How Snoop Dogg’s NFT Release Of Death Row Session, Vol. 2 Opens Up New Opportunities For Independent Artists
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 6: Snoop Dogg attends the premiere of MGM’s ‘The Addams Family’ … [+]
American rock band Kings of Leon released their 2021 album When you see yourself as an NFT, becoming the first band and pretty much the first artists to release their songs as NFTs. But since the Nashville-based band took this daring step, the idea of NFT music has become quite appealing to independent artists.
Not long after Kings of Leon released the album, electronic dance music star Justin Blau – better known by his stage name 3LAU – sold his album, Ultraviolet, a collection of 33 different NFTs, yielding $11.7 million, shocking everyone including himself. But as with all things in the industry, NFT music desperately needed an A-lister on board to find its day in the sun; in steps, Hip Hop Legend Snoop Dogg.
In recent times, Snoop Dogg has continued to invest in all edgy and emerging industries, from Cannabis to Blockchain; Staying relevant in the conversations, Snoop recently stepped up by releasing the first drop of his first NFT album, Death Row Session Vol.2. The first drop of the album sold for a total of 100 Ether
Travis Bott, CEO of MetaLabs Agency, a blockchain solution and a DApps and NFT collectibles platform explains why NFT is inevitable; “Blockchain, NFTs and the Metaverse are no longer just a possibility, they are an inevitability. It is not a phenomenon that would change the world; it is already changing it as we speak. The resistance that we are now seeing among elite record companies and big government is going to be short-lived because this phenomenon benefits everyone. We are literally recreating a digital version of our world, and it’s only a matter of when, not if, the entertainment industry will fully adapt.”
Travis Bott from MetaLabs Agency speaks at a conference.
Bott, who recently left one of his companies with a 9-figure mark, has been one of the most vocal proponents of NFTs and the blockchain. A successful entrepreneur with multiple exits, he has since thrown his hat into the blockchain ring. MetaLab’s NFT collection, Meta Bounty Hunters, recently made $18 million in coin revenue in just three weeks, which Bott cites as evidence of growing enthusiasm worldwide.
Indie artists see a way to earn more
In addition to being a daring move, Snoop’s release of Death Row Session, Vol 2 was special because he featured four notable indie artists on the project who had already made a name for themselves in the Web 3 music space. Death Row Session, Vol 2 featured Iman Europe, MoRuf Adewunmi, Black Dave and Heno. All four artists have sold NFT music since 2021.
In an interview with Fortune, Iman Europe highlighted one of the many benefits of releasing NFT music as “Creative and Financial Freedom”. Iman insists that web 3 allows her to release music when she wants, value it at a price point it deserves and earn much more than she would have on streaming services. “One ETH is equivalent to almost 1 million music streams,” explains Iman. She adds of her collaboration with Snoop: “I did it in two minutes. A complete paradigm shift for sure.”
For most of these independent artists, the ability to ensure they get paid quickly and handsomely for their art and not have to wait a year for royalty checks makes NFT music much more attractive than traditional streams.
Travis Bott explains why these opportunities are so exciting for independent artists; “Smart contracts execute a set of instructions on the blockchain and eliminate reliance on middlemen, banks or record companies. I recently left one of my companies for 9 figures, but the whole process of banks holding our money and transferring it from one bank to the other was a 26-day process, relatively speaking I have brokered millions of dollars worth of blockchain deals within 15 minutes. The smart contract automatically distributes funds to all parties and sends us the brokerage fee. It is impossible to be cheated and this has found application in music collaboration done on the blockchain This is the future and this is why we at MetaLabs have created a SaaS software platform where we help artists, influencers and businesses with Minting Models and Minting Strategies, Full Stack Development, eCommerce , Smart Contract Auditing, NFT- marketplaces and launchpads … an end-to-end experience that can easily move them from web 2 to web 3.”
Snoop Dogg seems to agree with the stance, as he explained on the Firefox Podcast. Snoop expressed his long-standing desire to see those who helped make music adequately compensated. According to him, “my fans made me who I am, but never had an opportunity to really monetize my music and my journey.” Snoop’s eagerness to see people adequately compensated led him to highlight the four new artists on the album and give them a split in the smart contract; this way Death Row doesn’t pay them; the smart contract executes salary from income, it is automatic and transparent.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 26: Snoop Dogg and Roxanne Shante visit SiriusXM’s Rock The Bells Radio … [+]
Building stronger communities
Snoop Dogg’s enthusiasm for the Web 3 space isn’t limited to the new album; he recently announced that he was turning his Death Row Records label into an NFT label. According to Snoop, community building and giving back to fans is at the heart of this decision. In his words, “For my whole career we’ve been making music and charging the fans for everything from tickets to merchandise and they could just enjoy the music in return, but now they can own a piece of it, trade it and make money off of it. “
The opportunities that web 3 provides for community building are enormous; fans have always been metaphorically invested in the artists they love, but NFTs mean they can be invested and get a financial return.
“Just imagine if fans could buy NFTs of a new artist, and hold onto it until that artist becomes big, the value of the NFTs would increase exponentially in value.” Bott explains, “It works the same way real estate or other investments work, and fans can profit directly from the artist’s fame or success. There are many ways a community can be fostered around profit, and artists take notice. At Metalabs, we advise continuously for an ever-increasing number of influencers, businesses and artists who want to take their brand from web 2 to web 3 and help them see why this is important and how to use Metaverse and NFTs to build community and create value within their existing community. Community building will no longer be built around just a love of art, but it can be made even more robust by allowing fans to own part of the artist’s legacy in some way.”
This photo taken on June 25, 2021 shows a visitor looking at artist Yasumasa Yonehara’s “Sup” with … [+]
Bott continues, “The power of ownership is a key reason why NFT-based programs can build more robust communities. Meta Bounty Hunters, which serves as the NFT community behind MetaLabs, exemplifies this power; with a collection of some 8,888 elite members called Bounty Hunters, who sharing a community-first mindset, it is one of the most valuable NFT communities on the internet.”
“The community pays our weekly reflection benefits to its community members to strengthen community bonds and also selflessly contributes to ‘Do good causes’ voted by the Community DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization). These causes are usually focused on species, humanity or the earth.” According to Bott, ownership power, common purpose and a powerful reward system are responsible for the growth of the community.
The Death Row Session NFT drop may not have been the highest grossing NFT drop ever, but it has brought the prospect of NFT music into the spotlight in a unique way. Web 3 offers an opportunity for artists and fans to enjoy a larger piece of the pie, and according to Bott, “whatever sectors of the industry are not yet satisfied would have to queue up and find a way to get their piece of the pie before sooner rather than later.”
