learned enough to be convinced that web3 is the most exciting way forward for artists.

Where I’m At Now

It’s still early days in the web3 music ecosystem. At this point, most of the action has taken place on curated platforms like Sound.xyz and Catalog. These platforms are amazing… they are creating incredible new communities that support artists and help them find success independently. I hope to do drops with them in the future.

There is also a lot of exciting things happening outside of these curated platforms where artists are diving in and handling everything themselves. From dropping on open platforms like Mint Songs, to using their own custom contracts through services like Manifold.xyz. This is where I find myself starting my journey into web3. And while initially dropping on a curated platform with a lot of community support would certainly be a nice leg up, starting out totally DIY seems to really fit the ethos of web3 music. I buy into the idea that going forward every creator will be their own platform. With this frame of mind, building something totally independent from the start is really exciting.

However, the DIY route does come with the requirement of increased self-promotion and networking. Most people who have found success here have been able to leverage communities they’ve built around themselves to market and sell their NFTs. Building these communities in the current landscape seems to happen mostly through being vocal and visible on twitter and discord.

Unfortunately for me in this context, I am a very introverted person. I am not predisposed to building a community by being vocal and visible (although I’m proud to say I’ve started to speak up in some twitter spaces recently). I have started to take part in the ecosystem by participating in community competitions. Communities like StemsDAO, heds, mashibeats and others host competitions where web3 musicians can connect and compete. I like these because you can let your music be the focus.

My ideal way to build community in web3 however, is by releasing original music and seeing who resonates with it enough to collect. I don’t have many eyeballs on me right now, but I like the idea of starting small with whoever is already here and connects with the music. We can grow the project together from there.

Introvert

Introvert is my Genesis NFT drop.

One of my favorite things to do is walk in nature by myself. I wrote this song recently after getting back from one such walk where my head was spinning with all the creative new opportunities web3 provides. With the spirit of experimentation top of mind, I used a method employing randomness to write a melody that I probably wouldn’t have come up with on my own. I then composed the rest of the idea around that melody.

I listened back to the song while on another walk, and it really captured the feeling I get out there in nature: calm but energized and inspired. I hope it can translate that feeling to you.

Introvert is an edition drop with 10 NFTs priced at 0.05 ETH. This could sell out in a week, a month, a year, never... I have no expectations. I’m just ready to take part and hopefully start finding my community.

Minting

I’ve decided to mint using Manifold.xyz.

Manifold allows creators to own the smart contracts they use to mint, while also being interoperable with major NFT platforms. I’m excited to mint using my own custom contract as it aligns with the ideal of artist independence and autonomy. I’ve also created a custom marketplace to list the NFT using Artiva. This combination seems like the best way to start building a world for Green Ring that exists independently from day one, but can also plug into the larger ecosystem.

Going Forward

I have some ambitious goals for what I want to build long-term. Green Ring NFTs will play a central role in that vision. While I’m of the opinion that music is inherently its own utility, I do plan on rewarding supporters down the line as more things become possible through what we build together in this community.

With Introvert, I’m taking my first real step into the web3 world. I look forward to seeing where the journey goes.

You can find Introvert here